Graduated in B.Ed. TESL (Hons) from University of Portsmouth - Darulaman Teaching Institute in May 2013. Supervisors: Ms Marie McCullagh and Dr Mary McKeever
"This research is about the achievement of black and minority ethnic (BME) students in comparison... more "This research is about the achievement of black and minority ethnic (BME) students in comparison to white students at the University of Portsmouth. Interviews were conducted with key personnel including the Equality and Diversity Unit, the Impact Assessment Co-ordinator and the chair of the University Task Group on the achievement of BME students. Furthermore, an analysis of the University’s policies and principles was undertaken. This was done to understand the principles currently in place to respond to the academic achievement of ethnic minority students at the University of Portsmouth.
In addition, extensive reviews of the literature were conducted to understand this complex matter. This involved an investigation into the meaning of the term ‘BME’, as it is not a homogenous group and includes students from Chinese, Indian, African and Arab backgrounds. It also came to light that staff and students often make no clear distinction between BME and international students and it is suggested that this might affect the teaching and learning process in the classroom.
Finally, a statistical analysis was conducted which highlighted a consistent pattern of BME student underachievement in comparison to their white peers. While the University has taken positive steps and the achievement gap has narrowed slightly, the underachievement of minority ethnic students remains a cause for concern.
The talk will conclude by looking at successful initiatives undertaken at other universities."
International Studies in Educational Administration, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in education systems around the planet to shift to an emergenc... more The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in education systems around the planet to shift to an emergency-response mode. This paper explores educational responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the national education systems of Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. In order to examine the educational responses, this study employed a document analysis technique in building a simple case study for each country. To furnish the document analysis, social media platforms of each country's ministry or departments of education were searched for items related to COVID-19 education management. To provide a granular understanding of local educational responses, one English-based online newspaper was selected from each country and educational news related to COVID-19 were coded and analysed from the period of global lockdown in March 2020 to July 2020. It was evident that whilst all of these countries pivoted to online learning during the initial stage of the lockdown, all of them pushed to open schools as early as possible as online learning was found to be ineffective and further exacerbated existing inequalities in education. This study established several takeaways, which included that private-public partnerships and community-based initiatives are essential in mitigating the education crisis caused by COVID-19.
Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2019, 2020
This chapter explores the complexities surrounding the Malaysian education system in terms of rac... more This chapter explores the complexities surrounding the Malaysian education system in terms of race relations, political need of reform, and geographical diversity. In terms of race relations, the establishment of vernacular schools which was initially intended to cater to the sensitivities of the multi-ethnic character of the Malaysian population has continued the racial division of students in primary schooling along the lines of ethno-linguistic heterogeneity. This chapter also looks at the Malaysian Education Blueprint, an ambitious plan to reform the education system, which stemmed out of political necessity from the previous government in addressing the public’s disapproval of the education system. Finally, the inherent geographical diversity in Malaysia has further magnified the differences of educational attainment of the different layers of the Malaysian community. Upon addressing these complexities, this chapter then takes an imaginary position on empowering Malaysian teachers as powerful agents in addressing these complexities by equipping them with comparativist insights. By streamlining efforts to provide a platform for intra-country comparative research, this chapter concludes that previous education reforms in Malaysia were unsuccessful due to the lack of research-based evidence.
The influence of international organizations on national education systems have been increasing s... more The influence of international organizations on national education systems have been increasing substantially in recent years. As the role of nation-states is changing in education governance, this has enabled international organizations to not only govern, but also regulate education practices around the world. In order to unpack the complexities of the advancing role of international organizations on national education systems, this research pays attention to Malaysia, a country from the Global South and has recently experienced its first political transition. Utilizing a discourse analysis underpinned with theoretical framework of complexity theory, this study investigates the Malaysian Education Blueprint, a major education policy document, alongside 24 online blogs and articles related to the Malaysian education system. An analysis of the blueprint shows the nation’s over-reliance on benchmarking the education system against OECD’s standards. Similarly, findings from a discourse analysis of the articles and a learning module, PISA HEBAT Reading Module, highlight the influence of OECD PISA in orienting literacy learning in the Malaysian education ecosystem. Three emerging themes emerged in this study, which are uncritical take on international assessments, the emphasis on decentralization, and the growth of International Baccalaureate.
This research is about the achievement of black and minority ethnic (BME) students in comparison ... more This research is about the achievement of black and minority ethnic (BME) students in comparison to white students at the University of Portsmouth. Interviews were conducted with key personnel including the Equality and Diversity Unit, the Impact Assessment Co-ordinator and the chair of the University Task Group on the achievement of BME students. Furthermore, an analysis of the University’s policies and principles was undertaken. This was done to understand the principles currently in place to respond to the academic achievement of ethnic minority students at the University of Portsmouth.
In addition, extensive reviews of the literature were conducted to understand this complex matter. This involved an investigation into the meaning of the term ‘BME’, as it is not a homogenous group and includes students from Chinese, Indian, African and Arab backgrounds. It also came to light that staff and students often make no clear distinction between BME and international students and it is suggested that this might affect the teaching and learning process in the classroom.
Finally, a statistical analysis was conducted which highlighted a consistent pattern of BME student underachievement in comparison to their white peers. While the University has taken positive steps and the achievement gap has narrowed slightly, the underachievement of minority ethnic students remains a cause for concern.
This paper exclusively looks at the variety of English spoken in Malaysia, with a brief descripti... more This paper exclusively looks at the variety of English spoken in Malaysia, with a brief description of its colonial history and the role of English in Malaysia in present times.
This paper looks at how citizen journalism is shifting the power from traditional media and its i... more This paper looks at how citizen journalism is shifting the power from traditional media and its influence on the general public. This paper also particularly focuses on the Occupy Wall Street movement, which incidentally sparked similar Occupy movements around the world.
"This research is about the achievement of black and minority ethnic (BME) students in comparison... more "This research is about the achievement of black and minority ethnic (BME) students in comparison to white students at the University of Portsmouth. Interviews were conducted with key personnel including the Equality and Diversity Unit, the Impact Assessment Co-ordinator and the chair of the University Task Group on the achievement of BME students. Furthermore, an analysis of the University’s policies and principles was undertaken. This was done to understand the principles currently in place to respond to the academic achievement of ethnic minority students at the University of Portsmouth.
In addition, extensive reviews of the literature were conducted to understand this complex matter. This involved an investigation into the meaning of the term ‘BME’, as it is not a homogenous group and includes students from Chinese, Indian, African and Arab backgrounds. It also came to light that staff and students often make no clear distinction between BME and international students and it is suggested that this might affect the teaching and learning process in the classroom.
Finally, a statistical analysis was conducted which highlighted a consistent pattern of BME student underachievement in comparison to their white peers. While the University has taken positive steps and the achievement gap has narrowed slightly, the underachievement of minority ethnic students remains a cause for concern.
The talk will conclude by looking at successful initiatives undertaken at other universities."
International Studies in Educational Administration, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in education systems around the planet to shift to an emergenc... more The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in education systems around the planet to shift to an emergency-response mode. This paper explores educational responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the national education systems of Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. In order to examine the educational responses, this study employed a document analysis technique in building a simple case study for each country. To furnish the document analysis, social media platforms of each country's ministry or departments of education were searched for items related to COVID-19 education management. To provide a granular understanding of local educational responses, one English-based online newspaper was selected from each country and educational news related to COVID-19 were coded and analysed from the period of global lockdown in March 2020 to July 2020. It was evident that whilst all of these countries pivoted to online learning during the initial stage of the lockdown, all of them pushed to open schools as early as possible as online learning was found to be ineffective and further exacerbated existing inequalities in education. This study established several takeaways, which included that private-public partnerships and community-based initiatives are essential in mitigating the education crisis caused by COVID-19.
Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2019, 2020
This chapter explores the complexities surrounding the Malaysian education system in terms of rac... more This chapter explores the complexities surrounding the Malaysian education system in terms of race relations, political need of reform, and geographical diversity. In terms of race relations, the establishment of vernacular schools which was initially intended to cater to the sensitivities of the multi-ethnic character of the Malaysian population has continued the racial division of students in primary schooling along the lines of ethno-linguistic heterogeneity. This chapter also looks at the Malaysian Education Blueprint, an ambitious plan to reform the education system, which stemmed out of political necessity from the previous government in addressing the public’s disapproval of the education system. Finally, the inherent geographical diversity in Malaysia has further magnified the differences of educational attainment of the different layers of the Malaysian community. Upon addressing these complexities, this chapter then takes an imaginary position on empowering Malaysian teachers as powerful agents in addressing these complexities by equipping them with comparativist insights. By streamlining efforts to provide a platform for intra-country comparative research, this chapter concludes that previous education reforms in Malaysia were unsuccessful due to the lack of research-based evidence.
The influence of international organizations on national education systems have been increasing s... more The influence of international organizations on national education systems have been increasing substantially in recent years. As the role of nation-states is changing in education governance, this has enabled international organizations to not only govern, but also regulate education practices around the world. In order to unpack the complexities of the advancing role of international organizations on national education systems, this research pays attention to Malaysia, a country from the Global South and has recently experienced its first political transition. Utilizing a discourse analysis underpinned with theoretical framework of complexity theory, this study investigates the Malaysian Education Blueprint, a major education policy document, alongside 24 online blogs and articles related to the Malaysian education system. An analysis of the blueprint shows the nation’s over-reliance on benchmarking the education system against OECD’s standards. Similarly, findings from a discourse analysis of the articles and a learning module, PISA HEBAT Reading Module, highlight the influence of OECD PISA in orienting literacy learning in the Malaysian education ecosystem. Three emerging themes emerged in this study, which are uncritical take on international assessments, the emphasis on decentralization, and the growth of International Baccalaureate.
This research is about the achievement of black and minority ethnic (BME) students in comparison ... more This research is about the achievement of black and minority ethnic (BME) students in comparison to white students at the University of Portsmouth. Interviews were conducted with key personnel including the Equality and Diversity Unit, the Impact Assessment Co-ordinator and the chair of the University Task Group on the achievement of BME students. Furthermore, an analysis of the University’s policies and principles was undertaken. This was done to understand the principles currently in place to respond to the academic achievement of ethnic minority students at the University of Portsmouth.
In addition, extensive reviews of the literature were conducted to understand this complex matter. This involved an investigation into the meaning of the term ‘BME’, as it is not a homogenous group and includes students from Chinese, Indian, African and Arab backgrounds. It also came to light that staff and students often make no clear distinction between BME and international students and it is suggested that this might affect the teaching and learning process in the classroom.
Finally, a statistical analysis was conducted which highlighted a consistent pattern of BME student underachievement in comparison to their white peers. While the University has taken positive steps and the achievement gap has narrowed slightly, the underachievement of minority ethnic students remains a cause for concern.
This paper exclusively looks at the variety of English spoken in Malaysia, with a brief descripti... more This paper exclusively looks at the variety of English spoken in Malaysia, with a brief description of its colonial history and the role of English in Malaysia in present times.
This paper looks at how citizen journalism is shifting the power from traditional media and its i... more This paper looks at how citizen journalism is shifting the power from traditional media and its influence on the general public. This paper also particularly focuses on the Occupy Wall Street movement, which incidentally sparked similar Occupy movements around the world.
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In addition, extensive reviews of the literature were conducted to understand this complex matter. This involved an investigation into the meaning of the term ‘BME’, as it is not a homogenous group and includes students from Chinese, Indian, African and Arab backgrounds. It also came to light that staff and students often make no clear distinction between BME and international students and it is suggested that this might affect the teaching and learning process in the classroom.
Finally, a statistical analysis was conducted which highlighted a consistent pattern of BME student underachievement in comparison to their white peers. While the University has taken positive steps and the achievement gap has narrowed slightly, the underachievement of minority ethnic students remains a cause for concern.
The talk will conclude by looking at successful initiatives undertaken at other universities."
In addition, extensive reviews of the literature were conducted to understand this complex matter. This involved an investigation into the meaning of the term ‘BME’, as it is not a homogenous group and includes students from Chinese, Indian, African and Arab backgrounds. It also came to light that staff and students often make no clear distinction between BME and international students and it is suggested that this might affect the teaching and learning process in the classroom.
Finally, a statistical analysis was conducted which highlighted a consistent pattern of BME student underachievement in comparison to their white peers. While the University has taken positive steps and the achievement gap has narrowed slightly, the underachievement of minority ethnic students remains a cause for concern.
In addition, extensive reviews of the literature were conducted to understand this complex matter. This involved an investigation into the meaning of the term ‘BME’, as it is not a homogenous group and includes students from Chinese, Indian, African and Arab backgrounds. It also came to light that staff and students often make no clear distinction between BME and international students and it is suggested that this might affect the teaching and learning process in the classroom.
Finally, a statistical analysis was conducted which highlighted a consistent pattern of BME student underachievement in comparison to their white peers. While the University has taken positive steps and the achievement gap has narrowed slightly, the underachievement of minority ethnic students remains a cause for concern.
The talk will conclude by looking at successful initiatives undertaken at other universities."
In addition, extensive reviews of the literature were conducted to understand this complex matter. This involved an investigation into the meaning of the term ‘BME’, as it is not a homogenous group and includes students from Chinese, Indian, African and Arab backgrounds. It also came to light that staff and students often make no clear distinction between BME and international students and it is suggested that this might affect the teaching and learning process in the classroom.
Finally, a statistical analysis was conducted which highlighted a consistent pattern of BME student underachievement in comparison to their white peers. While the University has taken positive steps and the achievement gap has narrowed slightly, the underachievement of minority ethnic students remains a cause for concern.