Discuss the issues of various socio-cultural aspects that occur in the classroom

and propose some practical solutions.

Malaysia is a multiracial country which is blessed with a vast variety of ethnic groups. Although
there are many races such as kadazan, murud, bajau and so on, the multiracial society in
Malaysia is mainly typified by the three major ethnic groups, namely Malays, Chinese and
Indians. Exposure towards the multiracial society and socio-cultural aspects is crucial in many
schools as the exposure drives the heterogeneous population of Malaysia to share and accept
the cultural differences that exist among them through social interactions. However, today, the
increasingly diverse student population in the Malaysian schools leads to some serious issues
of various socio-cultural aspects such as beliefs and norm. In respect to that, this essay
examines the three main issues of various socio-cultural elements that occur in the Malaysian
classrooms, which are division among ethnic groups, language barrier and prejudice against
other ethnics.

The first issue of various socio-cultural aspects that occurs in the class is the division
among students according to the ethnic groups. There are vast array of ethnic groups in
Malaysia and each student carry a differing racial and ethnic heritages which are contrary to
each other to class and this leads to existence of division according to the cultural diversity. For
instance, today in many national schools, the Malay, Chinese, Indian and aborigine students
group themselves according to their races like the old adage, birds of a feather flock together.
They find it is comfortable to be in their own ethnic groups because they share the common
cultures, beliefs and values. The division among students due to the cultural diversity forbids
them from having a harmonious and conducive learning environment where the students have
mutual respect. Ethnic identification seems to be the core cause of the division among students
from various ethnic groups. According to Keyes (1976), ethnic identification is defined as the
strong sense of belonging that people have towards their ethnicity. However, in today scenario,
the ethnic identification term is misinterpreted by the students and they have the notions of
sharing and adapting the social-cultural aspects such as beliefs and customs of other ethnic
groups can be resulted in the lost of their own ethnic. The misinterpretation of students about
ethnic identification is occurred due to the way they brought, for instance, they might be grown
up in the midst of strong racist people. In order to abolish this division system in the classroom,
Teachers can place students from various ethnic groups in a group for each group and this way
will give a hand in solving this issue. Moreover, this method also provides a path for students to
learn, share and adapt the socio-cultural aspects of their peers from diverse ethnic groups

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through the social interaction. Hence, with the abolishment of the division system, students can
undergo a peaceful learning environment in the classroom.

The next issue is the language barrier which is encountered by students in the
multiracial classrooms. Since the Malaysian national language, Malay is not the first language
for students from other races, they do not have solid foundation of the language and fail to
achieve the high proficiency level of the language. Today, many Chinese, Indians and students
in national schools encounter complications in using Malay language between themselves and
with the Malay students due to insufficient foundation in the language and influence of their first
language. The national language becomes a barrier for them in expression of their opinions and
emotions in the multiracial classrooms and there will be a transparent downturn in the academic
performances of the students. Thus, the solution to the language barrier issue lies within the
hands of teachers. According to Bynoe. P. F (1998), the increasingly diverse student population
requires that teachers have a broader range of skills and knowledge to meet these diverse
needs of the students. One of the methods that a teacher can implement in the multiracial
classroom to solve the issue is engaging the students with difficulty in the language in more
speaking activities. The teacher can establish variety of simulations for speaking activities in the
classroom and involve the non Malay students in the activities. Hence, providing more situations
for the usage of national language will enrich their language proficiency and help them to
overcome the language barrier.

Prejudice against other ethnics groups is the most prevalent issue of socio-cultural
aspects that presents in the multiracial classrooms in Malaysia and begins from the part of
teachers and students. In many cases, students whom from very remote areas and have a poor
family backgrounds and socio-economy status are subjected to the prejudicial acts of teachers
and students. For instance, an Indian student who is from an urban area and has a poor family
background as well as low socio-economy status will surely face failure in winning the hearts of
biased teachers whereas a Chinese student who is from an educated family and has a higher
ranking in the socio-economic hierarchy will easily book a place in biased teachers’ heart. The
prevailing prejudice in the classroom can cause the neglected students from diverse races to
grapple with the social deprivation in the classroom and perpetuates inequality in the
dissemination of knowledge which can turn out the victims of prejudice as downgraded
students. The only way to deal with the prejudice issue in the multiracial classrooms is to
eliminate the favouritism and prejudice from the teacher’s mind. Hixton. J. (1991) posits that it

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is unacceptable for teachers and students to have little respect for their students who have poor
family backgrounds and socio-economic status. The ultimate goal of a good teacher will be the
personal, intellectual and social developments of students regardless of ethnics and cultural
differences. Thus, teachers should eliminate the prejudice that exists in the multiracial
classrooms and enhance their range of skills and knowledge of culture to assist the students
from different cultural and family backgrounds to meet their diverse needs and reach their
potential.

In conclusion, educators and other parties such as parents and social activists must take
holistic efforts to expose the students to various socio-cultural practices irrespective of religion,
ethnic and culture and promote unity among the diverse ethnic groups in order to put an end to
ethnic issues and secure a lasting reconciliation among the different ethnic groups in the
multiracial classrooms.

References

Bynoe, P. F. (1998). Rethinking and retooling teacher preparation to prevent perpetual failure by
our children. The Journal of Special Education, 32, 37-40. Gay, 1994

Hixson, J. (1991, April). Multicultural contexts for teacher education: Meeting the challenge of
student diversity. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Educational Research
Association, Chicago, Il.

Keyes. F (1976). Towards a New Formulation of the Concept of Ethnic Group. Ethnicity. 3(3)
1976. Pp. 203-213.