https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20294 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:12:44 GMT 2026-04-12T16:12:44Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20556 Title: Malta Review of Educational Research [Editorial] Authors: Borg, Carmel Abstract: Short editorial describing the topics in this issue, while also giving a short description of what Volume 8, issue 2 will consist of. Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20556 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20555 Title: Recognition vs. merit pay for our best teachers [Book review] Authors: Attard Tonna, Michelle Abstract: This latest publication by Hans A. Andrews provides an easy yet insightful read into the world of recognition programmes and merit pay systems for exceptional teachers. The book makes a clear distinction between a strong recognition system and simple merit pay as a reward for teaching excellence, sending a definite message that pay alone does not result in higher motivation for instructional excellence and a formal and consistent programme of recognition gives more incentives to teachers to perform excellently. Teacher recognition programmes for excellence can be awarded in a variety of ways. Every school can provide awards and recognition at affordable costs – these usually come in the shape of small, one-time bonuses, public recognition, a letter of commendation or a special dinner for the recognition winners, rather than salary increases. Merit pay, on the other hand, links teachers’ salaries to periodic assessments of their performance. It is used by both Australia and the United States as an attempt to improve student learning outcomes and part of a drive to implement more accountable teacher evaluation systems and processes in compulsory education. Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20555 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20479 Title: Social and emotional education in primary school : integrating theory and research into practice [Book review] Authors: Agius Ferrante, Charmaine Abstract: This book is positive and carries a message of optimism for all members of a school community. It is about children, teachers, parents, their feelings, thoughts, desires, well-being and learning. From the very outset of the book the reader is taken fully on board and develops a clear understanding of the importance of Social-Emotional Education (SEE), as presented by the authors, in the twenty-first century. Educational research reports often end with recommendations for what ‘policy makers’ should do. Clearly linking research policy and practice is vital, but we often seem to over simplify the relationship between them. This book is a fascinating read because it supports educationalists engaged in teaching, planning and curriculum development. The educationists are informed of the social and emotional processes in education as well as in the formation of socially, emotionally and academically competent and resilient students. The book adopts a comprehensive whole school approach to the teaching of SEE, integrating it into the curriculum and teaching at an individual, classroom and school level. This sits well in our inclusive school climate. Innovatively this book includes SEE interventions with students experiencing difficulties together with an awareness of the emotional life and well-being of teachers and parents in their child’s education. The use of educational checklists enhances and supports self-development of the individual within a whole school community. Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20479 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20405 Title: L-edukazzjoni hi politika : kitbiet Paulo Freire [Book review] Authors: Gravina, Joseph Abstract: This is not the first text dedicated to Freire by members of the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta. Peter Mayo’s Liberating Praxis: Freire’s Legacy for Radical Education and Politics (2004) was considered by Henry Giroux, “One of the best sources on the life and work of Paulo Freire”. Carmel Borg’s 2013 edited selection of translations in L-Edukazzjoni hi politika: Ġabra ta’ kitbiet ta’ Paulo Freire (‘Education is politics: A collection of Paulo Freire’s writings’) adds a text in Maltese amongst the various languages mediating Freire’s thoughts. Besides an introduction and detailed biography of the Brazilian educator, the editor selects for translation a number of extracts representing a comprehensive gamut of Freirean themes, of which he also provides a summary. Amongst others, the themes include banking education, ethical formation, dreams and utopia, ideology, anger, the Church, and post-colonial dilemmas and contradictions. In this review essay, the two aspects of Freire’s work Carmel Borg chose for a title - education and politics - are contextualised within conceptual frameworks of development and the role of human agency therein. The conceptual frameworks are historically grounded and consequently carry the tension of abstract dualities and dichotomies (centre-periphery; north-south; backward-advanced) in relation with more concrete observations of the complex and changing economic, political and cultural developments. Human agency carries the equally tense relations between observations of protagonists (Freire and the people with whom he shared experiences) and their concrete personal and class experiences. The two - ideal typical development models and human agency - are doubly articulated and enriched by being posited together. This, it is suggested, is one rewarding approach to critically appreciate these readings collected by Carmel Borg. Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20405 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z