CONFRONTING MEDIOCRITY IN TEACHING

GOH LAY HUAH

B.A (HONS); M.ED.
JABATAN PENYELIDIKAN DAN PEMBANGUNAN PROFESIONAL
MAKTAB PERGURUAN GAYA

Abstract
This essay was essentially an assessment of the concerns regarding
mediocrity in the quality of teaching in school, and its implications about
our countrys education system. Such an assessment does not intend to
cover all the extensive array of related issues but instead will limit the
scope of discussion to the following important issues:
Introduction
Profile of a Mediocre Teacher
Confronting the Reality of Mediocrity in Teaching
The Need to Overcome Mediocrity in Teaching
The Challenge of Improving Teacher Quality
Towards quality in teaching
Introduction
Our Prime Minister YAB Dato Seri Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi, at an educational summit
on 27 April 2004, voiced his misgivings regarding the quality of teaching in primary schools.
According to him,
Profesion guru tidak lagi dipandang tinggi sebagaimana sebelum
ini. Perkara ini adalah sesuatu yang menyedihkan. Saya pastinya
tidak akan berada disini hari ini kalau bukan kerana beberapa guru
yang telah mendidik dan memberi semangat kepada saya untuk
melakukan yang terbaik. Kejayaan anak muda kita banyak
bergantung kepada kualiti guru-guru mereka. (Abdullah, 2004)
Our Prime Ministers sentiments echoed the concerns of educators not only in our country,
but also advanced nations like United States (Rice, 2003; Solmon, 2000; Tripp & Platt, 2000).
Teacher and teaching quality are pre-requisites in building effective schools Mortimore,1995),
school improvement (Hopkins, et al, 1993) and implementing total quality management in
schools (Greenwood and Baum, 1990). The problem of mediocre teacher and teaching
quality in schools has been a popular research topic that transcended time and changes in
educational systems and curriculum. Unless confronted actively and continuously over time,
mediocre teachers can defeat the richest and best programs and reforms that money can
buy. The desire to give the best that education can offer for our children has always been
related to measures to ensure top quality teacher and teaching. First, however, we need to
understand the profile of a mediocre teacher.
The Profile of a Mediocre Teacher
The mediocre teacher tells
The good teacher explains
The superior teacher demonstrates
The great teacher inspires
~ William Arthur Ward

The quality of a teacher is derived from his or her attitude towards the profession in general,
and towards teaching in particular. A mediocre teacher is not ineffective; however, he/she
possesses neither the motivation to be effective nor the creativity, passion, and energy in
inspiring the students to greater heights of achievements. The mediocre teacher is capable
of delivering a lesson in the classroom; but lacks the interest and commitment, the knowledge
and skills, as well as the drive to go the extra mile to ensure learning excellence among the
students. Finally, the mediocre teacher is disinclined to carry out self-evaluation and
professional self-development.
Confronting the Reality of Mediocrity in Teaching
On 2 September 2001, in a report "FACE THE FACTS, PM: Find out why standard of national
schools has dropped", The Star newspaper featured the comments of Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir
Mohamad when he officiated at the Year 2001 Malay Education Congress:
"Educationists have to identify the reasons for the decline in the standard
of national schools and act to overcome the shortcomings They, should
be willing to accept the real reasons even if the truth exposed past
mistakes."
The problem of mediocre teaching is multilayered. Lack of motivation, or demotivations at all
levels of the bureaucracy may explain the existence of mediocre teachers. This, however,
does not discount the single most demotivating factor of a mediocre teacher that of attitude.
Educational policies and practices

Unqualified teachers. Our education department appointed untrained staff to temporary

teaching posts in schools in an effort to overcome the shortage of teachers in schools. A local
newspaper reported that till September 2002, we lacked 4,654 trained primary school English
Language teachers and 627 in the secondary schools. These teachers did not possess teaching
qualifications, while other trained teachers had to teach the subjects that were not their
specialization. Many educators (Elizabeth, 2003; Mortimore, 1995) held the opinion that proper
training and qualifications affect the quality of teaching. For example, non-English option
teachers who were required to teach the language as a subject or teach a subject using the
language as a medium of instruction might not have mastered the proficiency and skills
necessary to deliver quality teaching in the classroom. Ranis (1997) study of untrained teachers
highlighted some problems faced by them: teaching specific skills, effective use of different
teaching methods, discovering level at which to teach, punishing students appropriately,
inadequate guidance and support, awareness of students previous learning, classroom discipline
and awareness of teachers responsibilities and conditions or terms of work (Rani, 1997:90).
Mediocre Beginning Teachers. It was also an admitted fact that not all new teachers who
entered the teaching profession passed with distinction; teachers with pass and credits were
also admitted. The latter most probably started out as mediocre teachers. Nevertheless, it wa
possible that with the right motivation, such teachers would grow beyond mediocrity to become
excellent teachers. But the concern would be for such beginning teachers who were not provided
the necessary motivation and support.
They might become rooted in mediocrity from the
inception of their career instead of moving on in terms of professional development.
Perceived Rewards and Incentives System. Some teachers perceived that the implementation
of government rewards and incentives system as being unfair. Although the government had
implemented a reward system based upon performance, teachers at times felt demotivated
because of the perceived unfairness in the implementation of the performance appraisal for

salary increase and excellent service award. It was felt that the reward system was influenced by
nepotism and favoritism as well as seniority, but not based on merit. Their disappointment at not
being recognized for their hard work and diligent service was a demotivation that could have been
reflected in their mediocre work performance.
Unpromising Practices. Tripp & Platt (2000) also raised the problem of unpromising practices
which supported and sustained mediocrity by the educational departments. They included
transferring non-performing staff to avoid problems. Transfer policies highlighted why mediocrity
persists. Teachers whose performance were barely acceptable managed to drift from school to
school and from district to district. Education officers managed to "find a school that maybe
doesn't have such high standards and keep (the teacher)..out of sight until retirement (Elizabeth,
2003). Furthermore, there was no system of disincentive or punishment for mediocrity. While
great teaching was greatly desired, mediocre teaching would not get a person sacked from a job.
School Factors
Institutional norms and practices also played a strong role in sustaining mediocrity. Tripp and
Platt (2000) cited such an example:
In a meeting to define teacher performance standards, Principal A
becomes increasingly irate. "Wait a minute," he announces. "You can't
expect all teachers to do what the really good ones do. That's unrealistic.
Someone's got to be middle-of-the-road here, you know. No kid ever got
hurt because he had an average teacher."
Teacher mediocrity took root when principals accepted that a certain amount of second-rate
teaching was an inevitable feature of schools. Some teachers could do it and some teachers
could not. Senior administrators would assign average teachers to average kids who, it was
argued, "didn't really need lots of content" and whose parents would not complain. The top-notch
teachers would be saved for the advanced classes. Furthermore, teachers generally would not
complain about a low-quality colleague to an administrator. Sometimes, problem teachers stick
around for years because no one wanted to criticize them. And parents typically were extremely
reluctant to comment on the record about bad teachers, fearing backlash against their children
(Elizabeth, 2003 ). Rooting out debilitating beliefs about second-rate teaching requires conviction
and persistence from top leadership.
Lack of facilities, for example, adequate physical space, power supply, information and
communications hardware and software, and the quality of equipments, could also adversely
affect the quality of teaching. A teacher might be industrious in attempting to plan an interesting
and effective lesson, but without support facilities, it might not have produced the desired results.
For example, Johami (1997) found that the quality of music teaching in school on the whole was
not satisfactory because, apart from the lack of trained music teachers, the equipments supplied
by the Ministry of Education in 1983 were outdated and not replaced.
Teachers who were overworked and overloaded could not devote the necessary time and
energy towards preparing and delivering quality teaching. In July 2005, the Utusan Malaysia
reported that teachers in Selangor, Johor, Melaka and Kuala Lumpur were categorized as
overloaded teachers based on the fact that they had to work 74 hours a week, out of which
50.4 hours or 68% were focused on curricular activities. According to NUTP, our teachers also
had to carry out administrative work like filling in forms, registration and supervisory duties. It was
not surprising that, in this kind of work environment, excellent teachers might enter these schools,
yet 'not make it' due to the demands of teaching in these urban schools.

Demotivational Leadership.
"Nothing will happen without leadership (Deal 1990). The
correlation between leadership style and school performance has been reported in many
literature on school effectiveness (Ofsted, 1992; Mortimore, 1995; Rutter et. al, 1979; Reynolds,
1982). Leaders who felt they had neither the power, the skill, nor the obligation to expect and
obtain highly competent performances from the individuals they supervise signaled through their
behaviour that they had given up on the adults in their charge. According to Brandt (1987),
"gains and losses in students' test scores are directly related to teachers' perceptions of their
principal's leadership" (p. 9). Low expectations from their leaders, coupled with lack of support
and monitoring could be demotivating such that it could have resulted in mediocre performance.

c. Teacher Attitude
Lack of support for beginning teachers. Maynard & Furlong (1995, 12-13) identified the six
phases of teacher progress: early idealism, survival, recognizing difficulties, reaching a plateau
and moving on. Most beginning teachers often started out in the early idealism stage full of
enthusiasm and zealousness to teach their pupils. But this often turned into panic and a sense of
helplessness when they were faced with unforeseen or unexpected problems very dissimilar to
their expectations and preferences. They swiftly entered into the stage of survival. Many in this
stage experienced what Veenman (1984:194) termed reality shock when they discovered that
the reality of life as a teacher was so far removed from their previous conceptions and
expectations. The demands of teaching in their first year were significantly greater than what
they had conceived or expected. Next came the awareness of the dificulties and their causes,
their limitations and concerns about performance. Then came the phase where the teacher was
beginning to cope with the teaching situation and achieving some success, anxious to establish
routines which work and a growing resistance to trying new things. This was a crucial stage.
Without support, the teacher might plateau out and slide, or, burn out. They might have
reached the plateau phase (Maynard & Furlong (1995, 12-13) in their profession and ground to
a halt (Capel et al, 1997:29) With support, the teacher might move on towards greater
professional development.
Disinterest in teaching. Not every individual entered the teaching profession out of interest to
teach, or love for children. Some applied because the perceived short school hours seemed to
indicate an easy half-day work. Others applied for teaching as a last resort, because they could
not find employment elsewhere. This group of teachers might not possess the intrinsic interest in
teaching children; they viewed teaching as a job and not so much as a profession. They would
carry out class teaching to fulfill curriculum requirements but not go beyond that to instill in the
children the love of learning and the thirst for knowledge with quality teaching.

1. The Need to Overcome Mediocrity in Teaching

Recent studies offered compelling evidence that confirms what educators have always known
the quality of a teacher is one of the most critical components of how well students achieve.
Studies in both Tennessee and Texas found that students who had effective teachers greatly
outperformed those who had ineffective teachers. In the Value-Added Assessment study in
Tennessee (Rivers & Sanders, 2002), Professor William Sanders found that that the single most
important variable in student academic progress was the quality of teaching. Findings indicated
that for American students scoring in the lowest quartile in fourth-grade math, the probability of
passing an eighth-grade-level test (required for high school graduation) ranged from 15 to 60
percent as a function of the sequence of teachers and how effective they were. Students in this
achievement group experiencing four teachers of average effectiveness had a 38 percent
probability for passing the test. Students with highly effective teachers for three years in a row
scored 50 percentage points higher on a test of math skills than those whose teachers were
ineffective. The most startling finding was that the residual effects of teachers (both effective and

ineffective) were still measurable two years later, despite the effectiveness of teachers in later
grades. Whether a child was two years behind, in an inner city school, or a just slow learner, it
was clear that a good teacher had the power to make all the difference in his achievement.
Another study by Stanford University (Elizabeth, 2003) concluded that the best predictor of
student performance on national tests was the percentage of high-quality teachers they had -teachers who had majored in the subjects they taught and were properly certified. Low achieving
students were the first to benefit from effective teaching, but top level teachers also facilitated
gains for students of all achievement levels. Hanushek (2002), in his study on teacher
performance, reported that having three years of good teachers (85th percentile) in a row would
overcome the average achievement deficit between low-income kids and others. In other words,
high quality teachers could make up for the typical deficits that we see in the preparation of kids
from disadvantaged backgrounds.
In Japan and Singapore, the teaching profession was held in high regard (Clements, 1999). Top
students compete to enter the teaching profession, and there were incentives for experienced
teachers to help along younger colleagues to ensure teaching quality. As a result, schoolchildren
in those countries consistently outperform US schoolchildren on science and math tests. A study
by Ishak (2003) in SK Salarom, Nabawan reported that among the factors contributing to
deteriorating education standards in the school was teacher factor : teachers who lacked
experience and who seldom guide their students.
Teacher quality matters. Every child should have a talented teacher every year he or she is in
school. Mediocre teaching may spawn failure in children, who naturally "switched off" when they
perceive a lack of passion. Our knowledge-based economy is creating tremendous competition
for well-educated people. Mediocre teachers could only lead to mediocre unemployable doctors
and engineers. Clearly, it is crucial that we provide quality teaching and learning for our children.
Quality investment in human capital at present will ensure quality workforce for our future.
2. The Challenge of Improving Teacher Quality
During the education summit in April 2004 YAB Dato Seri Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi
suggested that in order to improve teacher quality,
... kita perlu berusaha secara serius dan merancangkan bersama bagi
meningkatkan sistem pendidikan dengan melipatganda motivasi serta
memperbaiki kedudukan bidang perguruan, beberapa perkara perlu dikaji
semula, seperti pengambilan guru-guru, latihan, proses promosi, faedah dan
suasana kerja. (Abdullah, 2004)
Our country had been implementing plans and programs in the effort to arrest the problem of
mediocrity and strive towards excellence. Some major efforts will be discussed below, along with
various ideas borrowed from programs implemented overseas.
Recruitment and Training. The Education Ministrys plans to upgrade teacher training colleges
to teacher education institutes during the ninth Malaysia Plan was aimed at increasing the
qualification requirements of aspiring applicants. By the year 2010, it was estimated that 50% of
teachers in primary schools would be graduates (Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, 2001).
Ensuring that teachers were selected and trained in the subject matter they were well-versed in
was one way of ensuring quality at entry level. In our education system, teachers who were
appointed into the service, whether they be excellent or mediocre, were rarely terminated from
employment. Therefore, recruitment of quality candidates was a very important first step towards
ensuring and maintaining quality teaching.
Preparation and Induction: Since beginning teachers generally formed lasting habits and styles
during their first year of teaching (Dunleavy et al, 1983, quoted in Levy, 1987), it was therefore

very important that their induction into the field provided them with positive reinforcement of their
expectations. Hagan (1994) said that the quality and experience surrounding beginning teachers
throughout the period often sets patterns which may influence the rest of their career.
Induction should be seen as a logical addition to the teacher training process, giving support and
guidance to the newly qualified teacher in the transition from being a student in the college to a
teacher in school, a process not unlike the weaning of an infant from its mother. Consequently,
there had been an increased appreciation and awareness of the difficulties faced by new
teachers, and a general increased interest by all staff leading to a greater sharing of ideas and
identification of resource agencies and support services (Tisher et al, 1978:27). In our country,
induction and mentoring for newly qualified teachers had been carried out informally in schools. It
was generally found that induction assistance provided for beginning teachers were inadequate
(Ng, 1995 quoted in Rani, 1997). A formally devised scheme of support would therefore have
been welcomed by our beginning teachers.
Huling-Austin (1986, in McKee 1991) identified four goals most often given for teacher induction
programs: 1) to improving teaching performance, 2) to increase retention of promising beginning
teachers during induction years 3) to promote personal and profesional well-being, and 4) to
satisfy mandated requirements related to induction and certification. In planning induction
strategies that would meet these goals and the needs of beginning teachers, many resources
were tapped, including veteran teachers, administrative personnel, and higher education
personnel, both in departments of education and in content areas.
Cooke and Pang (1987) saw a desirable induction as having the following characteristics:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Regular help and guidance by a staff member designated for helping new teachers
Being observed by colleague/panel chairman/principal for advice and comments
Given fewer extra-curricular activities
Orientation programs for new teachers about rules, policies, services, administration
procedures
5. Opportunities to see colleagues teach in class
6. Opportunities to talk to teachers in other schools
7.
Seminars/meetings for new teachers of specified school issues/problems (eg. School
discipline) (Cooke and Pang, 1987:24).
Mentoring of the beginning teacher could be viewed as an extension of the induction program. In
the context of schools, mentoring means that an experienced member of staff would provide
support for an inexperienced member, while the teacher learned the job. Tickle (1994:199) found
in his study on induction of newly qualified teachers that all recognized more experienced
colleagues as a source of learning and support. Levy (1987) asked beginning teachers about
their readiness to seek assistance. Nearly half of all respondents frequently sought assistance
when encountered difficulties. The role of the mentor was also to trigger reflection as a way of
discerning problems, considering alternative solutions, making a selection, acting on it, and
assessing the outcome (Lortie, 1975). Such reflection on action and reflection in action were
concrete steps for future professional development of the individual in the process of learning and
growing into his/her career as a teacher. Thus, induction and mentoring bridged initial teacher
training and in-service training in the continuum of professional development, thereby creating an
awareness and the desire for professional self-growth, which was a crucial element in moving on
to become a proficient, and ultimately an expert teacher.

Towards the Effective School Culture. Mortimore (1995) carried out a survey of hundreds of
research and findings about effective schools in the world. From his survey, he listed eleven
characteristics of effective schools as follows: professional leadership, shared vision and
mission, learning environment, focus on teaching and learning, purposeful learning, high

expectations of success, positive reinforcements, monitoring success, student rights and

responsibilities, school-home relationship, and a learning organization. All our schools needed to
build such a culture that believed all teachers could perform at high levels, knew how to support
and spread the work of excellent teachers and understood that second-rate instruction
shortchanged children. We could not simply proclaim mediocre instruction away any more than
we could announce school wide excellence and expect it to happen. Rooting out debilitating
beliefs about second-rate teaching required conviction and persistence from top leadership.
Time and serious work would be required to establish an effective school culture where quality
teacher was the norm. However, with investments of time, judiciously structured and spread out
to provide opportunities for coaching and feed back, it would make a significant difference.
Ongoing Professional Development is essential to ensure that teachers, schools, and school
systems continue to adapt and achieve the best outcomes for students. It expanded teacher
capacity to develop the skills and knowledge to adapt to new challenges. Research suggested
that, to be most effective, professional development should occur on an ongoing basis, it should
be focused and targeted at specific challenges in a school, and it should engage teachers in
continuous improvement (Wagner, 2000). Realizing the need, our Education Ministry
implemented various programs towards the continuous professional development of teachers in
the constant effort to upgrade and update their skills and knowledge. Such programs were also
targeted at teachers in the interior. For example, the Pensiangan-Salinatan Project initiated in
2003 (Dewan Negara Malaysia, 2004) aimed at improving teacher competencies and skills in the
rural areas.
Even though traditional off-site conferences might provide opportunities for teachers to learn
about new trends and ideas, to hear inspiring speakers, or to see the latest in classroom
resources, but they do not necessarily result in changes in classroom practice or better outcomes
for students. On the other hand, school-based activities that were part of a deliberate plan would
allow for collaborative program development and problem solving, mentoring, coaching and peer
observations. New views on professional development would lead to the development of a wide
range of options and opportunities to enhance professional knowledge and skills. The major
models include training, observation and assessment, involvement in a development process,
study groups, inquiry/action research, individually guided activities, and mentoring.
While incentives and rewards might not act as a dominant motivator, it was still relevant to
teacher quality and could be an effective component of a larger strategy to improve teacher
quality, provided it was perceived as fair and merit-based awards. Incentives in the form of
positive motivational influences such as enhanced working conditions or monetary bonuses were
means of increasing productivity. The creation of senior educators posts in the sistem saraan
Malaysia allowed for promotions without moving the staff out of the classroom into management
positions. This excellent move would motivate teachers to greater professional development at
the same time retaining their expertise in the classroom. This was similar to the Teacher
Advancement Program (Solmon, 2000) implemented in Arizona, where teachers had different
levels of responsibility, qualifications and performance requirements as leaders, decision-makers,
and mentors, and are rewarded accordingly. Compensation varies by field (more for difficult to
find fields such as math and science), location (inner city premium), tasks undertaken,
performance reviews conducted by the principal and peer experts from both inside and outside
the school, and achievement of both teachers and their students. Master teachers had the
opportunity to earn over US$80,000, with time available for consulting to augment salaries even
more.
While efforts at providing training, giving support and professional development were important,
the single most important determinant of teacher quality is the individual characteristics and
attitude of the teacher.

Sesungguhnya kecemerlangan pendidikan berkait rapat dengan kualiti

guru. Guru yang berkualiti menunjukkan ketrampilan dalam pengajaran
dan kepimpinan. Guru yang berkualiti sentiasa berfikiran positif, kritis dan
reflektif menilai diri sendiri, bermuhasabah untuk meningkatkan
profesionalisme diri sendiri. Guru berkualiti juga sentiasa mencari dan
meneroka amalan terbaik dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran.
~ Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan Malaysia, 2003
In order to cater to our children of the future, the teacher should be prepared to keep abreast with
current information and skills, as well as possessing the endurance to implement and sustain
pedagogical changes in the classroom. The teachers attitude towards the school and students
influences his behaviour and the way he taught in the classroom, which in turn affects the
students performances. With the right attitude and commitment towards continuous selfimprovement, a teacher who passed out from training with mediocre results could move on
towards excellence and greatness. Among the strategies for continuous self-improvement were
reflective practices and research in the quest for the best classroom practices.
Reflection-on-action was also referred to as reflective practice. This was the reflecting done
after the event: thinking through, and often discussing the incident with a colleague or supervisor.
To an extent we all have done it - whether formally at work, or informally over coffee / beer either
with colleagues or friends / family. Onosko (1992) said,
Teachers who reflect on their practice, feeling and reasons behind
their action are more deliberate and purposeful in their teaching
and tend to have a more thoughtful climate in their classroom.
Our reflection, and its value to us, could be hugely enhanced by a greater understanding of the
process. It would enable us to generate our own vital questions - formulate and respond to our
own learning needs. The teacher might be a skilled practitioner. But much of the knowledge and
expertise was embedded in the practice. There was an advantage in making some of these
implicit understandings and skills explicit - both in order to explain and clarify them so the teacher
could develop them more effectively, and also in order to pass them on to colleagues. Reflection
had another function: thinking about and sorting out difficulties, problems, and errors and thinking
out the solution rationally and systematically. Reflection and self-evaluation was an extension of
cultivating research as part of the teachers professional practice. Self-evaluation and analysis
should be ongoing in the quest for the best classroom practices. Wagner (2002) said,
"None of us can afford to become too comfortable with our own
instructional practices, especially in today's society. Most of all, no
child in our country can afford mediocre teaching, for no one rises to
low standards."
The Best Classroom Practices usually resulted in effective learning, which consequently
improved student performance. Mortimore (1995) found that quality teaching includes an efficient
organization, clear and focused objectives, structured teaching and flexible practice. Levine and
Lezotte (1990) envisioned effective teaching and learning as time-on-task, appropriate
reinforcement, lesson sequencing, wait time after questions, and student-teacher interaction
guidelines. Cotton (1995) listed effective classroom practices as follows:
orient students to lessons through explanation, relation of prior learning to
new knowledge, arousal of student motivation, and use of advance
organizers;

 provide clear and focused instruction through directions, lectures,

independent practice, strategy training, and skill development;
provide feedback and reinforcement;
review and re-teach when needed for mastery learning;
teach cognitive, as well as meta-cognitive learning strategies, through which
students can learn to learn;
use effective questioning techniques to build basic- and higher-order thinking
skills, and
integrate workplace-readiness skills into content-area instruction, such as
decision-making skills, consciousness, and self-discipline.

A Final Word
Education matters (OECD 2001). The school is a place where a child spent his formative years
of development. The child places his trust in the teacher to help him realize his potential and
build his future. In 2002, the World Bank showed that, for every year of basic education a country
provides, its gross national product increases by more than six percent (Psacharopoulos &
Patrinos 2002). In a school where majority of the teachers were mediocre, we were denying that
child this opportunity, because mediocrity would stunt his growth and development. It was
important that leaders of school improvement efforts pay attention to ensuring teacher quality in
the classroom Unless a child is taught by competent teachers, the impact of other education
reforms would be diminished. Simply put, students learned more from good teachers than from
mediocre teachers under virtually any set of circumstances. That is why we need to constantly
confront the problem of mediocrity and not lose sight of the fact that our children had in good faith
invested their future in our hands.
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