The main challenges being faced by teachers in Maltese classrooms in the 21st century

Abstract

This study aims at identifying the main challenges being faced by Primary School Teachers in Maltese Classrooms in the 21st century. Throughout this research, the author focused on teachers’ perceptions about the main difficulties being faced at present. The Education System is known to be driven by the main aim of having all individuals capable of becoming competent thinkers. Consequently, this research was designed in order to explore three different aspects of Maltese Education, namely the challenges facing teachers in the twenty-first century, ways and means of supporting teachers and comparing the challenges that Maltese teachers are facing with those teachers in other countries are facing. The author opted to undergo a case study at a particular Primary School in Malta, in order to investigate different perspectives and issues faced by teachers in a primary school setting. This included a questionnaire survey, together with a follow-up focus group interview with teachers of different year groups, as well as a semi-structured interview with the School Management Team. Such consultations gave the author a further insight of the kind of challenges that are currently being faced in Maltese classrooms, and therefore identify appropriate ways of supporting educators more effectively.