https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/53032 Wed, 15 Apr 2026 05:24:10 GMT 2026-04-15T05:24:10Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/53020 Title: Ronald G. Sultana (ed.), Themes in education : a Maltese reader [book review] Abstract: Nothing could be more trivial. A simple slice of life which is repeated every day, with some variations, in the world's classrooms. It is a reality so common that it encourages an appealing naivete', a perfunctory abandonment to the visible trappings, the "reality" of the situation. Asking oneself "What is going on here?" may appear to be disarmingly simple and obvious. Yet, a critical immersion into such and similar social situations would reveal a hitherto invisible drama, a nexus of tensions, forces and contradictions which influence the structures, process and people involved. Culled with the help of an "educational imagination" (pace Wright Mills) , there is usually much more to trite social cameos than meets the eye. Wed, 01 Jan 1992 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/53020 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/53005 Title: The "discussion - case study approach" in introduction to philosophy of education courses Authors: Portelli, John Peter Abstract: These selections, taken from B. Ed. students' reflective commentary at the end of a 10 week introductory course in philosophy of education, capture the popular expectations, stereotyped impressions or feelings that pre-service education students normally hold about foundations courses especially philosophy of education: scepticism, intimidation, boredom, uselessness, fear and practical irrelevance. A grim though very real picture! The delicate task of teaching introductory foundations courses becomes more difficult and also tragic when one learns, as stated in a couple of the above selections, that most students come with a strong and long background of "traditional teaching" in which complacency, uncriticallness, and the urge to acquire the right answer, which the teacher possesses, to get the highest grade, are implanted explicitly via the formal curriculum or implicitly via teaching styles. These qualities are essentially incompatible with a foundations perspective, and, some believe, even with the very notion of education. Wed, 01 Jan 1992 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/53005 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/53003 Title: The educational system of the University of Malta : Italian influence and pedagogic projects Authors: Morelli, Maria Paola Abstract: The study of the origins and development of Universities is important because it shows how these Medieval institutions to a large extent shaped and organized a new culture. The history and traditions of universities, their very creation, but, most of all their development from an organizational and teaching perspective are the starting point, in this specific research field, to determine the educational context and the cultural function performed by universities during the eighteenth century. The innumerable essays and studies relating to the structure and the cultural function of European universities are rich and fruitful, whereas their pedagogic and educational issues seem to be neglected. This research will focus on this particular sphere. Education becomes an element of "individual and collective growth", as it is connected with the currents of thought responsible for its development 1 . We shall focus mainly on the development and supplementing of national and foreign educational projects which contributed to the cultural evolution of the Maltese society by performing an essential task in preventing the interruption of historical continuity. Accordingly, attention will focus on the origin of the Maltese university system, clearly derived from its religious background and modelled on Italian educational patterns. Thus it is better to make clear that in these remarks on education and its related activities, it is important to consider the political and social context of the European universities at the end of 1700. Wed, 01 Jan 1992 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/53003 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/52966 Title: Philosophical foundations for a critical educational science : an interview with Wilfred Carr Editors: Farrugia, Charles Abstract: The following is the transcript of an interview with Wilfred Carr. The interview focused on the philosophical foundations for critical educational science. Wed, 01 Jan 1992 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/52966 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z