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Over the past 20 years, there has been increasing interest in exploring what language teachers believe (Borg, 2006). Often these beliefs are expressed in terms of metaphors (Richards, 1998; Woodward, 1991), but there has been little recent research connecting the two strands. The present study is based on the personal reflections of a group of 72 trainee teachers in a Malaysian University after a three-month practicum in local high schools. In these reflections, as well as currently fashionable constructs such as facilitator and motivator, these students often described their perceptions of the role of the language teacher using various metaphors. The wide range of metaphors volunteered by these trainee teachers were coded into various categories, such as terms relating to facilitating, mentorship, entertaining and kinship. This presentation will discuss a number of these, and also quote some of the trainees’ comments in support of their chosen metaphor, which thereby revealstheir underlying beliefs about teaching and learning. Relating their professional activity to other roles illuminates not only what teachers themselves believe, but also reinvigorates notions of (language) teaching itself. One of the implications of this study is that teacher educators, both in the specific setting and in relatable contexts elsewhere, can incorporate such metaphors into their programmes and in this way reimagine, refine and redefine the role of the language teacher for the benefit of their students, and themselves.

The transformations of Islamic higher education in Indonesia have occurred since the establishment of STI to PTAIN, then IAIN and UIN. It has tremendous impact on the implementation of models of Islamic studies. At early stage of development, Islamic higher education in this country tends to follow a normative-idealistic approach of Islamic studies due to the huge influences of many Middle Eastern graduates. However, changes of Islamic studies approach come to exist when the Western graduates bring non-scriptualistic methodologies and multidisciplinary approach in Islamic studies. If compared to Malaysia, the two poles of Eastern or Western and Islamic or non-Islamic higher education types have been integrated with the paradigm of Islamization of knowledge. Recent development indicates that Malaysian and Indonesian universities have intensified their mutual cooperation through U to U or G to G Memorandum of Understanding. There are several ways of encounters, namely teacher (or lecturer) and student exchanges, literature line, bilateral cooperation, and informal factors. With the closer link between the two people of these countries, the bonds between Islamic studies connecting the two countries have become closer.

To date, past studies on projection of future education in Malaysia show that patriotism of the local secondary school students (in short, students) is yet to be conducted but currently studies are conducted on technology applications on both local curriculum content and teaching and learning, future curriculum of the local secondary school, future agro-science subject, and future moral of the Malaysian students. Benefiting from Delphi technique of Abraham Kaplan, this study attempts to see what the experts’ projections are on students’ spirit of patriotism in Malaysia, the impacts of spirit of patriotism on students’ culture developments and curriculum implementation in the nation.