PMC 527: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN EDUCATION ORGANIZATION

2ND SEMESTER- ACADEMIC SESSION 2021/2022

COURSE WORK REPLACING THE EXAMINATION

(S-PM0142/21)

Lecturer: Associate Professor Dr. Aziah Ismail

SOALAN 1
Question 1

Analisis dan hujahkan dengan bukti dan contoh berdasarkan konteks pendidikan
TIGA (3) perbezaan pendekatan pengurusan sumber manusia yang terkelompok
dalam teori-teori klasik dan neo klasikal.

Analyze and debate with evidence and examples based on educational context
THREE (3) differences in human resource management approaches grouped in
classical and neo-classical theories.
(20 markah/ 20 marks)

The role of human resources management in an organisation is to manage talent, the

workforce, which is the core of every business, across all sectors and locations. Human
resources are essential in bridging the gap between workers and upper management, they are
no longer merely people who receive complaints or organise enjoyable team-building events.
They are in charge of encouraging adoption of change, planning the organization's human
resources, lowering attrition rates, and keeping costs under control. They are the ones
responsible for managing an employee's whole lifespan, from hiring to retirement. According
to Hendry and Pettigrew (1986), strategic HRM is characterised by four fundamental
elements: the use of planning; the design by a coherent approach and management of
workforce systems underpinned by some philosophy; business approach is coordinated with
the HRM actions and policy; and considering the organization's employees as strategic
resources in the accomplishment of competitive strategy.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the development of a set of standardized
concepts for the management of companies that we now refer to as the "classical approach to
management." This viewpoint, which is based on theories of efficiency, is a product of the
industrial revolution. People have been searching for strategies to inspire workers and boost
productivity, much as they did at the end of the 19th century, when factory production spread
and large-scale organisations were established. There was a need for management theories,
which led to the creation of Taylor's Scientific Management, Fayol's Administrative
Management, and Weber's Bureaucratic Management by classical contributors including
Frederick Taylor, Henri Fayol, and Max (George,1948). The ancient authors saw the
organisation as a machine and the people as parts of that machine. They held the opinion that
improving personal efficiency might boost organisational effectiveness. They placed a strong
emphasis on activity coordination and specialisation. Few writers focused on efficiency at
lower organisational levels whereas the majority focused on efficiency at the top level. This
theory comprises two streams, administrative management and scientific management. The
operational level duties were primarily the focus of the scientific management group.

The Hawthorne studies from the 1920s marked the beginning of the Neoclassical
approach. The classical approach failed to reach the desired degree of efficiency, which led to
the development of the neo-classical approach. Managers faced a variety of challenges at
work as a result of employees' unpredictable or rational behaviour patterns. Under the
classical approach, emphasis was placed on employment and machinery. Workers began to
rebel against this approach after a while since it didn't satisfy their social and psychological
needs. As a result, focus shifted to the managerial aspect of people. Neoclassical theory is
attributed to its founder, George Elton Mayo (1890–1949). He served as the team's leader
from 1927 to 1932 at the Western Electric Company in the USA, when they carried out the
well-known Hawthorne Experiments. There are mainly three elements of neoclassical theory
of management.

The classical theory sought to increase productivity and operational efficiency with a
greater emphasis on large-scale manufacturing. Their approach to growing them is centred on
rewarding systems for employees, which attracts them to put in additional hours to earn a
good living. Typically, classical theory simply took into account the workers' material and
financial necessities. On the other side, the neoclassical theory modifies the classical theory.
This approach gives greater consideration to the wants and needs of employees, taking into
account not only their material and financial need but also other social requirements like
career advancement and job happiness. Consequently, this is the primary distinction between
classical and neoclassical theory. The characteristics of the classical and neo-classical
theories, such as organisational structure, strategies, considerations, incentive systems, differ
significantly. The hierarchical organisational structure of classical theory has levels of
management. Most of the time, the owner is the only one who takes decisions. An incentive
system is also used to motivate the workforce. Neo-classical theory, in contrast, features a flat
organisational structure without any levels of administration. Most of the time, a team is
involved in both decision-making and execution.
 As we could see, the classical approach failed to achieve the anticipated level of
efficiency, leading to the development of the neo-classical approach. Under the traditional
approach, managers faced a variety of challenges due to unpredictable or reasonable
employee behaviour patterns. Because of this, managers needed to understand the "people
side" of their company. Neo-classical theories of management, which integrated behavioural
sciences with traditional management ideas, were established in an effort to address issues
that the classical theories were unable to address.

The classical approach focused primarily on improving worker and organisational

efficiency through management techniques that were the result of diligent observation. The
fundamental focus of the classical method is the search for general operating principles in the
pursuit of economic efficiency. The individual differences that the classical theory neglected
were acknowledged by the neo-classical theory. Every individual has thoughts, feelings,
attitudes, expectations, and hopes. Additionally, the neo-classical approach promoted a mix
of financial and non-financial incentives as part of a motivation package to help employees
feel comfortable at work and boost productivity.

In the classical theory, it is challenging to get people to work, however in the Neo-
classical theory, it is simpler to get workers motivated by psychological needs rather than just
by financial incentives. In education context teachers would perform their task at their best
without demanding rewards or hopping for appraisals to be given for their effort.
Neoclassical writers stressed the need for management to show more concern for the growth
and happiness of their workforce.

While the Neo-Classical Theory is employee-oriented, the Classical Theory is job-

oriented. We could see in Malaysia the teachers’ welfares are being taken in good care as
there are efforts in changing teachers’ burden at work. For example, Teachers are only keying
data only and submitting most task nowadays via online. In a traditional theory, decision-
making is conducted in a management manner; however, in a neo-classical theory, decision-
making is based on employee and group approach. In Malaysia decision making involves
teachers and they are satisfied with their job. They could bring proper changes to the
education system in their decision making with the management. Neo-classical theory is
significantly more beneficial to management and teachers in the context of education. Staff
members are more satisfied with their jobs and careers because they are involved in the
decision-making process.
Soalan 2

Bagaimana Komuniti Pembelajaran Professional menyumbang kepada

pembangunan professional yang berterusan? Analisis dan hujahkan dengan contoh
dan bukti yang relevan dalam konteks organisasi anda.

How does the Professional Learning Community contribute to continuous

professional development? Analyze and argue with relevant examples and evidence
in the context of your organization.

(20 markah/ 20 marks)

A professional learning community, or PLC, is a group of educators who frequently

collaborate, share knowledge, and meet to enhance both their teaching abilities and students'
academic performance. The phrase is frequently used to describe academic institutions or
colleges of education that promote professional growth through small-group collaboration.
The best explanation of the tactic was offered by Shirley Hord, a specialist in school
leadership, who said, "The three words illustrate the concept: Professionals getting together
in a group, a community, and aspire to learn." PLC was described by Rosenholtz (1989) as a
beneficial approach that should be promoted in schools to improve instructors' T&L.
According to Boyer (2010), PLC is a process that involves bringing the community into the
classroom to assist instructors' teaching and student learning activities as well as bringing the
community into the classroom to support good classroom practises. The local community,
instructors, students, and school administration are working together on this learning project.
According to Hord (1997), a PLC is a group of professionals, including teachers and school
administrators, who are dedicated to continuously learning new information and imparting
cutting-edge teaching methods in order to raise the academic accomplishment of their pupils.
He went on to say that PLC-using schools should focus on five key areas: first, sharing vision
and mission; second, supporting leadership; third, group learning and application of learning;
fourth, sharing of personal practise; and fifth, organisation support. According to another
description provided by Brucker (2013), PLC is a process where teachers collaborate to
advance their expertise, which can then help students' learning and accountability for
outcomes. PLC is a way for educators to work together and share knowledge as part of
professional development activities to enhance their abilities in teaching and learning. It is a
strong reform or catalyst (DuFour et al.,2005)

The Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 outlines teachers’ transformation into

their profession of choice. To enable this transition, Professional Learning Communities
(PLCs) has been established to assist in developing high quality teachers who can achieve
their full potential. One of the changes is to transform teaching into the profession of choice.
To ensure this change, it is posited that the quality of teachers' Continuous Professional
Development (CPD) needs to be upgraded in order to enable them to achieve their full
potential in the teaching profession. In the Malaysian education hierarchy, the Teacher
Education Division is responsible for providing this CPD programme to the teachers.
Therefore in 2014, 'the manual of CPD plan' was launched by the Teacher Education Division
team (MOE, 2014). The major aims of the plan are to upgrade teachers' learning and skills,
and develop teachers' potential, quality and performance to achieve the standard of developed
countries in education. There are several activities outlined in the plan and the major one is to
implement PLCs in schools.The Malaysian Education Improvement Strategy (MOE, 2014)
states that peer coaching is a component that contributes to teachers' PLCs (Eng et al., 2012).
In Malaysia, 1548 schools have adopted the PLC ethos since 2011 as part of their CPD
programme to raise teachers' professionalism (MOE, 2015). The major goal of PLCs is to
engage everyone in the idea of maximising their potential, including all staff and students, in
order to enhance the school (Stoll et al., 2006). Therefore, it is crucial for teachers to work
together as peers in a school setting to generate opportunities for sharing, coaching, and
cooperating on school improvement (Morel, 2014).

PLC provides a platform for educators to discuss their ideas and experiences. Since
they can "learn to teach," teachers will have more value as a result of this sharing. Based on a
number of local and international definitions, it can be said that a professional learning
community (PLC) is a collaborative effort among teachers in a school to improve T&L
quality through knowledge and experience sharing to ensure that every student gets their due
to enjoy and benefit from T&L. However, the support of the principal and teachers is crucial
to PLC. Without their assistance, PLC would not be able to grow well and would fail.

Professional learning communities frequently have two main objectives: raising

student educational aspirations, performance, and attainment through more effective teaching
and leadership; and improving the knowledge and skills of educators through group study,
information sharing, and professional dialogue. Professional learning communities frequently
serve as a sort of action research, providing a forum for teachers to continuously question, re-
evaluate, improve, and enhance their teaching methodologies and subject-matter expertise.
Meetings are purpose-driven discussions led by educators with leadership experience in
professional learning communities. Meeting attendance may be wholly optional in certain
schools, just a small portion of the faculty will choose to attend or it may be a requirement for
all faculty members across the board. School-level study also shows positive effects when
teachers share knowledge and reflect in professional learning communities. 

PLC primarily focuses on six areas, including collaboration, shared leadership,

teachers' school decisions, teachers' deprivatization of practise, supportive environments, and
school culture. These domains were derived from earlier research on PLC conducted in the
contexts of Hord (1997), DuFour and Eaker (1998), among others. Studies by academics
show that teachers who work together with their colleagues will not only enhance their own
techniques but will also aid the education of their students. Similar to this, research has
shown that shared leadership fosters teacher leaders, relationships, and the development of
networks that support teacher learning and innovation. Positive impact on teachers’ attitude
and relationship were observed by scholars (Bergman et al. 2012; Hoch & Dulebohn 2013).
Shared leadership cultivates teacher leaders, builds relationship, and develops network that
give opportunities for teacher development, learning and innovation (Fullan 2001). The basic
idea of shared practice is to nurture collaborative connection among educators (Louis et al.
1996), where teachers meet and observe one another to assist in student achievement, to
enhance teachers’ capability, and provide encouraging feedback on pedagogical practices
(Hipp & Huffman 2010). The definition of a teacher's involvement in the classroom is their
participation in the decision-making process to achieve administrative objectives (Knoop
1995). Teachers develop a sense of commitment to the organisation and a sense of belonging
when they participate in school decision-making (Saha & Kumar 2017). According to
research, successful teacher professional development involves continuous periods of active
learning with a focus on a particular subject.

The state education department in Malaysia has introduced PLC to provide educators
with the most recent pedagogy and instructional methods. As the curriculum evolves
throughout time, it is a component to occasionally strengthen educators and teachers. The
goal of this effort is to ensure that instructors in schools receive ongoing professional
development. In Malaysia, the cooperation of NGO's and other governmental entities has also
enabled PLC to reach the majority of teachers in both urban and rural locations. The primary
goal of the PLC concept is to concentrate on sharing teachers' expertise and knowledge,
developing trusting bonds, organising targeted programmes, mobilising available resources in
the environment, and sharing leadership in order to implement Malaysia's national education
policy and produce high-caliber human capital in the future. In order to provide a high level
of satisfaction and interest in each student as a whole, the implementation of this PLC serves
as a teaching medium through a collaborative process between teachers and various parties in
resolving issues related to teaching and teaching (PdP) in the classroom and outside the
classroom.