ABSTRACT: The Malaysian government and the agencies had allocated and spent millions of Ringgits to preserve and decorate the national heritage such as the museums, archives, gallery, artefacts, sites, and other historical remains. These are became major tourist attraction which indirectly inculcated knowledge and enhanced appreciation upon the practices of multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Malaysian. Thus, this paper discusses a study on the students’ perceptions of fieldwork approaches to history of the Integrated Curriculum for Secondary Schools (ICSS) Malaysia in relation to the challenges of Vision 2020. The study was conducted in various types of schools in Perak and Terengganu which involved about eight hundred students. The result of the study shows a high relation concerning the students’ perceptions of fieldwork approaches of history and the challenges of Vision 2020. It is hoped that more students would benefit from this core subject of the lower and upper secondary levels, ICSS Malaysia, towards the development of the twenty-first millennium first class human capital of Malaysian and 1-Malaysia nation.

KEY WORDS: national heritage and integration, students’ perceptions, Integrated Curriculum for Secondary Schools, and Vision 2020 Malaysia.

About the Authors: Mohamad Johdi Salleh, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Education, International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Abu Bakar Madin is a Lecturer at the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, University of Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Bandar Seri Begawan, Negara Brunei Darussalam. E-mail: johdisalleh@gmail.com

How to cite this article? Salleh, Mohamad Johdi & Abu Bakar Madin. (2009). “Students’ Perceptions of History Fieldwork ICSS in Relation to Vision 2020 in Malaysia” in TAWARIKH: International Journal for Historical Studies, Vol.1(1) October, pp.83-96. Bandung, Indonesia: ASPENSI [Asosiasi Sarjana Pendidikan Sejarah Indonesia], ISSN 2085-0980.

Chronicle of the article: Accepted (August 5, 2009); Revised (September 8, 2009); and Published (October 28, 2009).

Aldrich, R. [ed]. (1991). History in the National Curriculum. London: University of London, Kogan Page in association with the Institute of Education.

Andaya, Barbara Watson & Leonard Y. Andaya. (1982). A History of Malaysia. London: MacMillian Histories Series.

Anderson, C. & A. Moore. (1994). “Making History Happen Outside the Classroom” in Hilary Bourdillon [ed]. Teaching History. London: The Open University, pp.196-208.

Andreetti, Keith. (1993). Teaching History from Primary Evidence. London: David Fulton Publishers in Association with Roehampton Institute.

Archer, A.P. (1985). The Place of Field work in the Teaching and Learning of History. London: Institute of Education, MA Dissertation [Unpublished].

Best, John W., and Kahn, James V. (1990) Research in Education — Sixth Edition, Prentice Hall, Eaglewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Black, Jeremy & Donald M. MacRaild. (1997). Studying History. London: MacMillan.

Blow, F. & A. Dickinson [eds]. (1986). New History and New Technology: Present into Future. London: The Historical Association.

Bourdillon, Hilary [ed]. (1994). Teaching History. London: The Open University.

Brooks, Aris & Perry. (1993). The Effective Teaching of History. London: Longman.

Carpenter, S. (1990). History Teaching: The Era Approach. Cambridge: n.p.

Carson, S. [ed]. (1978). Environmental Education: Principles and Practice. London: Edward Arnold Ltd.

Cobuild English Language Dictionary. (1993). Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary. Glasgow: Harper Collins Publisher.

Cohen, Louis & Lawrence Manion. (1994). Research Methods in Education. London: Routledge.

Cooper, H. (1992). The Teaching of History: Implementing the National Curriculum. London: David Fulton Publishers.

Dickinson, A. [ed]. (1992). Perspectives on Change in History Education. London: Institute of Education.

Emanel, J. Mason & J. Bramble William. (1997). Research in Education and the Behavioral Sciences: Concepts and Methods. London: Brown & Benchmark Publishers.

Marwick, A. (l989). The Nature of History. London: MacMillan.

McCullagh, C. Behan. (1998). The Truth of History. London: Routledge.

Ministry of Education Malaysia. (1992). History Syllabus ICSS. Kuala Lumpur: Curriculum Development Centre.

Ministry of Education Malaysia. (2007). Education in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur,: Education Planning and Research Division [EPRD].

Sebba, Judy. (1994). History for All. London: David Fulton,

Slater, J. (1992). “Student Teacher’s Perceptions of History in the National Curriculum” in Peter Lucas & Ruth Watts [eds]. Meeting the Challenge: Preparing Tomorrow’s History Teachers. USA and UK: University of Sheffield.

Smith, L. & C. Holden. (1994). “Using Artefacts in History Teaching” in Teaching History. London: The Historical Association, June.

Tosh, John. (1997). The Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods & New Directions in the Study of Modern History. London: Longman, Eleven Edition, First Edition 1984.

Walsh, P. (1992). The Aims of School History: The National Curriculum and Beyond. London: Institute of Education.

Watts, R. (1993). “Why Site Visit?” in Welsh Historian, pp.15-18.

Watts, R. & I. Grosvenor [eds]. (1995). Crossing the Key Stages of History: Effective History Teaching 5-16 and Beyond. London: David Fulton.

White, J. (1994). “The School Look Around” in Teaching History. London: The Historical Association.