INSTITUT PENDIDIKAN GURU

KEMENTERIAN PENDIDIKAN MALAYSIA

KAMPUS IPOH, 31150 HULU KINTA
PERAK DARUL RIDZUAN

MPU3022-ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Nama : NURY NAJLAA BINTI ISMAIL

No. K/P : 010124080110

Angka Giliran : 2020242340239

Program : PISMP

Ambilan : JUN 2020

Unit : V12

Nama Pensyarah : PUAN SULIANA BINTI WAN CHIK

Tarikh Hantar : 02 NOVEMBER 2020

PENGAKUAN PELAJAR
Saya mengaku bahawa tugasan kerja kursus ini adalah hasil kerja saya sendiri kecuali
nukilan dan ringkasan yang setiap satunya saya jelaskan sumbernya.

Tandatangan Pelajar:__________________________Tarikh : _____________________

PEMERIKSA MODERATOR
Markah Markah

Tandatangan Tandatangan

Cop Cop

Tarikh Tarikh

PENGESAHAN PELAJAR

iv
Saya mengesahkan bahawa maklum balas yang diberikan oleh pensyarah telah saya
rujuki dan fahami.

Tandatangan Pelajar:__________________________Tarikh : _____________________

iv
 Content

Appreciation iv
Essay: Teacher Is The Agent Of Social Change. Is that true? 1-3
Attachment 4-8
Reference 9

iv
Appreciation

First and foremost, praise is to Allah, for enabling me to complete this assignment,

Task 4, English Language Proficiency, MPU3022 without many difficulties. Special

thanks and appreciation is given to my lecturer, Puan Suliana Wan Chik for all her

advice, criticism and guidiance during the implementation of this assignment. Without

all the learning that I learned from her, I cannot get and reach this assignment at this

level.

I also would like to express my gratitude to my beloved family for their

encouragement, patient, support and sacrifice they have given to me during the

implementation of this assignment. I would like to thank all the people who provided

assistance and support to me in the writing process and let me talk endlessly about

this essay.

Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to all my fellow friends

especially my classmates V12 who had been supporting me from the begining of this

task. Wihout all of you, maybe I can’t finish this assignment.

Thank you.

iv
 Teacher Is The Agent Of Social Change. Is that true?

The role of education as an agent or instrument of social change and social

development is widely recognised today. Ogburn (1964) explains that social change

means change in culture in two ways which are material culture and non-material

culture. Responsibility of the teachers are in relation to their students. The teacher

has an important role to play in the acceptance and adoption of various educational

innovations, making studies relevant and as the agent of social change. Students

learn in socialization with the help of teachers. They learn to live with each other,

accept responsibility, delegation and authority mostly at the school. Students have

been given the area of concentration and been mandated by their teachers in

study.So, the statement ‘Teacher Is The Agent Of Social Change’ is totally true.

Education is the most powerful instrument of social change. It is through

education that the society can bring desirable changes and modernize itself.

Education can transform society by providing opportunities and experiences through

which the individual can cultivate himself for adjustment with the emerging needs and

philosophy of the changing society. The functions of education in the sphere of social

change are outlined as under assistance in changing attitudes. Education helps to

change the attitudes of people in favour of modern ways of life and develops

attitudes which can fight prejudices, superstitions and traditional beliefs. Besides,

education creates a desire for change in a society which is prerequisite for any kind

of change to come. It makes people aware of social evils like drinking, dowry,

gambling, begging, bonded labour and creates an urge to fight and change such

things. Education also invests the individual with the capacity to use his intelligence,

to distinguish between right and wrong and to establish certain ideals. It determines

the values which act as a criterion for the analysis of social change.

1
 Teacher is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence and

virtue. There are multiple roles that teachers are expected to play in the community

especially among the students. Firstly, the teachers are expected to help develop the

moral character of children.Teachers possess unquestionable set of morality

themselves by showing good values in the classroom and act as a role-model.

However, the values could also be taught. According to Bilbao et.al. (2006) if values

are not taught then there is no point in including values formation in educational

curricula. Teachers exert their effort to teach the students and develop values

formation which are cognitive, affective and behavioral aspects in them.

Other than that, the teachers are expected to hone the talents and gifts of the

students. Teachers plan varied learning experiences which will bring out the

potentials of the students such as creating artworks, delivering a presentation,

providing audiobooks and so on. They also shun traditional teaching and embrace

modern strategies that will spark dynamism inside the classroom. Students were

encouraged to be active and contribute their talents in realizing the learning

objectives. Furthermore,the teachers are also expected to be second parents to the

student. Whatever protection, advice and love they give to their kids, they also need

to give these to their students and have to possess a caring and compassionate

attitude. Teachers can act as a mentor, student assessor, role model, second

parents, counselor and even a decorator. That is why they are capable to do anything

including act as the agent of social change.

A part from that, there are few ways that teachers can do to promote social

change in classroom. First, teacher should encourage active participation and

experimentation with ideas among students.They might facilitate such a learning

environment include letting students teach each other, setting up a system for

occasionally letting students ask anonymous questions, and assigning open-ended

2
projects in which students aren’t given the impression that they’re expected to take

prescribed steps until they get to the “right” answer. Next, teacher should teach

student how to think instead of teaching them what to think. For example, offers a

poem, story, or other object and employs the Socratic method to stimulate classroom

discussion. The teacher should also make classroom processes democratic to

establish the idea that if we actively participate in our communities, we can help

make decisions about how they function.

Teachers are the central figure in any formal educational system. They must

respond to the duty and regarded as an effective agent of social change. Any social

change without teacher is a mere figment of imagination. Every teacher should be

knowledgeable about, committed to, and skilled in working with all students in an

equitable, effective, and caring manner. Students will comfortable and enable to learn

new things without any burden. Beside that, teachers should be active learners who

continuously seek, assess, apply, and communicate knowledge as reflective

practitioners throughout their careers. Their attitudes represent what they want to

teach to their students. The teachers should also initiating, valuing, and practicing

collaboration and partnerships with students, colleagues, parents, community,

government, and social and business agencies. Teacher is well-known as a social-

worker which can give effective teaching, encouraging international activities and

educating adult society that make this profession respected by the communities. Due

to the statement mentioned above, the truth of the teacher as an agent of social

change have already proven.

As the conclusion, teachers are able to act as change agents. Teachers are the

key to quality education, through their training and dedication. They often perceived

as the adoptive parent of the child and normally, not only for knowledge but also for

wisdom and moral and ethical values. They had been trained with various skills such

as leadership skills, peer skills, conflict resolution skills, entrepreneual skills and so

3
on. This is why teachers can act as change agents not only in the school, but also in

the community.

4
Attachment

ARTICLE 1
HOW TEACHER CAN PROMOTE SOCIAL CHANGE IN CLASSROOM
1. Encourage active participation and experimentation with ideas among students.
Unfortunately, teachers and students who want to see some kind of paper-based
progress often push for a lot of memorization of dates, facts, and definitions.
However, this type of learning is not the society-shifting classroom activity of which
Dewey wrote. Instead, teachers should construct active learning opportunities, where
students can be fully engaged with the material and play with ideas without being
reprimanded for going too far afield. A few ways teachers might facilitate such a
learning environment include letting students teach each other, setting up a system
for occasionally letting students ask anonymous questions, and assigning open-
ended projects in which students aren’t given the impression that they’re expected to
take prescribed steps until they get to the “right” answer.

2. Teach students how to think instead of teaching them what to think.

Starting to make strides in this area may be as simple as rethinking common
assumptions about which subjects are suitable for which students and when. For
example, multiple studies suggest that philosophical inquiry is not above the heads of
elementary-aged students. A Washington Post article on the topic describes the
Philosophy for Children movement, in which a teacher offers a poem, story, or other
object and employs the Socratic method to stimulate classroom discussion – not
necessarily about the prompt, but around it. The students’ impressions and
quandaries are what take center stage, not an actual philosophical mode or text. In
other words, students are being taught how to think (and that their thoughts have
weight and value and should be pursued) rather than what to think. Evidence
suggests that students respond well to the Philosophy in the Classroom exercise,
which, when performed just once a week, has been shown to improve students’
reading levels, critical thinking skills, and emotional wellbeing.

Socrates himself said, “Education is a kindling of a flame, not a filling of a vessel.” It

follows, then, that using Socrates’ method of discourse as a teaching tool would line
up well with Dewey’s goals for the classroom.

3. Prepare students to expect the need for change and to believe in their own ability
to take positive steps for the benefit of society.
One step teachers can take to encourage students to play a part in larger societal
improvement is to create a classroom where they’re given the responsibility and
authority to make some significant decisions. If teachers have all the answers, it’s
implied that students are expected to receive knowledge, not offer solutions or
improvements. But if teachers make it clear that, especially when it comes to the big
questions we all face, even those in authority don’t know it all, then students have
more room to rely on their own cognitive powers and problem-solving skills.

5
Teachers might try offering lessons in, for example, how ethical decisions are made
and the role of empathy and considered argument, and then setting up situations in
which students can apply these skills in solving problems.

It’s also important to create a learning environment in which students learn to see the
benefit of a worthy failure – rather than learning to fear the possibility of doing
something wrong.

4. Make classroom processes democratic to establish the idea that if we actively

participate in our communities, we can help make decisions about how they function.
Dewey noted that if we want our education systems to benefit the larger cause of a
healthy democratic society, then it’s important that we keep democracy as a central
“frame of reference” in our classrooms. Too often, he adds, we forget that
participating in a democracy is a skill that needs to be honed in our daily lives. The
classroom is a good place to learn to do just that: Consider making classrooms more
democratic than authoritarian, starting at a young age. What decisions can you put to
students in the classroom? Before organizing a vote, can you encourage those on
opposing sides to clearly state their positions and try to understand and respond to
the counterarguments?

Students who spend time in classrooms with such processes will be learning more
than how to cast a vote when that opportunity is presented to them; they’ll be
learning that their thoughts and ideas count and can be applied to benefit their larger
community—all while welcoming opposing sides on an issue.

5. Facilitate discussions among teachers as a group – starting with student teachers

– about the decisions they can make to drive social change.
Dewey made it clear that he believed teachers and schools had great influence over
society, whether they were aware of that fact or not. If you think Dewey was on to
something with this point, then it most likely follows that you’d agree teachers ought
to be intentional about how they’re influencing our society. The best way to do that is
to come together as a group to share ideas, experiences, reading, and successes. As
these group discussions get bigger and broader, teachers can start to take on
questions of policy—questions that should be decided with an eye on the influence
that teachers have.

6
ARTICLE 2
THE TEACHER AS AGENT OF CHANGE

There are multiple roles that teachers are expected to play in the community
especially among the young people. The three significant ones are to help develop
the moral character of children; hone their talents and gifts and be second parents to
them.

In order to develop the moral character, teachers must possess unquestionable set of
morality themselves. As the saying goes, “values are not taught but caught.” If
teachers tell their students to be punctual but they themselves go to school late, no
one will believe the value of this virtue. If they teach students to respect one another
but they themselves engage in slandering their fellow teachers before they start the
day’s teaching sessions, students will not believe what they are teaching. If they
teach about the health effects of cigarette smoking but they themselves smoke,
students will just regard this as a subject-matter, not something to live by. However,
teachers forget that values could also be taught. According to Bilbao et.al. (2006) if
values are not taught then there is no point in including values formation in
educational curricula. The fact is, values formation is teaching the will. It includes
cognitive, affective and behavioral aspects. It includes training the intellect and will.
The intellect discerns a value and presents it to the will as something good or evil.
The will chooses firmly to act on the good and avoid the evil. As Thomas Aquinas
puts it “the intellect proposes and the will disposes.”When the will chooses the good,
the person lives with it and makes it a habit. Teachers then must exert efforts to teach
and live standard set of morality. If they do this successfully, the community will
become a place of order and unity. Teachers are also expected to hone the talents
and gifts of the students. To be able to do this, teachers must plan for varied learning
experiences which will bring out the potentials of the students. Teachers must shun
traditional teaching and embrace modern strategies that will spark dynamism inside
the classroom. They must encourage students to be active and contribute their
talents in realizing the learning objectives. They have to train the students to achieve
excellence in whatever skills they possess. If the teachers are able to produce skilled
and talented students, the community will have excellent young people who will
contribute to national development. Teachers too must be second parents to
students. It is not a hidden fact that many parents have to go abroad to be able to
send their children to school and the devastating effects of this need not be
mentioned. The teachers then must go out their way to reach out to these students.
They have to regard them as their own children. Whatever protection, advice and
love they give to their kids, they also need to give these to their students. They have
to possess a caring and compassionate attitude. Indeed, teachers have significant
roles to play inside the classrooms that have direct effects to the community. No
matter how hard life is at present, teachers must go back to their lesson in The
Teaching Profession- teaching is not just a profession, it is also a vision and a
mission. Their role is not to go out to the streets if they believe their salary is low.

7
They have to rally knowledge and wisdom inside their classrooms and silently pray
hard that God will pour out resources to them so they will be able to live a
comfortable life and at the same time a fulfilled mission.

ARTICLE 3:
Education as an instrument of social change

Education is the most powerful instrument of social change. It is through education

that the society can bring desirable changes and modernize itself. Education can
transform society by providing opportunities and experiences through which the
individual can cultivate himself for adjustment with the emerging needs and
philosophy of the changing society. A sound social progress needs careful planning
in every aspect of life, social, cultural, economic and political. Education must be
planned in a manner which is in keeping with the needs and aspirations of the people
as a wholeIndian Education Commission (1964-66) observed that realization of
country's aspirations involves changes in the knowledge, skills, interests and values
of the people as a whole. This is basic to every programme of social and economic
betterment of which India stands in need.The functions of education in the sphere of
social change are outlined as under:

1. Assistance in changing Attitudes: Education helps to change the attitudes of

people in favour of modern ways of life and develops attitudes which can fight
prejudices, superstitions and traditional beliefs. It can bring about a change in
attitudes of people in favour of small family towards rising above orthodox values and
socio-cultural barriers of caste and class and towards religion and secularism.
Education interacts with the process of social development which is another name of
social change.

2. Assistance in creating desire for Change: Education creates a desire for change in
a society which is prerequisite for any kind of change to come. It makes people
aware of social evils like drinking, dowry, gambling, begging, bonded labour etc. and
creates an urge to fight and change such things. Education makes underprivileged,
down-trodden and backward people aware of their lot and instils a desire to improve
their conditions. Thus education creates a desire for change.

3. Assistance in adopting Social Change: Whenever some social change occurs, it is

easily adopted by some people while others find it very difficult to adjust themselves
to this change. It is the function of education to assist people in adopting good
changes.

4. Overcoming Resistance to Change: Certain factors create resistance in the way of

accepting social change. Education helps in overcoming resistance.

8
5. Analysis in Change: Education invests the individual with the capacity to use his
intelligence, to distinguish between right and wrong and to establish certain ideals.
Education determines the values which act as a criterion for the analysis of social
change.

ARTICLE 4

Every teacher should be knowledgeable about, committed to, and skilled in:
1. working with all students in an equitable, effective, and caring manner by
respecting diversity in relation to ethnicity, race, gender, and special needs of
each learner;
2. being active learners who continuously seek, assess, apply, and
communicate knowledge as reflective practitioners throughout their careers;
3. developing and applying knowledge of curriculum, instruction, principles of
learning, and evaluation needed to implement and monitor effective and evolving
programs for all learners;
4. initiating, valuing, and practicing collaboration and partnerships with students,
colleagues, parents, community, government, and social and business agencies;
5. appreciating and practicing the principles, ethics, and legal responsibilities of
teaching as a profession;
6. developing a personal philosophy of teaching which is informed by and
contributes to the organizational, community, societal, and global contexts of
education (University of Toronto, B.Ed. Restructuring Committee, 1992b).

9
References
Agarwal JC. Theory and Principles of Education

American University . 2018 . https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/how-teachers

-can-promote-social-change-in-the-classroom

Capelastegui, A., Espana, P. P., Quintana, J. M., Areitio, I., Gorordo, I., Egurrola, M.,
& Bilbao, A. (2006). Validation of a predictive rule for the management of
community-acquired pneumonia. European Respiratory Journal, 27(1), 151-157.

Dr. P Chand Basha . 2017 . M.A. Ph. D. Reader in Sociology, K.H. Government
Degree College, Dharmavaram, Anantapur (Dist) Andhra Pradesh, India

Marilyn R. Garpida . 2012 . The Teacher as Agent of Change StudyMode.com.

Retrieved 02, 2012, from https://www.studymode.com/essays/The-Teacher

-As-Agent-Of-Change-923807.html

Michael G. Fullan . 1993 . http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership

/mar93/vol50/num06/Why-Teachers-Must-Become-Change-Agents.aspx

Ogburn . 1964 . On culture and social change: Selected papers (p. 349). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.

10
11