https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/71215 2026-06-12T14:15:20Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/73304 Title: Maltese Muslims and education Abstract: This study focuses on the diverse ideals of identity, citizenship and justice with particular emphasis on how the ideals of Maltese identity and citizenship as portrayed in the National Minimum Curriculum and in normative discourse impact the Maltese education system. These are explored through the lens of Maltese Muslims, who have to contend with a curriculum that does not do justice to their history and religion. Consequently a number of Muslims have opted to send their children to Mariam Albatool, the only Maltese Islamic school. The study also concerns the right of Muslims to a quality education that respects their culture and religion and which does not marginalize them. In the liberal, representative model of democracy equality and sameness are interchangeable. On the other hand, deep democracy focuses more on social justice. These models are explored with reference to the rights of Maltese Muslims to free Islamic education. Description: M.A.COMP.EURO MED.ED.STUD. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/72775 Title: Teacher in-service provision in Malta : comparative perspective Abstract: The in-service education and training (INSET) of teachers refers to those conscious and planned learning initiatives that teachers choose to engage in during the course of their career. The organisation of its provision is very heterogeneous in nature and education systems are increasingly searching for innovative ways which contribute to making this learning process more effective. This research project involves a study of the local provision of INSET, together with a comparative approach to how this is organised within and across other different contexts. Special emphasis is dedicated to four European countries, namely France, Germany, Iceland and Sweden. The way teachers learn and construct their learning experiences shape the theoretical framework of the discussion, which explores issues like teachers' definition of and disposition to INSET and an understanding of how different INSET frameworks are related to their effectiveness. The empirical research conducted in the local context sheds light on how the local authorities are devising policies in this regard and how teachers, and teacher educators, are making sense of these policies. A number of considerations, drawn from this discussion, concern the way INSET provision can be enhanced for future generations of teachers. Description: M.A.COMP.EURO MED.ED.STUD. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/72739 Title: The visual arts curriculum : a comparative study between Malta and England Abstract: This volume of work encompasses a qualitative enquiry into various interconnected components that make up an integral part of the secondary level visual arts curriculum. This comparative research focuses on two historically linked European countries namely - Malta and England. The curriculum areas that have been placed under the lens include those aspects that concern the substance and the content of the curriculum, imbued as they are with social, cultural and political implications. In effect, this research is an attempt to unpack and qualitatively analyse the characteristics of the subject matter and the driving principles that steer the teaching and condition the learning of art and design at secondary school level. A notable strength of qualitative research is that it is always on the look out to unearth particular nuances that could otherwise go unheeded, however, whose significance cannot be discounted. To this effect, the volume has been sprinkled with a fair share of subtleties and other finer details that should unassumingly shed further light on present day practices both locally and in England. Although the visual arts curricula in the two countries under investigation historically and culturally speaking should be located at distant points, in actual fact there are more similarities than discrepancies at this level of education. Overall, the lacunae that are in urgent need of attention or rethinking, more often than not belong to both contexts, however, locally such shortcomings seem to be more acute. On the other hand, in Malta the picture appears to be improving very slowly compared to the more progressive stance that education policy makers in England seem to be adopting. This augurs well for art and design education in that foreign country, as various important and much needed concepts should become embedded in the official curriculum in the not so distant future. With regard to the local situation, it looks as if there are a few high-rising barriers that need to be overcome. The low status the subject enjoys within the general curriculum seems to be more accentuated here than in England and in other parts of Europe. The nationwide indifference towards the arts that has been manifesting itself during the past decades has further weakened the status of the subject and the teaching of it. The scant timeslots allocated to the teaching of the subject in Maltese schools is symptomatic of this condition. Notwithstanding the limitations, an encouraging number of stakeholders are working solidly in order to keep the promotion of the visual arts high. Description: M.A.COMP.EURO MED.ED.STUD. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z