ABSTRACT
This chapter will describe the converging forces, particularly the tightly coupled curriculum and high-stake examinations that shaped IMCEPfs teachers’ practices over time. From the preceding chapters, the IMCEPfs study had identified what initially appeared to be a different pattern of practice among teachers in a subsystem in contrast to the homogeneity of practice in the national study. However, this chapter will describe how IMCEPfs teachers’ practices moved closer to the norm over a relatively short period of time due to the strength of the systemic forces at work within the Malaysian education system. This tightly coupled system with its convergent forces could explain the homogeneity of practice, even among teachers with external support and training.
