Teachers` perceptions of interfaith education and its activities as a platform for unity : a survey of selected schools in the Klang Valley

Abstract

Since the independence in 1957, Malaysia has put every effort to promote unity and social integration in its multi-cultural and multi-religious society especially through the means of education. However, to some extent, Malaysian education system has not yet succeeded in uniting the society, at the same time ensuring students’ balanced development in terms of intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical as promoted by the National Philosophy of Education. Thus, a different alternative like interfaith education can be considered as a possible platform. This study aimed to examine Malaysian teachers’ level of understanding of interfaith education, and their perceptions on interfaith education and its activities as a platform for unity. It applied the survey method which involved 350 teachers from three types of selected schools namely National Secondary School (Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan/SMK), Government-aided Religious School (Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan /SABK), and independent Chinese high school in the Klang Valley as the respondents. A 32 items questionnaire was used as the instrument. The data collected was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for descriptive and inferential statistics. The main findings of this study are the following: First, teachers had a satisfactory understanding on interfaith education with the mean above 4.30 (? > 4.30) for all the constructs; second, teachers had positive perceptions towards both interfaith education and interfaith activities; third, there was no statistically significant difference in the teachers’ perceptions towards interfaith education and activities between teachers in non Chinese schools and independent Chinese school; and fourth, there was a statistically significant difference in the teachers’ perceptions towards interfaith education and activities between Muslim and non Muslim teachers. This study suggests that interfaith education is a potential platform for fostering unity among student.