https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/69946 Sat, 18 Apr 2026 17:16:58 GMT 2026-04-18T17:16:58Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/73343 Title: I’m not understanding : a comparative exploration of barriers to the learning process and identity development in secondary school students Abstract: Malta is currently not faring well in the PISA benchmark, and a number of reports indicate that Malta has not reached the EU target for Early School Leavers. The current education strategy to develop student potential may be producing barriers affecting these results. The aim of this study was to explore Middle & Senior students’ perceptions of barriers to a positive schooling experience, and to also investigate the impact of the implementation of the current curriculum design as experienced by the students themselves. A qualitative exploratory design was employed consisting of 11 focus groups with students from each year of the secondary cycle in one College in Malta. A total of 68 students participated in this study. The nature and degree of Exploration and Commitment were explored and interpreted through Marcia’s Identity Status theory. A thematic analysis of the data resulted in the identification of 4 general categories from 27 clusters of codes. A significant number of barriers emerged, the identified key themes being the learning process, teacher characteristics, class and school climate, psychosocial experiences, support structures, and non-curricular management. From Year 7 through to Year 11 there emerged a sense of vocational identity, associated with the contentedness in the choice of option subjects. Exploration was linked to the timing of the obligatory procedures for choosing subjects, while Commitment was linked to the contentedness of the subjects chosen. Following the findings from this explorative and qualitative study, further research is recommended to quantify the extent to which these barriers are having an impact on students. Description: M.A.COMP.EURO MED.ED.STUD. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/73343 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/73325 Title: Levels of democracy in primary education : an international comparative study Abstract: This study is a comparative international inquiry between two schools set in two different geographical levels. It compares and contrasts levels of democracy between a Maltese primary state school coined as Peprina Primary and Summerhill School, a private, self-governing school in Leiston, England. Three degrees of democratic measurements, the thin, thick and robust are distinguished. Empirical data are collected through personal observations, interviews and focus groups. Data is also gathered through a review of philosophical, sociological and psychological scholarly articles and books. A triangulation of three different levels of participants construes the qualitative research and produces an in-depth investigation. The democratic thinness of Peprina Primary reveals dysfunctional relationships between the Directorates of Education, the College System, teachers and students. The school operates in an ambiance of fear from the bureaucracy of the Education Directorate and College System, fear of future academic failure and fear of trust. On another level, students express disapproval towards the banking system of education, imposed academic-based curriculum and minimal agency to the school political system. Where democracy is robust, as in Summerhill School, and staff and students enjoy equal political and social status, the community life prevails over these forms of fear. Staff and students enjoy inner happiness and self-fulfillment as they thrive to cultivate a strong sense of personal responsibility and ownership to learning. Description: M.A.COMP.EURO MED.ED.STUD. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/73325 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/73322 Title: Inquiry-based learning in a mathematics classroom : a comparative action research project Abstract: This qualitative case study explored the endeavours of a teacher of mathematics in implementing change from a traditional approach to an inquiry approach to teaching and learning of mathematics in a Year 7 classroom attended by nineteen female students. The teacher’s new pedagogical approach, which draws upon a social constructivist theoretical lens, entailed that students collaborate together on tasks that engaged them in inquiry and consequently in active learning. Both the teacher and his students had to assume new roles, which are different from those within a traditional lesson environment. This study essentially compared the perceptions of the teacher and of his students in reaction to the introduction of an inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach to the teaching and learning of mathematics, a pedagogy that was new to everyone involved. Adopting an action research methodology, the research data was collected during one scholastic year. The data sources included classroom observations, a teacher’s reflective journal, video and audio recordings of lessons, focus group interviews, students’ work and students’ comments. The data was eventually analysed thematically. The research findings suggest that the introduction of IBL lessons is a complex issue. Although the students generally enjoyed these lessons and reportedly learned from them, there was still some resistance that came primarily from the higher achieving students. Their resistance reflected fears linked to syllabus coverage and to inadequate preparation for examinations. In order to ensure the sustainability of inquiry lessons in his classroom, the teacher came up with ‘hybrid’ lessons that borrowed features of both traditional and inquiry lessons. Consequently, the indications are that unless systemic changes (linked primarily to syllabus content and high stakes examinations) are made, it would be very difficult for IBL to feature prominently in mathematics lessons. Description: M.A.COMP.EURO MED.ED.STUD. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/73322 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/73320 Title: Literally visual : potential ideological orientations of two different vocational arts institutions’ websites : a visual comparative study between Malta and New Mexico Abstract: This dissertation is a comparative visual critical discourse analysis (VCDA) of potential dominant ideologies that may be present and represented on two vocational educational institutions’ website main pages, their visual arts sub pages and course content pages. These institutions are SFCC in Santa Fe, New Mexico and MCAST in Mosta, Malta. The research aims to compare the way art education on the websites is discursively presented through text as discourse, visuals as discourse, and text and visuals as integrated discourse. It uses a historiographically based, anti-colonial framework as its starting point and specifically examines colonial, neocolonial and neoliberal ideologies as dominant societal constructs. It further questions their potential presence in the discourses of these vocational institutions. The dissertation itself is structured as a mix of text, typographic design, and illustrated visuals throughout to graphically contest, question, and propose different ways of writing, reading, and viewing academic work and to contest the hegemony of commonsense Westernised structures of academic formatting. Description: M.A.COMP.EURO MED.ED.STUD. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/73320 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z