A3 Najeemah 2012 Study of Social Interaction

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Study of social interaction amongstudents of Vision Schools in MalaysiaNajeemah Mohd Yusof aa School of Educational Studies, University Science of Malaysia(USM), Penang, Malaysia

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Study of social interaction among students of Vision Schools in Malaysia

Najeemah Mohd Yusof*

School of Educational Studies, University Science of Malaysia (USM), Penang, Malaysia

The purpose of this study is to examine the social interaction among students ofvarious ethnic groups at Vision Schools in Malaysia. The focus is mainly onMalays,Chinese and Indians with a sample size of 642 students. This research applies thequantitative and qualitative approach. For the qualitative approach, the researcherused focus group interviews and observations to examine social interaction amongstudents of various ethnic groups. In this research there is one independent variableto explain and predict eleven independent variables. Hypotheses were analysed usingpost-hoc and multivariate analysis at a p 5 0.05 significance level. Findings of thestudy indicated there were significant difference in the mean score levels for all theindependent variables. Study showed high social distance scale for Malay andChinese students. All the dependent variables effected social interaction amongstudents. Based on the results various suggestions have been recommended and it ishoped that these suggestions will help those involved in teaching and learning tohave a better understanding concerning social interaction among Malay, Chineseand Indian students at Vision Schools in Malaysia.

Keywords: Vision Schools; multiethnic; Malays; Chinese; Indians; socialinteraction

Introduction

The establishment of a country which contains various ethnic groups very muchdepends on its stability of politics, economy and society. Ethnic’s harmony wouldonly be achieved through social interaction. Closer social interaction that developedbetween ethnics causes stronger unity amongst people of the country. Socialinteraction of the people will determine the stability of the politics, society, economyand the entire citizen’s well-being. Social Interaction between various ethnic groupscan be nurtured through the national curriculum which orientates harmony.1

Socialization should be sown to children at an earlier age and schools are the perfectplace to cultivate this skill.

Malaysia is one of the examples of multiethnic (multiracial) countries around theworld. In fact Malaysia represents the true meaning of a diverse society in manyways such as; race, language and religion. Population wise, Malaysian society isconsisted of Malays 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, Indigenous 11%, Indians 7.1% andothers 7.8%. In term of language we witness a huge variety such as; Bahasa Malaysia(official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan and

*Email: [email protected] Zanden, American Minority Relations.

Asian Ethnicity

Vol. 13, No. 1, January 2012, 47–73

ISSN 1463-1369 print/ISSN 1469-2953 online

� 2012 Taylor & Francis

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Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai and several indigenouslanguages which most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan. The same goes toreligion as Malaysian society practices many different religions like; Islam,Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, Bahaism and also Shamanismin East Malaysia. Looking at this scenario shows us how difficult it can be to keepsuch diverse texture of society in harmony and provide a fair and equal system ofeducation for it based on understanding and respect. In such a diverse society, theeducation system should be able of adopting a guideline to address the cultural andethnical needs of each group and at the same time keep the society in the frame ofnational community.

The Malaysian education system is consisted of three different forms of schools;firstly the government-sponsored schools (National Schools), secondly, privateschools and thirdly, home- schooling. As the matter of fact, the Malaysian systemof education is extremely centralized especially when it comes to primary andsecondary schools. Based on the Malaysian constitution, the Malaysian Ministry ofEducation is responsible of providing the National Education Policy based on theNational Ideology or as it called ‘Rukunegara’ in Malay language. The principlesof the National Ideology are; Believing in God, Loyalty to the King and thecountry, Upholding the constitution, Rule of law and Good behaviour andmorality.

The main aims of the Government Educational Policy are to: (1) Equip studentswith the essential skills in a holistic and integrated manner, in order to produceindividuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced;as well as functionally literate; (2) Inculcate and nurture national consciousness bypromoting common ideals, values, aspirations and loyalties to foster national unityand national identity; (3) Produce skilled manpower for economic and nationaldevelopment; and (4) Instil desired moral values in students so that they cancontribute effectively towards nation building.

Statements of problem

Education system practised in Malaysia in primary level shows students beingsegregated according to all different ethnic school, which is Malay students will goto National Schools, Chinese students go to National Chinese Schools and Indianstudents go to National Tamil Schools. Nungsari Ahmad Radhi2 states that duringthe past three decades, clearly there has been a compartmentalization of race andtype of schools. Hence, an environment for all ethnics will speed up the process ofnational integration. In order to tackle these issues, the Malaysian governmentdecided to introduce a new type of primary schools in 2004 under the name ofVision Schools. Vision schools are primary schools with the concept of childrenlearning together within an area without regard for race or religion. Under thisconcept, two or three primary schools of different streams are placed in the samearea. Each school will have its own building which can be joined to the otherschools by a link-way. This system is at its testing period and there are just five ofthem throughout Malaysia. In this system, as it has mentioned before, three maintypes of schools (National, National Chinese and National Tamil) gather together

2Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, ‘Is Malaysia Going Supply Side?’.

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at a same place under the name of Vision School Complex. Each school isseparated from the other one and acts independently from its administrative systemto its curriculum. Each school follows its national curriculum without interferingwith the other one.

The most important factor which makes this type of school different from theordinary schools is the notion of making students from different ethnic backgroundsenable of interacting with each other during the break times and also some otherjoint co-curriculum activities. This plan is being considered as an innovative optionto address the main issues of preserving ethnic cultures and supporting inter-racialintegration to sustain the national unity of the country.

Some of the main objectives of this system of schooling have been demonstratedby the Malaysian Ministry of Education as: fostering solidarity among the pupils ofdifferent races and backgrounds, instilling the spirit of integration among pupils ofdifferent streams, producing a generation that is tolerant and understanding so as torealize a united nation and encouraging maximum interaction among the pupilsthrough the sharing of school facilities and implementation of other activities atschool.

Objectives of the study

(1) To identify the difference of social interaction between same ethnics ordifferent ethnic groups among students in Vision School.

(2) To identify the variables of factors that motivates and restricts socializationamong students in Vision School.

(3) To identify the role of teachers and administrators in developing socialinteraction among students of different ethnic in Vision School.

Matters of the study

There are several questions below that emerge from this study:

(1) Is there any difference between the factors of the motivation and restriction inthe social interaction among students in Vision School?

(2) Are teachers and administrators responsible of promoting social interactionamong students in Vision School?

Conceptual frameworks of the study

Based on the factors explained above, a conceptual framework is drawn to explainthe study. Figure 1 shows the conceptual frameworks of the study.

Importance of the study

Information from this study can be applied by various parties such as Ministryof Education Malaysia, State Education Department or District Education Officein implementing any programme in multi-ethnic schools. This study is reliedto help the ministry to examine characteristics of surroundings that need tobe given attention especially those that can affect the socialisation amongchildren.

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Review of related studies

Social interaction pattern

Social interaction pattern can be categorized to a few models.3 Model 1 as shown inFigure 2 shows the interaction pattern that develops when two or more ethnic groupsocially interact using the same language

According to the Figure 2 above, x is the Malay language used to socially interactand the social interaction pattern between the ethnic groups of Malay, Chinese andIndian is limited.4 The situation mentioned above can happen during the early stageof going to a Vision School where students have not know their classmates who arefrom different ethnic groups.

Figure 1. Conceptual framework.

Figure 2. Model 1: limited interaction pattern among ethnics.

3Miller, The Analysis Of Subjective Culture.4Ibid.

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Figure 3. Model 2: minimum interaction pattern among ethnics.

Figure 4. Model 3: maximum interaction pattern among ethnics.

Figure 5. Profile of students according to type of schools.

Figure 6. Profile of students according to gender.

Figure 7. Profile of students according to race.

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Figure 9. Mother’s secondary education.

Figure 10. Mother’s tertiary education.

Figure 11. Father’s primary education.

Figure 12. Father’s secondary education.

Figure 13. Father’s tertiary education.

Figure 8. Mother’s primary education.

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Model 2 as shown in Figure 3 shows the social interaction pattern is at aminimum level.5 At this level, students start to know their classmates of other ethnicgroups.

Model 3 as shown in Figure 4 shows a better social interaction pattern has beendeveloped. At this level, students can interact well because they understand andrespect the differences among various ethnic groups.

Based on Figure 4, the black spot shows the interaction is maximum. At thislevel, students can interact better in a multi-ethnic cultured environment.

School environment

This study will focus on identifying the environment which can increase the socialinteraction between students of different ethnic groups in a Vision School.

Role of teachers

Brophy6 states teachers provide environment for students to learn. According toLevine & Levine (1996), an effective teacher is able to give time and space forstudents to learn, communicate well, give orders at a level which students canunderstand so that they can success eventually.

Role of administrators

In a school management system, the cooperation between administrator, teacherand support staff is very essential to achieve education goals.7 Manyadministrators only give emphasis to academic aspect and neglect socialinteraction problem between various ethnics of students.8 They play an importantrole not only ensuring students can get the best academic achievements but alsoensuring students from different ethnic groups can socially interact well.

Factors which influence the social interaction pattern

There are many factors that influence social interaction. In this study factors thatare considered are language, ethnic boundary, ethnic identity, social distance,friendship pattern, prejudice, stereotype and family background. According to9

language is a device to speak and communicate.10 views language as a symbol thatshows the society social integration pattern. Ethnic boundary is a nature of socialinteraction pattern which reinforces an internal group’s identification. A thick orthin ethnic boundary is determined by the ethnic identity and the social distanceamong various ethnic groups. If the ethnic boundary is thick, the social interactionis less; and if it is thin, the social interaction is good.

One of the factors which affects ethnic boundary is ethnic identity. Thedevelopment of ethnic identity among multi racial students is one very important

5Miller, The Analysis Of Subjective Culture.6Brophy, ‘Teacher behavior and its effects’.7Fitz, The School in the Multicultural Society.8Ibid.9Asmah, ‘Patterns of Language Communication in Malaysia’.10De Vos, ‘Back In Black’.

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assignment which is to be carried out in schools. Ethnic identity includes ethnicconsciousness, ethnic identification, ethnic attitude, ethnic behaviour which will allaffect the ethnic boundary. Social distance is a separation or social dissociationwhich really exists among individuals, or groups. Social distance scale designed byBorgardus is applied by many researchers in measuring the majority group’sperception over the minority group.11 Willmont12 describes friendship as a voluntaryand close relationship. Friendship provides one the opportunity to socialize. Allport(1978) states prejudice is one kind of antipathy based on wrong and stiltedgeneralization. Prejudice can be felt or stated.

On the other hand, Vander Zander13 defines stereotype as less scientific and lesstrusted generalization about what others do to others whether as individual orgroup. Stereotype is closely related to category, where a group of individuals is puttogether as if they all have the same characteristics. Prejudice is the attitude orsubjective feelings whereas discrimination is an obvious behaviour. Discriminationmeans different treatment to those who belong to some particular category.According to Berry14, even though prejudice and discrimination often closelyrelated to each other, we cannot tell which is the cause and which is the effect.Sometimes, prejudice can exist without discrimination and discrimination canexist without prejudice. The context of family background in this study issocialization, accommodation, and family socio-economic status. The focus of thestudy is on the social interaction of parents with various ethnics. According toCoombs15, the style of rearing children influences how children interact atschools. Children who are seldom taught about his or her surroundingenvironment (neighbour) do not often mix around with other children ofdifferent ethnics.

From the survey of Najeemah Mohd Yusof in several primary schools at SungaiPetani, Kedah, result shows many students are from the same environment or havingneighbours of the same ethnic (95%). Thus, the opportunity to socially interact withother ethnics is minimal. Hence, the multi-ethnic environment in NationalSecondary Schools is hoped to create interaction opportunity. As such, the focusof this study is related to the study of Coombs.16

Methods of research

Designs of quantitave and qualitative Study

This study will apply the qualitative and quantitative methods in the collection andanalysis of data. A combined model named Model Quan-Qual is applied in thisstudy. Discussion will focus on the strategies and approaches of quantitative andqualitative research. This research uses questionnaire instrument. There are a total of116 questions in the questionnaire which is divided into three dimensions: StructureDimension, Behaviour Dimension and Process Dimension. The structure of theresearch questions’ formation is based on the model of Bloom and Dahloff inWright.

11Bois, Racism and Education.12Willmont, ‘Polarisation and Social Housing’.13Vander Zander, American Minority Relations.14Berry, Acculturation As Varieties of Adaption.15Coombs, ‘Race Differences in Childrens’ Friendsip’.16Ibid.

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The questionnaire has been rearranged and divided into three main parts:(1) Family Background Inventory(2) Language, Ethnic Boundary, and, Prejudice and Stereotype.(3) Outdoor Interaction, Teacher’s Role, and School Administrator’s Role

Inventory

All information obtained in the questionnaire will be analyzed using StatisticalPackages For Social Science programme (SPSS). Overall information will bepresented in descriptive form which shows the percentage and mean. At the sametime, differential test also will be conducted to further strengthen this study by usingAnova Post-Hoc as a measurement.

Findings of study

In this section testing of the hypothesis will be discussedAll examination has been done using the ANOVA test. If the result shows the

probability value is less than 0.05, the null hypothesis (Ho) will be rejected.

Examination of hypothesis No. 1

Ho1: There is no significant difference among students of different schools with thelanguage factors.

Ha1: There is a significant different among students of different schools with thelanguage factors.

The probability value shows 0.000. Hence, examination proves that there isa significant difference among students of different schools with the languagefactors.


Ho2: There is no significant difference among students of different schools with theethnic or cultural boundary factors.

Ha2: There is a significant difference among students of different schools with the ethnicor cultural boundary factors.

The probability value shows 0.000. Hence, examination proves that there is asignificant difference among students of different schools with the ethnic or culturalboundary factors.


Ho3: There is no significant difference among students of different schools with theethnic identity factors.

Ha3: There is a significant difference among students of different schools with the ethnicidentity factors.

The probability value shows 0.000. Hence, examination proves that there is asignificant difference among students of different schools with the ethnic identityfactors.

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Ho4: There is no significant difference among students of different schools with theprejudice factors.

Ha4: There is a significant difference among students of different schools with theprejudice factors.

Table 4. Significant difference in the prejudice factor.

School N Mean Standard deviation F-value Significance

SK 254 2.19 0.26 78.020 0.000SRJKC 248 2.45 0.25SRJKT 140 2.55 0.30Total 642 2.37 0.34

Table 5. Significant difference in the sterotype factor.



Table 1. Significant difference in the language factor.



Table 2. Significant difference in the ethnic or cultural boundary factor.



Table 3. Significant difference in the ethnic identity factor.



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The probability value shows 0.000. Hence, examination proves that there is asignificant difference among students of different schools with the prejudice factors.


Ho5: There is no significant difference among students of different schools with thestereotype factors.

Ha5: There is a significant difference among students of different schools with thestereotype factors.

The probability value shows 0.000. Hence, examination proves that there is asignificant difference among students of different schools with the stereotype factors.


Ho6: There is no significant difference among students of different schools with theoutdoor factors.

Ha6: There is a significant difference among students of different schools with theoutdoor factors.

The probability value shows 0.000. Hence, examination proves that there is asignificant difference among students of different schools with the outdoor factors.


Ho7: There is no significant difference among students of different schools with theteacher’s role factors.

Ha7: There is a significant difference among students of different schools with theteacher’s role factors.

The probability value shows 0.000. Hence, examination proves that there is asignificant difference among students of different schools with the teacher’s rolefactors.

Table 6. Significant difference in the outdoor factor.



Table 7. Significant difference in the teachers’ role.



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Ho8: There is no significant difference among students of different schools with theschool administration factors.

Ha8: There is a significant difference among students of different schools with the schooladministration factors.

The probability value shows 0.000. Hence, examination proves that there is asignificant difference among students of different schools with the schooladministration factors.

Observation

The observation is on every Thursday and Friday from 8.00am to 2.30pm in Kedah,Penang andNorthern Perak as well as on Saturday during the co-curriculum activities.

Summary of the observation is as in Table 9:

Problems or conflicts

Language is the problem in interaction. Chinese and Indian students from SRJKC andSRJKT seldom speak Malay. They only mix with their own race. They also seldomspeak to their teachers except those who are prefects. Class teacher, Male.

Problems do happen because of stereotype, but, not very often. They fight becauseMalay students call Indian students ‘pariah’ and Indian students call Malay students‘babi’. These problems cannot be avoided. We punish them, but, it happens again withother students. Administrator, Male.

Table 8. Significant difference in the school administrator’s role.



Table 9. Observation check list.

Venue Results of observation

School canteen - Generally, students eat with friends of their own race.- Only a few students is friendly and sometimes sit with friends of

other races.School field - Generally, students only play with friends of their own race.Assembly hall - Generally, students line up with friends of their own race.

- Some do talk with friends of other races.Co-curriculum places - Generally, students have the activities with friends of their own

race.- They will only mix with other races when forced by teachers.- Sometimes, they even go back to their own group after a while.

Gathering placesafter schools

- Generally, students wait for their transportation with friends oftheir own race.

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Female students always come to see me to complain that Malay male students who pulltheir coifs. They also tease them with words like ‘achi’, ‘lembek’, ‘seksi’, ‘ada parut’,‘gemuk’ to Chinese and Indian girls. So, I always report to discipline teachers for afraida fight may occur. Chinese and Indian students seldom tease at Malay female students.Counsellor, Female.

Fights and misunderstandings are common between students of different ethnic andmostly among students of Standard 6. Sometimes, misunderstandings can happensimply because of touching shoulders only. This can lead a fight and spread to othergroups of ethnic. Other students will just support their own ethnic group without evencare who is at fault. Discipline teacher, Male.

Social interaction phenomenon among students of multi-ethnic in school is not too bad.Female students can interact well. I always stress about good relationship in theassembly. I ask teachers to involve their students from different ethnic groups in schoolactivities. There is no problem in this Vision School. Administrator, Female.

Table 10. Race of neighbour’s parents.

Race of neighbour’s parents Number Percentage (%)

Unknown 5 0.80Malay 97 15.10Chinese 40 6.20Indian 58 9.00Others 4 0.60Malay and Chinese 95 14.80Malay and Indian 19 3.00Chinese and Indian 8 1.20Chinese and others 9 1.40Malay, Chinese and Indian 187 29.10Malay, Chinese and others 16 2.50Malay, Indian and others 3 0.50Chinese, Indian and others 2 0.30Malay, Chinese, Indian and others 99 15.40Total 642 100.00

Table 11. Parents’ encouragement in making friends according to race.

Race type which parents encourage to befriend with Number Percentage (%)

Unknown 15 2.4Malay 152 23.7Chinese 112 17.4Indian 57 8.9Others 15 2.3Malay and Chinese 52 8.1Malay and Indian 9 1.4Chinese and Indian 5 0.8Chinese and others 7 1.1Malay, Chinese and Indian 1 0.2Malay, Chinese and others 123 19.2Malay, Indian and others 4 0.6Chinese, Indian and others 1 0.2Malay, Chinese, Indian and others 89 13.9Total 642 100.00

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I think students from Vision School can interact better. They already know students ofother ethnic groups. In this school, there are many students from SRK. I see themdiscussing their study together. In the canteen, they can interact well. Sit and eattogether and also at the same time chatting. Administrator, Male.

Opinions

Some suggestions have been provided by teachers and administrators regarding thefactors which affect the social interaction among the multi-ethnic students as below:

Although students are from city or rural area, they do possess some similarities from thelanguage and cultural aspect. Administrator, Male.

Students should respect the culture and religion of others. Teachers have to stress thispoint in classroom. Discipline Teacher, Male.

Students have problem to adapt themselves between home and school. At home, theyspeak different language, free, no need to interact with other race, eat and weardifferently as well. This makes them more easily to interact with their own race.Counsellor, Male.

Teachers play an important role in exhibiting healthy way of social interaction inschool. In school, there are always teachers who sit with teachers of the sameethnic group in the office. During assembly as well, teachers sit with their ownrace. This situation often is watched by students and they too follow this negativebehaviour.

As for me, if we want to produce harmony in school, principal and teachers should playtheir own part. They have to interact with students regardless of race and also fair andsquare. Administrator, Male.

Findings, implications, conclusions and suggestions

Findings and discussions

Student’s residence environment and social interaction pattern

Based on the analysis of the questionnaires, majority of the parents went to mono-ethnic primary schools namely National Schools, National Chinese Schools andNational Tamil Schools. According to the research of Lemore and Romo, parents inmulti-racial society often send their children to mono-ethnic schools because parentsdo not have the chance to fully assimilate. Parents feel more comfortable by sendingtheir children to mono-ethnic schools.

As many as 642 schoolchildren were taken randomly from schools selected assample for this research. From the total, as much as 39.60% is from NationalSchools (SK), 38.60% of National Chinese Schools (SRJKC) and 21.80% ofNational Tamil Schools (SRJKT)

The number of male students is 251 (39.10%), wheeras the number of femalestudents is 391 (60.90%).

From the aspect of race, there are 269 (41.90%) Malay students, followed by 233(36.30%) of Chinese students and 140 (21.80%) Indian students.

It is imperative that familybackgroundof students is highlightedbecause thequalityof children’s social interactions increases as their parents’ education levels decreases.70% of students whose parents’ are from National Secondary Schools (SMK) had

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positive social interactions with their peers often or very often, compared with morethan 80 percent of those whose mothers possessed a diploma or college degree. In thisstudy most of the parents’ are from the National Secondary Schools (SMK).

The background of neighbours is vital because individuals who regularly talkwith their neighbours are less influenced by the racial and ethnic character of theirsurroundings than people who lack such social interaction. Racial composition ofneighbours in this study is more multi-ethnic which shows that social interaction ismore multi-ethnic.

Language and social interaction pattern

Based on the quantitative data in Table 12, Malay language is always used in speakingamong students of various ethnics in the classrooms, co-curriculum activities and alsoa communication language in Vision Schools. However, many Chinese and Indianstudents state that they are afraid being teased when mispronounce or use theintonation and sentence wrongly in Malay language because they are used to speak intheir own mother tongue. According to Jacob and Beer17, language is a tool to conveyideas, values, skills and aspirations among people and strengthen relationship amongpeople. Based on the qualitative analysis, Malay language is seldom used as a tool asmentioned above because the usage is less comprehensive.

Ethnic boundary and social interaction pattern

Entailed in ethnic or cultural boundaries of students are situations of social contactbetween persons of different cultures: ethnic groups only persist as significant units ifthey imply marked difference in behaviour, i.e. persisting cultural differences. Yetwhere persons of different culture interact, one would expect these differences to hereduced, since interaction both requires and generates a congruence of codes andvalues - in other words, a similarity or community of culture. Thus the persistence ofethnic groups in contact implies not only criteria and signals for identification, butalso a structuring of interaction which allows the persistence of cultural differences.The profile of students towards factors of ethnic or cultural boundary must be

Table 12. Malay language as students’ communication language.

Items of language factors

Never Seldom Always

No. % No. % No. %

Speak Malay in classroom 37 5.80 292 45.50 313 48.80Speak Malay duringco-curriculum activities.

117 18.20 235 36.60 290 45.20

Read books or othermaterials in Malay.

23 3.60 260 40.50 359 55.90

Malay as the maincommunication languageused in school

133 20.70 221 34.40 288 44.90

Malay language is therestraint of communicatingwith other races.

465 72.40 107 16.70 70 10.90

17Jacob and Beer. ‘Interventions Against ‘‘Racial’’ Disadvantage’.

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general for all inter-ethnic relations is a systematic set of rules governing interethnicsocial encounters. In all organized social life, what can be made relevant tointeraction in any particular social situation is prescribed. If people agree about theseprescriptions, their agreement on codes and values need not extend beyond thatwhich is relevant to the social situations in which they interact. Stable inter- ethnicrelations presuppose such a structuring of interaction: a set of prescriptionsgoverning situations of contact, and allowing for articulation in activities as shownin Tables 13 and 14.

The result of the quantitative analysis proves that the ethnic boundary ofstudents in Form 2 and Form 4 is significant and ‘less’ on the whole. When is ‘less’,then the ethnic boundary is thick. This also proves that although students are in amulti-ethnic environment, they do not try to understand the culture of other ethnics.If the ethnic boundary is thick among students of various ethnic, the country’s aimto achieve unity through ‘Dasar Pendidikan Malaysia’ may be difficult.

Prejudice and social interaction pattern

According to Allport18, individual who has think ethnic boundary often has highprejudices. These two factors are said to be closely related. The attitude that has beendeveloped after six years in one environment in Vision School is negative whichcause prejudice to develop.

Stereotype and social interaction pattern

Based on the findings, Malay and Indian students are having the most stereotypes onthem compared to Chinese students. In a plural society, emotions and feelings are tooflexible.19 Hence, any differences will cause anathematization. According to Katz20,obvious prods such as lazy, dirty, and noisy produce stereotypes between differentethnic groups. Also, Katz21 mentions that if a student who has more friends of out-groups, and then there will be fewer stereotypes because the difference between themhave been identified and understood. Findings prove Katz’s statement where studentsfrom mono-ethnic environment only befriend with in-groups.

Outdoor interaction and social interaction pattern

Result from the analysis in Table 17 shows that students seldom socially interactwith other ethnics when they are already out of the classroom. Only during campingactivities, students of different ethnics often socially interact with each other.According to Theory of Group Relationship, there are four processes which closelyrelated during a relationship: learning of out-groups, exchange of behaviour,creating objective ties, and re-evaluation of in-groups. This theory can be appliedduring camping activities.

A set of questions was given to students to gauge their social interaction outsidethe classroom. Table 17 shows the items with the students input.

18Allport, The Nature of Prejudice.19Katz, The Acquisition Of Racial Attitudes.20Ibid.21Ibid.

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Teacher’s role and social interaction pattern

According to the research, students state that teachers do not play their partresponsibly in developing social interaction among students of various ethnic.Teachers should not have prejudices on ethnics because in a Vision School, studentsare of different ethnics. Throughout the observation, teachers only teach and seldom

Table 13. Profile of students towards factors of ethnic or cultural boundary.

Items of ethnic or cultural boundary factors

Never Seldom Always

No. % No. % No. %

Follow friend’s normal customs when visitingto their house.

223 34.70 148 23.10 271 42.20

Parents scold their children if they bringfriends of other races to their house.

506 78.80 100 15.60 36 5.60

Celebrate Hari Raya, Chinese New Year andDeepavali together with friends, sharesnacks in class.

246 38.30 209 32.60 187 29.10

Send greeting cards and birthday cards tofriends of other races.

254 39.60 234 36.40 154 24.00

Eat other race’s food. 180 28.00 249 38.80 213 33.20Listen songs and see pictures of other races. 78 12.10 261 40.70 303 47.20Same hobby with friends of other races

provides opportunity to interact.165 25.70 267 41.60 210 32.70

Exchange food, drink, clothes, books andnotes with friends of other races.

429 66.80 151 23.50 62 9.70

Table 14. Profile of students towards factors of ethnic identity.

Items of ethnic identity factors

Never Seldom Always

No. % No. % No. %

Only interact with friends of same race 221 34.40 143 22.30 278 43.30Only interact with friends of other races. 344 53.60 252 39.30 46 7.20Will be derided by friends of own race if seen

eating with friends of other races.469 73.10 131 20.40 42 6.50

Will be derided by friends of own race if seenhelping friends of other races.

535 83.30 87 13.60 20 3.10

Will be derided by friends of own race if seengoing out with friends of other races.

504 78.50 107 16.70 31 4.80

Feel comfortable with friends of other races. 104 16.20 286 44.50 252 39.30Feel pleasant seeing friends of own race with

friends of other races.72 11.20 242 37.70 328 51.10

Buy things at shop owned by people of ownrace.

114 17.80 211 32.90 317 49.40

Talk about the good of own race to friends ofother races.

198 30.80 263 41.00 181 28.20

Invite friends of other races to join my race’sreligion activity.

449 69.90 142 22.10 51 7.90

Sing songs of Malay, Chinese and Indian withfriends in the class.

252 39.30 256 39.90 134 20.90

Feel angry when my friends do not respect thenational anthem

100 15.60 146 22.70 396 61.70

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pay attention to the social interaction pattern among students of various ethnic.Herrington and Curtis22 states that teachers should prepare material, informationand visual teaching aids about multi ethnic so that students have the exposure ofmulti-ethnic society. Teachers and administrators can play an extremely valuablerole in creating a truly multicultural environment in their school by giving aprominent place to students’ culture in everyday school life. This means goingbeyond the annual multicultural food festival, or the occasional lesson. Creating atruly multicultural school milieu implies viewing every aspect of the curriculum fromthe perspective of other cultures. By doing so, students, who are typically perceivedas being in need of remediation, gain significant status as valuable resources.Students perceptive of teachers and administrators are shown in Table 18.

Table 15. Profile of students towards prejudice factors.

Items of prejudice factors

Never Seldom Always

No. % No. % No. %

Think of friends of other races as not as cleveras his or her own race

493 76.80 129 20.10 20 3.10

My own religion is higher than other race’sreligion.

339 52.80 121 18.80 182 28.30

Feels pointless in befriending people of otherraces.

503 78.30 105 16.40 34 5.30

My own race is the most successful compare toothers.

321 50.00 239 37.20 82 12.80

Feel uncomfortable going to other race’s houseto celebrate birthday or any othercelebration.

384 59.80 213 33.20 45 7.00

Feel disgusted with the food of other races. 384 59.80 199 31.00 59 9.20Feel uncomfortable to eat at a friend’s house of

other races.380 59.20 167 26.00 95 14.80

Lend money to friends of other races. 314 48.90 227 35.40 101 15.70Trust friends of other races to keep my money

or things.301 46.90 206 32.10 35 21.00

My race is given better hospitality in school. 92 14.30 172 26.80 378 58.90The school management favours to a

particular race.460 71.10 124 19.30 58 9.00

Table 16. Profile of students towards stereotype factors.

Items of stereotype factors

Never Seldom Always

No. % No. % No. %

My race is being mocked at with particularappellation.

372 57.90 179 27.90 91 14.20

Students of other races cannot be close friendsof mine.

348 64.20 225 35.00 69 10.70

My religion is being ridiculed. 512 79.80 73 11.40 57 8.90Must speak rudely with friends of other

ethnics.540 84.10 76 11.80 26 4.00

My race is being humiliated in school. 499 77.70 107 16.70 36 5.60

22Herrington and Curtis, ‘Education And Multiethnic Integration’.

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Administrator’s role and social interaction pattern

The analysis of the hypothesis examination shows that administrators do not playtheir role in developing social interaction among students of different ethnics.Students state that teachers and administrators only emphasize on academicachievements.

Although ‘Wawasan Pendidikan’ has planned an education programme toachieve the ‘zero defect’ target in all aspects of education, this vision is less effectivein exhibiting the role of administrators in increasing the social interaction patternamong students of various ethnicities. This statement is proven by the observationdone in Vision School during the assembly every Sunday and Monday morningwhere harmony of various ethnic is very seldom being mentioned by administrator.Principal also seldom reproach teachers who always like to sit together according totheir own ethnic group in the office and even during assembly. The administrator hasto be free of racial prejudices and ethnocentrism when dealing with students ofdifferent religion and ethnic. This is very important because Malaysia has populationof multi-ethnic. Role of administrators is shown in Table 19 below

Implications

Theory/model implications

According to Bronfenbrenner’s Ecology Development Theory, the children’sresidence environment, family and everything else which has contact with themwill affect the interaction. This theory proves students in Malaysia of multi ethniccan socially interact if there is frequent contact among them. Findings on the studyshow that students’ environmental factors are very important in developing social

Table 17. Profile of students towards outdoor interaction factors.

Items of outdoor interaction

Never Seldom Always

No. % No. % No. %

I go to canteen with friends of other races 294 45.80 224 34.90 154 19.30I talk with friends of other races while waiting

for parents.196 30.50 258 40.20 188 29.30

I choose association which has most of themembers of my race.

125 19.50 219 34.10 298 46.40

I interact with friends of other races in someactivities.

186 29.00 264 41.10 192 29.90

I help friends of other races during co-curriculum activities.

178 27.70 263 41.00 201 31.30

I involve in activities of association withfriends of other races.

199 31.00 229 35.70 214 33.30

I have the chance to interact with friends ofother races during co-curriculum activities.

199 31.00 278 43.30 165 25.70

I choose association which has members ofother races.

264 41.10 252 39.30 126 19.60

I have interest in activities which has multiraces.

118 18.40 324 50.50 200 31.20

I support friends of my own race in acompetition.

227 35.40 218 34.00 197 30.70

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interaction. Thus, the combination of Structure Dimension, Behaviour Dimension,and Process Dimension will make a comprehensive explanation on the socialinteraction phenomenon.

Research implications

This research will help local researchers who wish to replicate with the measuringtools used for this study to investigate other phenomenon related with socialinteraction pattern in the future. Apart from that, this study will also contribute tothe improvement of the quality for the effects of variable on the social interaction

Table 19. Profile of students towards school’s administration factors.

Items of prejudice factors

Never Seldom Always

No. % No. % No. %

There are activities which create interactionamong all races

54 8.40 189 29.40 399 62.10

During assembly, administrator always reinforcesthe importance of interaction among multiraces.

44 6.90 153 23.80 445 69.30

Interaction between administrator and students ofall races is good.

48 7.50 145 22.60 449 69.90

When there is conflict between students of otherraces with administrators, problem is alwayssolved.

51 7.90 194 30.20 39.4 61.80

Canteen sells all races’ foods. 224 34.90 191 29.80 22.7 35.40Celebration of every races is celebrated together. 125 19.50 222 34.60 295 46.00

Table 18. Profile of students towards teacher’s role factors.

Items of role of teachers

Never Seldom Always

No. % No. % No. %

Teacher gives equal chances to all races 40 6.20 120 18.70 482 75.10Teacher favours over one particular race only. 506 78.80 72 11.20 64 10.00Teacher assigns seats so that everyone sits with

friends of other races.343 53.40 199 31.00 100 15.60

Teacher cares about all races in classroom. 67 10.40 104 16.20 471 73.40Teacher explains the importance of respecting the

culture and religion of all races.30 4.70 116 18.10 496 77.30

In all group activities, teacher assigns student tomix with students of other races.

105 16.40 188 29.30 349 54.40

Teacher encourages harmony. 44 6.90 132 20.60 466 72.60Teacher’s interaction with students of all races is

good.30 4.70 132 20.60 480 74.80

Teacher creates opportunity for all races tointeract in class.

102 15.90 151 23.50 389 60.60

Teacher gives equal chances for all to participatein every activity.

52 8.10 175 27.70 415 64.60

Teacher derogates students because of their races. 508 79.10 65 10.10 69 10.70

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pattern if the measurement scale for the variables of this study can be taken in as thenorm together with other measuring methods.

Suggestions

The ministry of Education and schools should plan some programmes which canraise awareness about ethnocentrism behaviour and at the same time encourageMalay, Chinese and Indian students to participate in various physical and academicactivities. The National Service programme should also be participated by everystudents to strengthen personal and family relationships. To reduce the ethnicboundary, Multi Cultural Education (Pendidikan Pelbagai Budaya) has to beimplemented in schools. Ministry of Education should continue launchingprogrammes or trainings in service so that teachers have the attitude and belief toprioritise harmony. Schools should also organize programmes and activities whichencourage participation of students of different ethnics. One of the program whichcan be organized is the orientation activity to help new students in adapting to newenvironment.

The first important principle in this issue is that the Ethnic and cultural diversityshould be advocated in whole school environment. The sense of celebrating,accepting, understanding and respecting different cultures and ethnics should be wellportrait not only in the subjects and the official curriculum of the school but thesetting, atmosphere and the climate of the school as well. The unofficial curriculumof the school is as important as the official one in recognizing the ethnic diversity ofthe society and trying to address everyone equally.

To promote the understanding of ethnic diversity in whole school environment,the students should be able of accessing to first hand updated materials such asbooks, notes, audio-video resources, magazines, newspapers and internet whichprovide correct reliable information on different racial groups of their society, theirbeliefs, their traditions, etc. this can be achieved through at-school libraries or mediacentres. This issue has been well understood in the concept of Vision Schools inMalaysia and all the Vision Schools throughout Malaysia are equipped with librarieswhich provide such information for the students in order to increase their level ofunderstanding about different ethnic groups at their school and society. Theselibraries contain an acceptable range of materials like literature, music, history, etcon different racial groups of the society.

The setting of the classes, gathering halls, corridors, cafeterias and offices of theschools should also reflect the notion of multi-ethnicity and multiculturalism. Thedecorations of the spaces at school play a very important role to make studentsfrom different ethnic backgrounds aware and familiar with each others’ traditionsand cultures. In term of Vision Schools, although the administrative offices andclasses of each school are separated, however, all the students share many commonspaces such as the cafeteria, school yard and gathering halls. Based on the notionhas been mentioned above, all these common areas are decorated by cultural signsof each different main cultures namely Malay, Chinese and Indian. In one of theVision Schools which is located in eastern part of Malaysia, we can see morecultural signs of the indigenous cultures of that are in compare with mainstreamcultures.

Co-curriculum activities occupy a very important position in term of advocatingand making students aware of the cultural diversity of their society. Participation of

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students from different racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds should be promoted.Such activities can provide priceless opportunities not only for the development ofself-esteem, but for students from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds to learnto work and play together, and to recognise that all individuals, whatever theirethnic identities, have worth and are capable of achieving. In Vision Schools as theofficial curriculum of the school is the same as the national one, co-curriculumactivities are the most important ways of encouraging students to mix together andwork for a common goal. As a multicultural society, Malaysia celebrates manydifferent cultural events of different races and cultures. These celebrations provide aunique opportunity for the students to experience the cultural diversity of theirsociety in a first hand way.

Vision Schools celebrate some national cultural festivals such as Hari Raya(Islamic festival of ending the fasting month), Deepavali and Thaipusam (Hindufestivals), Chinese New Year and Malaysian National Day with participation of allstudents from different racial background to make the sense of national unity andpromote the understanding and respect for other cultures. The students participatein different activities such as drawing competitions, singing competitions, etc in orderto celebrate these events together. Some other activities such as visiting mosques,temples or churches are provided by the school officials to make students familiarwith each others’ cultural and traditional backgrounds.

The second important factor or principle in multiethnic system of education isthe issue of school rules, regulations and policies. These rules and regulations shouldserve the process of cultural understanding among different racial groups of studentswith respecting to each individual cultural and religious belief. In order to keep theschool in order, we need some rules and regulations and implementing these rulesand regulations can be challenging at some schools especially with a diverse racialand religious background of their students. This is a challenge most multiethnicschools face everyday. This issue will lead us to a very important fact which is theissue of equality for everyone in a multiethnic society and how to maintain thisequality without disturbing the harmony and sustainability of the diverse racialtexture of the school.

The issue of being fair in a multiethnic school is too different form a school withhomogenous texture. In a multiethnic school we have to be aware that the definitionof being fair is too different. We cannot use the same rule and logic to treat everyonewith it. Something which looks fair to one special racial or religious group may seemunjust to the other. That is why the school administration in a multiethnic school hasto adopt a policy to attend each ethnic group individually based on respect for theircultural identity and beliefs.

This concept can be translated into everyday rules and regulations of the school.For example in case of Malaysian Vision Schools, there are some certain concernsabout the food which should be served at the school cafeterias. As each school hasmany Muslim students, the food in cafeteria should be Halal (prepared based onIslamic regulations) and at the same time to respect the Hindu students, beef shouldbe eliminated from the menu. The same policy should be taken during the Muslims’fasting month of Ramadhan to ensure the equality for Muslim students.

On the other hand, any kind of discriminatory policies or regulations based onracial, religious or cultural stereotyping should be removed from the schools andclassrooms. It has been cases that the academic achievements of the students havebeen tied to a stereotypical interpretation of their races and this matter has to be

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carefully monitored in multiethnic schools to prevent any kind of tension ordiscrimination. The third important principle that has to be addressed is the ethnictexture of the academic and non-academic staffs of the school. It is a vital fact for amultiethnic school to have teachers, administrators and other staffs from differentracial and cultural background. We have to keep it in mind that especially in primaryschools; students view their teachers and school staffs as their patterns. At this stage,teachers and officials of schools have a great impact on shaping the personality andcharacter of each student and this process should be carefully observed. Amultiethnic texture of teachers and officials will help the student to practicallyexperience a constructive interaction among different members of their society withdifferent ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

So as to reduce such difficulties and problems at Vision Schools, the attempt hasbeen made to choose the students and the administrators with different racial andcultural backgrounds in order to sustain the stability and secure the maximuminteraction among different races at schools. There are teachers from different raceswho teach different courses at Vision Schools. This policy provides a trustful positiveenvironment for the students to enjoy the interracial interactions. The role ofteachers to navigate these interracial interactions to the proper channel is central onthis issue.

The fourth imperative principle that has to be paid attention in a multiethniceducation system is the concept of making students aware of their unique racialidentity in the frame work of respecting the ethnic and cultural pluralism of theirsociety. The curriculum and co-curriculum activities of schools should be designed inthe way to help students to discover their ethnic identity and feel positive and proudabout it.

The school activities should be planed to enable each student from differentethnic backgrounds to learn more about his/her ethnic history in a positive way.Students should be celebrated and positively encouraged for who they are.Establishing a consciously positive ethnic identity can help the students to form asolid personality for themselves in future life. Students should feel safe and proud ofexpressing their ethnic identity and history. They have to be assured that in apluralist society; every one would be treated equally regardless of his/her ethnicity.

At the same time, the multiethnic education system has to be aware that thissense of self identity has to be defined in the frame work of the pluralist society.Students should be taught that pluralism is against polarization. Students should beguaranteed that having a unique identity or ethnic background does not cause anykind of superiority or inferiority in their social life. At the same time, students shouldbe informed about the realities of the situation. They have to know that there can beconflicts in their society over the ethnic issues; however, many of these conflicts canbe avoided by understanding and respecting other cultures and ethnicities. They haveto feel that the example of harmony at their school as a sample of their multiethnicsociety can be expanded to their society in larger scale.

In order to fulfil these concepts, Vision Schools teach the mother tongues ofstudents from different ethnic backgrounds as a tool to make students aware of theirroots and ethnic backgrounds. Language can be used as a very powerful mean tomake students aware of their cultural identity. Apart from this, there are many co-curriculum activities provided by the Vision Schools for each ethnicity to celebratetheir identity like art and cultural classes. At the same times, all the students fromdifferent ethnic background are obliged to learn Bahasa Malaysia the official and

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national language of the country in order to be able of communication with otherethnicities and also to comprehend the notion of national unity. During thecurriculum materials and also co-curriculum activities, students are being informedof their ethnical and at the same time national heroes and heroines to make a balanceof their self and national identities. Attitudes and values of living in a multiethnicsociety are always promoted by the curriculum materials and also co-curriculumactivities at Vision Schools.

The fifth main element which has to be considered in a multiethnic educationsystem is the subject of promoting personal cross-ethnical communication amongstudents. This is one of the vital elements in order of having a sustainable multiethnicsociety in future. The students from different ethnic backgrounds should learn howto communicate with each other without any sort of religious or racial prejudices.Personal interactions between students should be promoted constantly by theeducation system.

These kinds of close interactions will bring a greater scale of understanding forstudents from different ethnic backgrounds and it will prevent any kind of culturaland racial stereotyping or misunderstandings in future. These kinds of cross-ethnicpersonal interaction should be endorsed from early ages at primary schools wherethe basis of social identity and personality of each student is under construction.Students should be well educated to realize that ethnicity is just one of the aspects ofeach human life and there are so many other aspects of human being which arecommon among all of us. Promoting the common aspects of social and personal lifeof human being can prevent many ethnical disputes and clashes in future.

In fact to achieve such goal, Vision Schools encourage students to mix uptogether during class time and especially the break time. Students from differentethnic backgrounds are encouraged to play together, eat together at schoolcafeteria, participate in group games and also in the process of decision making atschool like student committee elections. These active participations will helpstudents to have a better understanding of each others’ culture, traditions, beliefsand way of thinking.

The above principles are some of the key factors which have to be considered inevery multiethnic education system. In term of Malaysian Vision Schools, as it canbe seen, there has been a tremendous effort to make a fair and efficient educationpattern (from designing those schools to running them) to address the needs ofeach student group based on the main principles of the multiethnic educationsystem.

Deficiencies

However, as it has been mentioned before, Vision Schools are new to Malaysianeducation system (established in 2004) and therefore they have still a long way aheadof themselves to reach the ideal point. However, it seems there are some urgentdeficiencies which have to be addressed sooner than others to maintain thesustainable multiethnic education system at these schools. The first importantdeficiency in this case is the lack of cooperative teaching. Co-teaching is a servicedelivery model in which two (or more) educators or other certified staff, contract toshare instructional responsibility, for a single group of students, primarily in a singleclassroom workspace, for specific content (objectives), with mutual ownership,

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pooled resources, and joint accountability. This style of teaching will give thestudents this opportunity to learn the subjects from different points of view (in thiscase different ethnic pints of view) and it will enable them to have a bettercomprehension of issues regarding to social and ethnical issues.

The second important deficiency which has to be considered seriously is thelack of special trainings for Vision School teachers. Although all the VisionSchool teachers are trained in Teacher Training Centres or universities; but all ofthese trainings were mostly focused on the academic parts of their career. Theteachers of such schools should be specially trained on some vital issues such asintercultural communication skills, history of different racial groups of the society,cultural sensitivities, etc. A well-trained teacher on these issues can be very helpfulin maintaining the harmony among different ethnics at school. The trainings canbe easily obtained in short term courses, programs or workshops by the Ministryof Education with the help from different ethnic societies or associations. Thethird vital issue which should be taken more seriously by the Vision Schools is thesocial background of the teachers. It is extremely important to make a balancebetween the social background of the students and the teachers in order to makethem enable of understanding each other. It is proven that students from lower-income levels of the society are having more loyalty and sensitivity to religiousand racial values and attitudes than those from upper classes of the society. Thesestudents may find the regulation and value system of their multiethnic schoolmore difficult for them to adapt. It is caused because of their stronger belongingto their racial and religious values. Here, teachers who are familiar with such ideasand thinking can be a great aid to keep the school in harmony and manage theconflicts.

Challenges

Apart from all the positive aspects and also the deficiencies of this plan, VisionSchools face some challenges from the public sectors and communities. There areChinese Schools that refused to join the Vision School plan and they said thatjoining such complex will end up Chinese students to lose their culture and identity.They argue that having different races at one school can damage the sense of racialnationalism and in long term will make students to forget their roots and culture. Inanother incident, there has been a number of complains from some of the parents ofMuslim students at Vision Schools who were not agree with some of the cross-cultural activities at schools. They were arguing that some of these interculturalactivities such as visiting Hindu or Chinese temples or introducing other religionsand traditions to Muslim student can be considered as an act to convince Muslimstudents to convert to other religions.

Conclusion

The idea of Vision Schools has been introduced to the Malaysian Education Systemin order to increase and promote the sense of understanding and respect among thestudents from different racial and cultural backgrounds of the Malaysian diversesociety. The long term goal of this plan is to educate students with a deeper degree ofrespect towards other members of the society who are racially and culturally

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different from them. The Vision Schools follow the National Curriculum of studyinghowever, what makes them different from other schools is the multiethnicenvironment of them. This environment gives the students this unique opportunityto foster their sense of solidarity with other races through some special co-curriculum activities. As the matter of fact, there are always deficiencies andchallenges ahead of them; however, most of them can be solved by time and also faircareful planning and evaluations. Generally, national integration can be achieved byeducation integration through national education system to create knowledgeableand virtuous citizens. The success in increasing the social interaction among studentsof various ethnic depends on the scope of programmes and plans introduced and thesuccess of launching by various level of government agencies. If there is no socialinteraction among various ethnic, then ‘One Country One Nation’ will only be aslogan without appreciation from citizens of Malaysia.

Note on contributor

The author is a senior lecturer at University Sains Malaysia, Penang, currently teachingundergraduates and postgraduates. He has done research pertaining to social integrationamong various ethnicities in Malaysia.

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A3 Najeemah 2012 Study of Social Interaction

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