https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/39813 2026-04-05T09:58:17Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/39876 Title: Educators’ constructions of social diversity : Malta as a case study Abstract: Schools, reflecting the social changes that are taking place in Maltese society, have become more multi-cultural, multi-faith and multi-ethnic. They receive students from all walks of life, whose different socio-economic status sometimes determines the schools they attend, or the classes in which they are placed. This study explores the yet largely uncharted waters of how Maltese educators construct social diversity and the implications of these constructions on their practices in schools as teachers and administrators. The study draws on social constructionism as a theoretical framework. I argue that teachers’ practices cannot be separated from the visions they have of social diversity and their positions towards it. Their constructions of, and attitudes towards social diversity cannot be taken out of the context in which these have been socialised, nurtured, and perhaps sustained or otherwise challenged. I applied an analytical framework which problematized educators’ visions, positionings and practices in relation to social diversity. This framework provided the possibility of analysing educators’ practices within the context in which they live. In-depth semi-structured interviews were held with 19 participants hailing from State, Church and Independent schools. Educators’ constructions of social diversity reflected their location as citizens of an island nation, with some of the participants seeking to preserve their visions and traditions of an imagined community while others looking outward and embracing change as something positive. They provided multiple constructions of Maltese society and social diversity, reflecting the geopolitics, history, religion and size of the island. Their practices in school reflected, or sometimes contrasted their convictions on issues of social diversity. Description: PH.D. 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/39868 Title: Exploring the experiences of ‘non-Maltese’ students in Maltese schools : a comparative analysis Abstract: The steep increase of immigrants coming into Malta since EU entry has taken Malta by surprise and has become a central political and social issue. With the increase of migration comes the need for increased efforts towards inclusion and equality. Education is considered essential to young people in promoting social and emotional development needs, structure and routine, and can help migrant children and their families to start settling into a new life and become included in the local community. Furthermore, access to education is a basic human right. The Maltese classroom is becoming increasingly diverse with the trend suggesting that they will become ‘progressively more multi-cultural and multilingual over time’. In light of this, this research qualitatively explores and compares how Maltese state and independent secondary schools are catering for the needs of the diverse migrant students in their initial years of Maltese schooling. The study explores the heterogeneity within the migrant student population and how the intersectional mesh of social characteristics such as religion, language and economic capital appear to affect their scholastic experience. The study also comparatively analyses two state and two independent schools, all of which have a high percentage of migrant students. This is done through semi-structured qualitative interviews with migrant students and professionals in all four schools and other professionals in this field. The research adopts a broadly critical, inductive, interpretive approach primarily using Critical Race Theory as a main framework of understanding using qualitative case study interviews placing importance on the subjective experience of individuals. Drawing upon the theory of intersectionality, the research aims to highlight the heterogeneity within the migrant population and the multifaceted realities and experiences. Furthermore, through Bourdieu’s description of capital, and Gramsci’s theory of Cultural Hegemony, it aims to bring to light values and practices from particular dominant groups which come at the expense of other disempowered groups. The study looks into the schools as institutions and the national context they are embedded in whilst including key findings and recommendations. Description: M.A.COMP.EURO MED.ED.STUD. 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/39860 Title: Pedagogy and interaction : a comparative study of two mainstream multilingual classrooms in Malta and Luxembourg Abstract: The aim of this comparative study is to explore the different pedagogic strategies adopted by teachers when interacting with learners in mainstream, multilingual classrooms, composed of both national and non-national plurilingual learners. These strategies are discussed against a back-drop of learning theories, with a special focus on Vygotskian sociocultural theory. This study also takes into consideration how the inbuilt school support systems impact on two upper primary classrooms, located in Malta and Luxembourg, two European countries with longstanding bi/trilingual models of education. This research project adopts an interpretivist, phenemonological approach, using case studies carried out ethnographically, in order to generate rich descriptions of language use, pedagogy and interaction in the two classrooms. Lesson observations were carried out during two oneweek cycles while semi-structured interviews with teachers and Heads of School were also conducted and relevant school-related documents analysed. The results of this study highlight the importance of achieving a balance between separating languages on the one hand and, on the other hand, of creating a space where learners are able to use their diverse linguistic repertoires to mediate their learning, thereby facilitating their access to the curriculum. Description: M.A.COMP.EURO MED.ED.STUD. 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/39851 Title: Qualified to teach : a comparative exploration into teachers' sense of their self-efficacy and their initial teacher education and certification Abstract: It is tacitly understood that teachers are both academically and professionally qualified to teach. The teaching populations in Italy, Malta and Portugal are heterogeneous, especially in relation to their professional qualification to teach. Cultural differences in the way teacher education is perceived across countries provide insights into how teacher status may impinge on teacher self-efficacy towards their own learning, and their students’. A mixed methodology was used to gather field data from teachers in Maltese schools. Data were collected from self-filling questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that there are nuances in how teachers with different educational backgrounds and training construe their self-efficacy. The two data sets yielded themes which are seen to explain teachers’ identities in terms of their self-efficacy and conception of learning. Self-efficacy is construed by teachers in a reality fraught by dilemmas and elements of change, yet with the potential of being buffered by relationships. This study’s findings can serve to sensitise school senior leadership teams and support personnel to the factors within and outside schools which destabilise teachers’ self-efficacy. Since the employment of unqualified teachers is likely to continue, the importance of further research among unqualified teachers is warranted. This can inform support structures about ways of enhancing teachers’ self-efficacy. Description: M.A.COMP.EURO MED.ED.STUD. 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z