Responsive and Responsible Learning in the Malaysian Education System

Abstract

Responsive and responsible learning connects the learner to the content. It is grounded in the teacher's understanding of the subjects taught and connects with each student to not only comprehend the subject but also apply the knowledge to real-life situations. Responsive and responsible teaching should help students build on prior learning to develop skills, mold attitudes, and cultivate independent learning. The pedagogies of teaching, therefore, should be attuned to a student-centered learning approach instead of teacher-centered, which is the practice in most educational institutions around the world including Malaysia. However, the process of teaching should start with early childhood education. Only then can the effectiveness of nurturing students to be independent learners and thinkers, which is the foundation of responsive and responsible learning, be achieved. This chapter, therefore, discusses the weaknesses of the current teaching and learning approaches (pedagogies) practiced in Malaysia and the reasons why a change is desirable (i.e., a game changer).