The construction of the Malaysian Educators Selection Inventory (MEdSI): a large scale assessment initiative / Joharry Othman...[et al.]

of a nation’s human resource is undeniable. In Malaysia, teaching
has always been perceived as a financially secure and relatively
easy job by many, resulting in mass application for entry into teacher
education programmes. Many of those who aspire and opto to go
into the teaching profession however do so regardless of their
personal interests, potential, and values. Pursuing a program that
does not fit a person’s personality and interest – despite initially
having good academic credentials and excellent co-curricular
involvement in school – may result in unsatisfactory academic
performance, frustration, change of program and even withdrawal
at college level. Hence, in the quest for selecting suitable teacher
trainee candidates, a psychometrically sound instrument known as
the Malaysian Educators Selection Inventory (MEdSI) was developed
as a screening measure to filter the large number of teacher
hopefuls. This paper specifically describes the theoretical basis and
the constructs of the instrument developed.