https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/1055 Mon, 06 Apr 2026 20:44:17 GMT 2026-04-06T20:44:17Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145214 Title: Gramsci, religion and education as hegemonic and counter-hegemonic discourse Authors: Borg, Carmel Abstract: This article examines Gramsci’s analysis of education and religion as hegemonic discourses. An attempt is made to critique Gramsci’s analytical framework—his notions of ideology, education, religion and hegemony, and his concept of the ‘organic intellectuals’, the ideological role of the intellectuals as consciousness builders, and the emergence of the counter-hegemonic strategy during the transformation of power relations in society. The article evaluates the revolutionary curriculum—the transformational pedagogy, as envisaged by Gramsci, that would create a new world.; In reality, the internal relations of any nation are the result of a combination which is ‘original’ and (in a certain sense) unique: these relations must be understood and conceived in their originality and uniqueness if one wishes to dominate them and direct them (Gramsci, in Hoare & Nowell Smith, 1971: 240). Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145214 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145213 Title: From ‘objects’ to ‘subjects’ of professional formation : parents as co-producers of knowledge Authors: Borg, Carmel Abstract: Elsewhere, I made the case for parent-professional encounters that respond to the need for transforming top-down, professional-parent relationships into opportunities for genuine collaboration. For this to happen, the process of knowledge production needs to be revisited, challenging the almost exclusive legitimacy given to specialized, esoteric knowledge, at the expense of other forms of knowledge production, and questioning why ‘official knowledge’, perceived as robust, objective and scientific, does not include the daily experiences, intuitions and cultural expressions of parents as ‘worthwhile knowledge’ or as valid ways of knowing. The present piece problematizes the arbitrary nature of what is considered as valid knowledge, while raising questions regarding the extent to which official knowledge reflects and reinforces asymmetrical power relations. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145213 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145201 Title: Reading the migrants’ world through emancipatory learner-centred education : parting reflections on the micro pedagogical contexts Authors: Borg, Carmel Abstract: This chapter sets out to provide parting, critical and comparative reflections on the qualitative data generated by the four, LCE-focused case studies that feature in the book. Set against a pan-European backdrop, characterised by nation-states struggling to reconcile their moral obligations with electoral exigencies stemming from the populist call to assimilation, at best, and exclusion, at worst, the analysis of the case studies reveals a repertoire of adult-education provision that genuinely attempts to address individual migrant needs while singing from the assimilationist choir book of the state. In response, this chapter foregrounds an emancipatory vision of LCE (ELCE). ELCE is human-rights driven and represents a pedagogical ecology where education, perceived as a social act, meets the concept of the student as an independent and autonomous learner. The reconciliation of the two strands is premised on a conception of pedagogical hospitality on the learners’ terms, and on a participatory notion of education that serves both self and mutual transformation. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145201 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145194 Title: Transport Malta : the first ten years Authors: Brown, Maria Abstract: This book commemorates the first ten years of Transport Malta, the Authority which, since 2010, plans, develops, implements and regulates transport infrastructure and services in Malta and Gozo, in collaboration with a multitude of stakeholders in the air, maritime and land transport sectors. The book's discussion draws on the testimonials of current and former officers of the Authority and of its predecessor entities, and on a broad range of secondary sources used to complement or corroborate the thematic discussion of the book. The chapters' discussion synthesises Transport Malta and Malta's transport development as small when compared to transport in larger countries, yet profusely connected; responsive to the signs of the times; devoted to capacity-building and legacy-building; and committed to enhance sustainable deployment of current and emergent technologies. The text is brought to life with exceptional and often exclusive photographic testimony. Irrespective of readers' pre-existing familiarity with transport, Transport Malta and the history of transport in Malta, this book invites readers to discern or rediscover the momentous, significant, yet often less visible or unacknowledged role that transport has in the unfolding of events. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145194 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z