Research and Projects
Longitudinal Risk and Resilience Project
This research project was started in 2005 as a national study to establish the prevalence of social, emotional and behaviour difficulties in Maltese schools. The results of the first study were published in 2008 in a report entitled Engagement Time: A national study of social, emotional and behaviour difficulties in Maltese schools (Cefai, Cooper and Camilleri, 2008) published by the European Centre for Educational Resilience. The first follow-up study has examined students’ developmental trajectory from Year 1 to Year 4 in relation to risk and protective factors and has been published in Building Resiience in School Children. Risk and Promotive Factors Amongst Primary School Pupils (2011, published by the EuroCentre for Educational Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health).
Promoting Resilience in Education: Increasing Access to Post-Seconday and Tertiary Education in Malta.
This is is a university-led long-term project coordinated by the EuroCentre for Educational Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health seeking to increase access to post-seconary and tertiary education from particular regions in Malta. It has a systemic, multi intervention approach, making use of peer and youth mentoring programmes, school based support and family support to promote social and emotional education and increase access to post-seconary and tertiary education for young peole coming from a particular region with a relatively low number of students continuing their post secondary and tertiary education. The project takes a child-centred, resilience-based, longitudinal and action-research perspective, making use of both case studies and universal interventions at various school levels.
Promoting Mental Health in Schools
A three year international project on the promotion of mental health in schools coordinated by the European Centre for Educational Resilience (2011-2013). This is an FP7 international research exchange programme involving the University of Malta, the University of Leicester (UK), Hull University (UK), Flinders University (Australia) and the University of Sunshine Coast (Australia). Dr Helen Askell-Williams, senior researcher at Flinders University, is spending six months at the European Centre for Educational Resilience as part of the project.
Social and emotional learning in Maltese schools
This is a collaborative research project between the School of Education, Flinders University, Australia and the European Centre for Educational Resilience in collaboration with St Theresa College, Malta. It investigates school staff’s, students’ and parents’ views on social and emotional learning in school at curricular, cross-curricular and whole-school levels. All the primary and secondary schools at St Theresa College are taking part in the project (2011).
Circle Time in Maltese Primary Schools
A pilot intervention study in collaboration with one primary school in Malta. All the school staff at the school have been trained on the implementation of Circle Time by the classroom teacher. A number of classrooms from Year 1 to Year 5 are taking part in the programme, delivering Circle Time in their classroom on a weekly basis over a ten week period. The project will be evaluated later on this year.
Peer education programmes at University of Malta
The European Centre for Educational Resilience in collaboration with Psychology students is launching a pilot peer education programme at the University of Malta for university students. The project consists of three online education programmes, namely nutrition and healthy diet, stress management, and substance use and misuse.
