PROFESSOR DATUK DR. RAJENDRAN NAGAPPAN
Ph.D (Michigan State), M.Ed.(UM), B.A.(Hons) (UM), Cert.in Edu., PMW.
Rajendran brings with him more than 40 years of experience working at various levels in the field of education. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Education with University of Cyberjaya, Malaysia. He recently served as a Senior Consultant for the World Bank Group on 2 projects (January till June 2020): Project to Review National and International Assessments to Further Improve the Teaching, Learning and Achievement in Math and Science in Malaysia; and An Overview of Tertiary Education in Malaysia: Key Challenges and Prospects. Besides this, he also provides his services to local and international bodies in the areas which include Educational Policy, Teaching and Learning, Teaching Higher-Order Thinking Skills, Teacher Education, Research Methodology and Education for Sustainable Development. He is a former Professor of Pedagogy and Thinking Skills at the Sultan Idris Education University (Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris), Malaysia. He is also the former Director General of the Unit for the Socio-Economic Development of Indian Community (SEDIC), Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysia. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at AIMST University, Malaysia. He teaches courses on Pedagogy, Higher Order Thinking Skills, Learning to Teach, and Qualitative Research Methods. Since May 2012 to May 2017 he served as the Coordinator of the Action Plan for Future of Tamil Schools under the Prime Minister’s Department. He served as the Director of the Unit for the Socio-Economic Development of Indian Community, Prime Minister’s Department from May 2014 till May 2017.
He was a member of the Independent Review Panel of the National Education Blueprint (2013 – 2015). He has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of AIMST University. He has made contributions as a University Senate member of Sultan Idris Education University and as the Director of the Aminuddin Baki Center for Global Education at the university for three years (March 2009-February 2012). He was a visiting scholar at the College of Education, Michigan State University from September 2006 to January 2007. Prior to his position at the university, he served as the Assistant Director at the Ministry of Education, Malaysia focusing on research, planning and implementing various subject areas and the teaching of thinking skills at teacher education colleges in Malaysia. He has also taught in primary schools, secondary schools and teacher education colleges for many years.
Rajendran, as the leader of the project produced ‘An Action Plan for the Future of Tamil Schools’, a project under the Prime Minister’s Department. He too served as a member of the ‘Experts Review Panel’ of the Malaysian Education Blueprint (2013-2025), under the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. Rajendran too served as the member of the Steering Committee, Technical Committee and the Secretariat to produce the Malaysian Indian Blueprint, a project by the Prime Minister’s Department and the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).
In October 2019, he was invited to be a keynote speaker at the ‘Tenth Annual International Symposium of Foreign Language Learning’, in Bogor, Indonesia, organized by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and Regional Center for Quality Improvement for Teachers and Education Personnel (QITEP) in Language (SEAQIL). In July 2016, Rajendran was invited to address at the Third South Asian Diaspora Convention (SADC), Singapore jointly organized by the Institute of South Asian Studies and the National University of Singapore. Also in July 2016, he was invited to participate at the panel discussion in New Delhi on ‘Diaspora: Transferring Knowledge and Encouraging Innovation (Science, Technology, Education, Start-Up India’ organized by the Ministry of External Affairs, India.
He obtained his Certificate in Education from Seri Kota Teacher Education College in Kuala Lumpur. He obtained his bachelor’s degree and his Masters in Education degree from University of Malaya. He received his Ph.D. in Curriculum, Teaching and Educational Policy from the College of Education, Michigan State University, USA in 1998.
Rajendran has conducted various workshops and seminars for teachers and ministry of education officials, both locally and in countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Mauritius, Myanmar and Hong Kong. He has also been involved in training top level public sector officials in improving their managerial thinking skills through courses organized by various organizations including the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) in Malaysia, Malaysian Police Academy and Judicial and Legal Training Institute. He has also conducted seminars and workshops to train teachers and the Ministry of Education officials and teachers from Malaysia, Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal in areas such as educational psychology, pedagogy, qualitative research methodology and teacher education.
He was involved in consultancy work for World Bank (A member of the team which prepared the Sector Paper on Higher Education titled ‘MALAYSIA: EDUCATION QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT – Higher Education Policies, Practices and Issues: A Background Paper’). In 2004, he was appointed a panel member of the International Experts Seminar on Intercultural Learning and Dialogue organized by the International Association of Universities, Paris, held at Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. In 2010, he was a Malaysian delegate to the 185th Executive Board Meeting of UNESCO, Paris. He has served as an Editorial Board member of INSANI Educational Research Journal published by Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia. Currently he is a member of the editorial board of Journal of Research, Policy & Practice of Teachers and Teacher Education (JRPPTTE) published by Sultan Idris Education University.
He has conducted various research projects. A few of the notable projects include, Teachers’ pedagogical decision making qualities: The need for transformation of teaching practice funded by Malaysia’s Eighth Malaysia Plan. He was also one of the two National Research Coordinators representing Malaysia who were involved in a Cross-National Study of Primary and Secondary Mathematics Teacher Preparation (TEDS-M 2006 – 2010) conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) in the Netherlands. He is a member of the research team which conducted a study entitled Education For Children in Plantations: An Assessment, a research funded by UNICEF Malaysia to evaluate the quality of education provided to children in plantations in Sabah, Malaysia. His other research projects include, Teacher Education: Issues, Prospects and Challenges funded by Sultan Idris, Teachers teaching students of multicultural background, Assessment of Knowledge of Human Rights Practices in Schools (Research Project by Human Rights Commission of Malaysia), Infusing Higher-Order Thinking Skills into the University Pendidikan Sultan Idris Teacher Education Curriculum, Teacher Professionalization: Building Teacher Knowledge Base for K-Society in Malaysia and Bullying among National and National Type (Tamil and Chinese) Primary School Children, with Reference to Perak.
He has presented research papers at local and international conferences, including the Ninth (Auckland, New Zealand), Tenth (Harrogate, England) and Fourteenth (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) International Thinking conferences and at the UNESCO Conference on Intercultural Education held in Jyvaskyla, Finland. He also presented a paper at the 53rd World Assembly of International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET) in Porto, Portugal in July 2008. He was a keynote speaker at the 35th SEAMEO RELC international Seminar in 2000. Title of the paper delivered was Language teaching and the enhancement of higher-order thinking skills.
He has written numerous papers on various issues concerning the teaching of higher-order thinking skills and students of multi-cultural background in classrooms. His publications include, Teaching and Acquiring Higher-Order Thinking Skills: Theory and Practice (2008), Teaching thinking skills at institutions of higher-learning: Lessons learned. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 18(3). (2010), Pedagogical Decision-Making as a Basis for Transforming Teaching and Learning: Practices and Challenges of History Teachers (2008) in Lee, J.C.K. (Ed.). Developing Teachers and Developing Schools in Changing Contexts. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research, Hinduism and Governance (2009) in Chandra Muzaffar (Ed.). Religion and Governance. Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF): Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Aasiriyam (Book on Tamil Education and Teaching and Learning of Tamil Language in Malaysia). (2008). Kuala Lumpur: Uma Publications, Teachers teaching students from a multicultural background: A case study of Malaysia published in the Journal of Higher Education Policy, The teaching of higher-order thinking skills in Malaysia published in the Journal of Southeast Asian Education, and Language teaching and the enhancement of higher-order thinking skills published in Language curriculum and instruction in multicultural societies.
He has been actively involved in public service for more than 40 years. He served as the president of Malaysia Hindhudharma Mamandram for 12 years and currently serves as an advisor to the organization. He served as the Secretary of the Third International Skanda-Murugan Conference held in Malaysia in 2003. He was the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 7th World Tamil Teachers Conference held in Kuala Lumpur in June 2006, and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 1st Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris Regional Conference on Educational Research held in July 2006. He was also the Secretary II of the Organizing Committee and the Chairperson of the Conference Papers Committee of the Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association (APERA) Conference held in Kuala Lumpur from 23 – 25 November 2010. He has also served as the Executive Director of APERA (Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association). He has rendered his services to various other organizations including Educational Welfare and Research Foundation, International Association for Tamil Research, Malaysian Educational Research Association, Qualitative Research Association of Malaysia, International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET), Malaysia Hindu Sangam and All India Association for Educational Research.
For more details on my professional experience, please contact me.