Education In Malta Research Articles

Uncovering and Tackling Educational Inequalities Caused by the Pandemic: Parents’ Perspectives for Equitable Education in Malta

The COVID-19 pandemic enforced the immediate closure of schools, demanding schools to offer remote teaching to children who were isolated in their homes. However, not all schools and educators were ready, skillful and motivated to meet the challenges of the shift to online modes of teaching and learning. As a result, families were affected unequally, and existing educational inequalities became wider and more pervasive. Children from lower-educated and socio-economic backgrounds were the most affected as they had less access to technological resources and less support from their parents. In this regard, the aim of this study was to explore the educational inequalities that were amplified by the pandemic as experienced by children aged 0 – 11 years, from their parents’ perspective. Quantitative data was gathered through two questionnaires which were conducted in September 2020 and 2021 about school closure. This study analyses the different inequalities experienced by children when schools shifted to remote teaching, including the different levels of responsiveness and support provided by schools. Data shows that children and their families experienced inequalities in the provision of online teaching and support provided by schools, which resulted in disengagement and learning loss. Keywords: educational inequality, equitable education, parents’ perspectives, remote teaching, pandemic DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-12-02 Publication date: April 30 th 2023

Editorial

With its commitment to fostering lifelong learning and continuous professional development of educators, the Institute for Education is proud of the achievement of its course participants, and through this issue of the Malta Journal of Education it wishes to celebrate their commitment and dedication. During the Academic Year 2021/2022 thirty-eight course participants completed their Master’s degree and sixteen course participants their Bachelor degree. As they are all part-time students and, in the majority, already practitioners in the field, the Institute for Education is conscious of the considerable commitment they have made throughout their studies. Reconciling this with family commitments often leaves limited time for self-care and wellbeing. The Institute for Education, therefore, wishes to not only celebrate their achievement but also wants to give their research the visibility it deserves for the improvement of education in Malta. The Academic Year 2021/2022 saw the second cohort of course participants submitting their dissertations and completing their Bachelor and Master’s degrees at the Institute for Education. It also marked the first year of full-time lecturing staff at the Institute for Education. As such it proved to be a period of both growth and consolidation. This issue of the Malta Journal of Education is acknowledging this growth by incorporating both research carried out by our course participants as well as by its lecturers and staff. The present issue also wishes to remember a special course participant and colleague of ours – Mr Arthur Victor Agius. Arthur followed the Bachelor of Education (Honours) Hospitality at the Institute for Education. A committed educator, Arthur continued to further his studies throughout his life. His passing has left his family as well as the students and staff at the Institute for Education with a void. We would like to remember and honour him with this issue by calling to mind the importance of following one’s passion in life.

The travails of gerontology education in Malta: Challenges and possibilities

As in recent decades, Malta has experienced an increase in both the number of available university programs in ageing studies and graduate students, the aim of this article is to evaluate the country’s efforts in ensuring a trained workforce in gerontology, geriatrics, and dementia education. While Malta punches above its weight as far as gerontology education is concerned, one also notes a number of shortcomings. The country is still devoid of a clear space for professional gerontologists to put in practice all their knowledge, and unfortunately both public and private employers are still highly unaware of the skills that professional gerontologists can bring toward the improvement of the quality of life and well-being of older persons living either in the community or long-term care. Moreover, curricula remain hindered by two key limitations. Primarily, there is a disproportionate Western bias in the choice of theories and practices in all realms of ageing studies. Second, that no full-time faculty member at the Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies is a geriatrician, and that such faculty members all service the University on a visiting basis. In this respect, this chapter recommends three key and urgent strategies for gerontology education in Malta. These include establishing gerontology as a discipline in its own right is long overdue, founding gerontology as a bona fide profession, and accrediting gerontology.

How can the Charter for 21st century literacies support technology-mediated teaching and learning?

This work presents a critical review of pedagogical practices regarding the use of technologies. Hence, the practices that can make a positive contribution to children’s literacy learning are identified. The study sets out to explore the pedagogical strategies that can be applied through the use of portable devices and other technologies in teaching and learning. It draws on an empirical study in two classrooms of a Maltese state school that I conducted between February and June 2016. The key findings indicated a number of pedagogical affordances which promoted multiliteracies, engagement with a range of modes and media, and collaboration. However, the study also identified that some areas were less well developed, such as the use of playful pedagogies, innovation and experimentation, and critical thinking. The implications for teacher education in Malta are considered.

Leadership perspectives: senior educational leaders from Malta tell their stories

ABSTRACT Leadership is a topic of vast exploration, with different scholars coming up with various definitions, descriptions and characteristics of effective leadership. The main aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the experiences and perceptions of senior educational leaders working in the Department of Education in Malta. The study was investigated from a constructivist and interpretivist paradigm. The data gathered through in-depth interviews was analysed manually using a hybrid approach method. Amongst various concepts, two salient themes on leadership emerged, namely how these leaders view leadership, and the importance of healthy relationships in leadership. The findings demonstrated that the participants in the exploration have a clear notion of leadership, and they appreciate that for effective leadership, healthy relationship with the stakeholders should be an important aspect. Two important recommendations that were established from this study are organised professional development programmes in leadership, and training programmes focusing on how to build healthy collegial relationships.

Unpretentious education: a Foucaultian study of inclusive education in Malta

This article adopts a theoretical perspective inspired from the work of Michel Foucault to explore the experience of disabled students in Malta. In particular, it studies the discourses and educational practices of five students and their educators. The research explores the idea that students’ voices should be imperative in their Individualised Educational Plan (IEP). The article argues that, although inclusive education is presented as a more progressive and emancipatory model, it is still ridden with similar problems associated with the older paradigm of 'special education needs'. Disabled students remain individualised, labelled, categorised, treated with special consideration and held personally accountable for their unsuccessful integration in the mainstream educational system. Consequently, the article proposes the idea that genuine inclusive education entails the notion of unpretentious education, that is, the necessity that educators silence their dominant voices; brush aside the hegemonic effects of culturally defined and socially constructed discourses and practices; call out and avoid normalising ways of distinguishing between students; and appreciate the magnitude of the voice of disabled students. Points of interest The article explores the experience of disabled students in Malta. Inclusive education is still associated with special education needs. Education is truly inclusive when educators do not assume that they know everything about disability. We should listen to disabled students’ voices and rethink the way we talk about inclusive education, the way we practise it, and the way we think about disabled students. It is hoped that, then, disabled students will feel that they truly belong in schools, where difference is truly accepted. It is then that each disabled student can exclaim, ‘being different is okay!’

The Impact of Enterprise Education on Students pursuing Professional Higher Education in Malta: A Grounded Theory study

This study examines the impact of enterprise education on students pursuing Professional Higher Education (PHE) at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST). At EQF Levels 5,6 and 7, PHE is seen to include higher levels of work-related practice and stronger components of impact-based applied research. In particular, the study maps out the students’ learning process by understanding their capabilities to generate ideas and to nurture their enterprise skills by recognising opportunities, solving problems, building relationships, and strengthening self-confidence prior to entering an enterprise venture. Relatively little is known about how students, pursuing enterprise education in a PHE context, are maximizing their potential in order to achieve a higher level of engagement in their enterprise activities within a dynamic business environment. The research method applied is that of grounded theory as advocated by Corbin and Strauss’s (2008, 2015) conditional matrix and Charmaz’s (2006, 2014) constructivist approach. Interpretive and qualitative in-depth interviews are undertaken with five participants, namely fresh graduates from the Master of Business Administration (for the Small Business), specialising in Enterprise Education at MCAST. The approach adopted in this study is in line with research developments in recent years, whereby grounded theory is being used as a methodology using the interpretative approach to undertake enterprise research (Urquhart 2013). It is expected that this initial study will be further extended until theoretical saturation is achieved. An early parsimonious model explains how enterprise education influences PHE students’ entrepreneurial behaviour prior to their engagement in any enterprise venture. In this research study, findings indicate that the paradigm shift from a direct learning approach to an applied research component, during which students directly interview entrepreneurs on topics related to their modules, significantly influences the mindset of PHE students pursuing Enterprise Education. This applied research study comprises several implications for the enhancement of delivering excellence in Enterprise Education by influencing the PHE students’ skills and competences. It provides policy-makers, academic researchers and other educational managers with a theoretical framework that can provide them with factors that may enhance the skills set of prospective entrepreneurs.

Ethics education in Maltese public schools: a response to otherness or a contribution to Othering?

This paper reflects on the establishment of an Ethics Education Programme for school pupils aged between five and sixteen years who opt out of Catholic Religious Education in Malta. It needs to be seen in the light of the changing demography of Malta and the increasing secularisation of the country, as well as to the growing racism, islamophobia and rejection of the Other to be found all over Europe (and of course beyond). We question if the Ethics Education Programme, in its commitment to ‘totalising’ western ideals of rationality, autonomy, and universal values, is itself rooted in discomfort with the Other and constitutes a form of ethical violence. The work of Emmanuel Levinas on Otherness, sameness and violence is central to this paper.

Clinical pharmacy education and practice evolvement in Malta

AbstractIntroductionMalta, a member state in the European Union, provides an education in line with the requirements for professional registration in Europe including a unique pharmacy education program with patient‐focused practice and synergism between practice, research, and education. A postgraduate Doctorate in Pharmacy program, which runs in collaboration with the College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago provides an opportunity for advanced clinical pharmacy practice and innovative practice research.ObjectiveThis paper discusses how outcomes of pharmacy education developments have impacted pharmacy practice in Malta.MethodsPharmacy education at the University of Malta is examined through an analysis of the facilitators of change, the positiveness of this transformation in pharmacy education, and a critical description of the evolving pharmacy course changes. Objectives and strengths of the changes and how practice research influenced the development of collaborative clinical pharmacy services are described. The uniqueness of clinical pharmacy aspects in community pharmacy, as prompted through educational models, is highlighted. Inspirational aspects through international collaborations, including the establishment of a postgraduate doctorate in pharmacy, are described.ResultsThe leveraging of education, practice, and research provided synergism for advancing pharmacy practice which puts the patient in the center. Transformative education models focusing on empowering graduates were developed and practice research was used to advance practice within health systems. Facilitators included particular settings such as the closeness of the family doctors in community pharmacies, the participation of academics in regulatory sciences leadership, and in international collaborations. The postgraduate professional doctorate in pharmacy program that was developed contributes to the advancement of clinical pharmacy both locally and internationally.ConclusionThe characteristics of pharmacy education in Malta involve the absorption of change in a transformative process that produced positive pharmacy education outcomes and an impact on clinical pharmacy evolvements in both hospital and community practice.

Clinical Legal Education in Malta: Learning from experience and identifying the challenges

This paper introduces the reader to clinical legal education in Malta by: 1) outlining how the internal hybridity of the Maltese legal system and the juxtaposition of English and Continental models in Maltese legal education have influenced the development of the Law Clinic at the University of Malta; 2) describing how the Maltese clinical model operates currently; 3) reviewing the experiences of students involved in clinical work.

DEVELOPMENT OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF MALTA: RESEARCH BASE OF INFORMATION SOURCES

In the present article the source base of the research has been defined in accordance with the stages of inclusive education development in Republic of Malta (denial, acceptance, awareness, inclusion). The main groups of historical and pedagogical works aimed at studying and generalizing of investigation material have been allocated and described. The source base of the research includes documentary (documents providing legislation and guidance for inclusive education in Malta), analytical sources that highlight historical and pedagogical process of inclusive education development in Republic of Malta, scientific pedagogical periodicals that contain descriptions of practical experience of implementing inclusive education in various types of educational establishments in Republic of Malta. Within the article the source base periods of study according to the stages of development of inclusive education of the Republic of Malta. The researcher determines the valuable study and extrapolation of the positive experience of the Republic of Malta, which occupies a leading position among EU countries not only through the development of legislative and normative provision of inclusive education, the creation of innovative educational institutions (resource centers), the preparation of competent pedagogical staff, but also the formation of a special value the attitude towards children with special educational problems, which manifests itself in the respect and recognition of the diversity of students. The article establishes the source of the study of the inclusive education of the Republic of Malta. The following methods were used to solve this goal: theoretical analysis and generalization of scientific sources: psychological and pedagogical literature systematization and generalization, foreign and domestic scientists' works, legal documents and statistical data of the Republic of Malta for the disclosure of key concepts of the study; problem-chronological to determine the chronology of the formation and development of inclusive education in the Republic of Malta.

The role of national culture in shaping health workforce collaboration: Lessons learned from a case study on attitudes to interprofessional education in Malta

The World Health Organisation identifies interprofessional education (IPE) as a key element for preparing a collaborative workforce. However, global implementation remains challenging due to individual, professional and organisational barriers. A qualitative case study explored the concept of introducing an undergraduate IPE programme at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta. A combination of in-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted with a sample of sixty-four academics,health and education policy makers and newly qualified health professionals. The findings suggest that while participants support the notion of IPE, they identify multiple barriers that would challenge implementation. This includes particular cultural norms and values which participants perceived would conflict with IPE. These findings were interpreted through Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions as a means of theorising about the role that culture could play in implementing such an approach. This study contributes to the health policy debate by highlighting the potential impact of national culture in the planning, development and delivery of collaborative initiatives. It also highlights new insights for European small states and other countries by providing a lens through which culture needs to be taken into account in the transfer of innovation across health systems.

Curriculum components of technology education within the Maltese National minimum curriculum from year 1999 to 2016

Like many other countries the curriculum components and goals of technology education in Malta have experienced evolutionary changes. Changes in Malta occurred at a fast rate but were not always perceived to be in step with international trends, debates and research about technology curricula. This document analyses the text in Maltese National Minimum Curriculum documents in light of international progress about: (a) research trends, (b) the philosophy of technology and (c) technological concepts. The analysis of the documents was framed through: (a) a quantitative analysis of documents; and (b) a small scale survey. The quantitative analysis of all texts involved the use of software to generate the top ranking words and phrases from all texts. These were ranked and compared across all documents to evidence the trends of the documents in time. The survey involved asking participants to review the documents for specific arguments and filling in a questionnaire. The findings show that only recently has the Maltese curriculum of Design and Technology aligned itself to international trends and embraced a contemporary philosophy of technology. Within the Maltese texts describing technology education in 1999 and 2012, the key jargon emanating from international debates is considered largely absent and the perception given is that of a technology curriculum that was not driven by research but by tradition. The potential implication of this at present is the lack of understanding of a rationale for general technology education in schools and the nostalgia for a technology curriculum driven solely by vocational roots.

Breaking the cycle: a phenomenological approach to broadening access to post-secondary education

Over the past decades, there has been a substantial increase in post-secondary education participation in most Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and European Union countries. This increase, however, does not necessarily reflect a parallel equitable growth in post-secondary education, and early school leaving is still an issue of concern in particular regions and countries across the world. This paper presents a study on increasing participation in post-secondary education in Malta, the country with the one of the highest proportions of early school leaving in the European Union. The study was carried out in a region with one of the highest rates of early school leaving in the country, making use of a phenomenological approach as well as a resilient systems perspective to early school leaving. On the basis of students’ narratives, the study identifies a number of risk and protective factors in early school leaving and makes various suggestions on how to build more resilient systems to facilitate access to post-secondary education, particularly for students coming from low socio-economic, excluded backgrounds.

Experiences of young (minor) asylum seekers in further education in Malta

This study appraises the particular challenges that minor asylum-seeking migrants who are in the 16–18 age category confront when pursuing their studies in a vocational college in Malta, a central Mediterranean island which is the smallest EU member state. The study explores how they exercise resilience in their desire to forge a future for themselves and traces their passage from Africa to Malta and their prospective aspirations to eventually settle elsewhere. It also explores how they integrate their lives as college students with these aspirations and how they see this as contributing to their lifelong education and ongoing processes of personal growth.

‘Dissecting butterflies’: literary theory and poetry teaching in post-16 education

This paper discusses the role of literary theory within the teaching of poetry by focusing on post-16 education in Malta as a case study. Literary theory was meant to lead to a rethinking of the way poetry is approached in the A-level English classroom, but this failed to really come about due to the fact that it has not been adopted by syllabus developers and teachers. This paper explores the reasons for such reluctance by analysing the views of teachers and an examiner. It shows how a sense of unease with students' and teachers' ability to exploit literary theory in the poetry lesson seems to be one of the main factors behind its continued absence.

A select review of bilingualism in education in Malta

This article offers a review of some of the major issues of bilingualism in education in Malta. It starts by contextualising the current situation in a historical perspective. From the macro-perspective it then moves to a micro-perspective to illustrate how, in practice, Maltese and English are used as a bilingual medium of instruction across levels and subjects. It overviews some of the significant dimensions in which these two languages share roles in the teaching–learning process, and gives examples of how code choice fulfils pedagogical, discourse and management functions, paying particular attention to the variety and range of translation switches. It concludes by returning to a number of issues that fuel the continuing national debate about the medium of instruction in local education.

Lifelong education for older adults in Malta: Current trends and future visions

With European demographic developments causing a decline of the available workforce in the foreseeable future and the unsustainability of dominant pay-as-you-go pension systems (where contributions from the current workforce sustain pensioners), governments need to come up with strategies to deal with this upcoming challenge and to adjust their policies. Based on a study carried out between September 2009 and May 2010, this article evaluates the policies guiding late-life education in Malta, as well as the local plethora of learning opportunities for older adult education, and participation rates. The Maltese government is committed to supporting the inclusion of older persons (aged 60+) in lifelong education policies and programmes, to the extent that local studies have uncovered a recent rise in the overall participation of older adults in formal, non-formal and informal areas of learning. While the present and future prospects for late-life education in Malta seem promising, a critical scrutiny of present ideologies and trends finds the field to be no more than seductive rhetoric. Though the coordination of late-life education in Malta does result in various social benefits to older learners and Maltese society in general, it also occurs within five intersecting lines of inequality – namely an economic rationale, elitism, gender bias, the urban-rural divide and third ageism. This article ends by proposing policy recommendations for the future of late-life education.

Adult Education in Malta: Challenges and Prospects

Lifelong learning has long been a topic of discussion in Malta but, as this article shows, barriers to participation continue to exist. This article outlines the historical and economic changes that have led Malta to its present situation where adult education largely focuses on employment skills. Although available through a variety of channels, challenges still need to be met to ensure the participation of groups such as women, older people and immigrants. This article advocates a national strategy for adult education within which a balance is struck between learning for employment and learning as a public good.

Education and Older Adults at the University of the Third Age

This article reports a critical analysis of older adult education in Malta. In educational gerontology, a critical perspective demands the exposure of how relations of power and inequality, in their myriad forms, combinations, and complexities, are manifest in late-life learning initiatives. Fieldwork conducted at the University of the Third Age (UTA) in Malta uncovered the political nature of elder-learning, especially with respect to three intersecting lines of unequality—namely, positive aging, elitism, and gender. A cautionary note is, therefore, warranted at the dominant positive interpretations of UTAs since late-life learning, as any other education activity, is not politically neutral.