Effectiveness of social science curriculum in Malaysia: A perception study of the UPSI graduate teachers and school principals

Globalisation, liberalisation and information technology have necessitated the development and empowerment of higher education so as to cultivate human resources who are holistically educated, well informed, adequately skilled and well-rounded. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of social science curriculum of the Faculty of Human Sciences (FSK), Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) in producing educators in line with Ministry of Education’s goals and other educational institutions in Malaysia. This study uses qualitative method which is in-depth interviews with five FSK UPSI graduate teachers and five employers (principal). The data are analyzed inductively and deductively using ATLAS.ti software. The finding shows that the curriculum in FSK, UPSI from graduates’ perspective is at satisfactory levels for curriculum effectiveness and co-curriculum effectiveness themes. However, skill effectiveness and career skill themes are less satisfactory and therefore need to be given attention. Overall the principals admitted the effectiveness of UPSI social science teachers, with improvements in thinking skill aspect, etiquette and value. From the principals’ point of view both of them are imperative to be understood and implemented by educators as best as they could. Hence, the revision of curriculum of the university needs to consider the above findings, and to prepare an action plan in her effort to enhance its social science curriculum.