https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/22412 2026-04-05T02:11:44Z 2026-04-05T02:11:44Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/39814 2019-02-13T02:24:03Z 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Education for worker empowerment : a Maltese case study Abstract: Workers’ education and training are two important sections in workers’ organisations throughout the world. By educating and training workers, members of trade unions can be more aware of their rights, their privileges and their duties in order to work in a peaceful ambience and be entitled to career progression and critical engagement with the work context. My dissertation will focus on answering the question, “What forms of worker empowerment derive from a specific worker’s education programme in Malta? Thus, my dissertation will be in the area of worker’s education and more specifically within a Trade Union setting in Malta: The Reggie Miller Foundation at Malta’s General Workers’ Union (GWU). My dissertation will have an empirical element of a qualitative nature where I will focus on interviews. I shall be interviewing one (1) director, three (3) educators from the Reggie Miller Foundation, and four (4) course participants. My dissertation will also involve perusal of documents connected with the Reggie Miller Foundation, and also some engagement with key icons in workers’ education, such as Raymond Williams, Antonio Gramsci and Jane L. Thompson. By analysing the works of these key icons in workers’ education, I will try to compare and contrast what they have said about workers’ education with the course offered by Reggie Miller Foundation from the perspective of the workers’ themselves. Description: B.ED.(HONS)

2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/39812 2019-02-13T02:23:51Z 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The benefits of dramatic play for young children Abstract: This study was conducted to examine the benefits of dramatic play for young children. As stated by Davis (2011), it is important that early years’ settings provide children with spaces, materials and time that support their need to explore real life or imaginary scenarios. This study analyses the benefits of dramatic play for young children when they are inspired and act out everyday scenarios and experiences. The data for this research was collected by conducting observations in a Kindergarten II class, and consequently implement a programme of three field trips or contextualised experiences followed by related dramatic play areas set-up in the classroom. The data was collected through: observations, field notes, interviews with the Kindergarten Assistant, and conversations with children. Photographs were also another important tool of data collection which was used to capture the children’s development throughout the activities. The findings have illustrated the benefits that derive from the effects of dramatic play on young children, more specifically the ways in which dramatic play may enable children to better explore and understand the world around them, to develop their language skills and to maintain new relationships. Description: B.ED.(HONS)

2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/39811 2019-02-13T02:23:48Z 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Nutritional practices among promising 13-14-year-old male soccer players attending the National Sports School of Malta Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the nutritional practices of promising 13 to 14 year-old student athletes attending the National Sports School (NSS) of Malta, with soccer as their chosen specialised sporting discipline. A four-day self-reported food, liquid, and activity diary was used to estimate the energy intake of the participants and determine their state of energy balance. The majority of student athletes (68%) were found to be in a state of energy deficit. An evaluation of nutritional behaviours among the participants indicated poor eating habits in relation to recommended guidelines for optimal sports performance. A lack of knowledge about the unhealthy and performance-inhibiting effects of poor nutrition, and associated implications on their long-term sporting careers also emerged as a prominent theme. Further research is needed to more accurately establish the energy costs of exercise in the context of athlete preparation and training in young adolescents. Description: B.ED.(HONS)

2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/39796 2019-02-12T02:23:11Z 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The implementation of development education in the primary school sector : the case of Malta Abstract: The study aimed at exploring the practice of Development Education (DE) in formal primary education. It outlines DE implementation influencing factors and puts forward recommendations for effective practice in schools. The research methodology adopted a single case study approach using multiple sources of data gathering. The case was developed through seven in-depth qualitative semi-structured interviews and secondary data sources. To develop the Malta case, a non-probability, non-representative, sampling technique was adopted. Two research questions were used as a point of departure to build the interview questions. The case classified its exploration into: a) the Educational System Level; b) the Whole-school Level; and c) the Individual Teacher Level. Findings show that there is no National DE Strategy in Malta. Primary schools include limited elements of learning and engagement through certain subjects, across the curriculum, whole-school activities and one-off projects. Schools lack a whole-school adopted DE culture with DE mainly incorporated through beneficial short-term initiatives, which are not borne by the schools, but through external entities such as Non-Government Organisations and a few motivated educators. Schools hold a traditional view of charity and DE is implemented through a ‘soft’ pedagogy with the absence of ‘critical’ or transformative pedagogies. Schools are advised to work in partnership with external entities with a goal for DE to become a whole-school approach. Long-term strategies need to be adopted and opportunities need to be created for extracurricular experiences which offer connections between knowledge and skills through linking schools with the local and global community. Besides DE awareness and understanding, critical and transformative pedagogies need to be adopted in schools and form part of initial teacher education and professional learning. One of the means to further the aims and visions of DE, is to manage its tenets through the already existing ESD Strategy. Description: B.ED.(HONS)

2017-01-01T00:00:00Z