The fashion and textiles vocational curriculum in Maltese schools : a socio-historical comparative perspective

Abstract

In recent years, the Ministry for Education and Employment proposed a new education reform which was based on Vocational Educational and Training (VET). Some VET subjects were introduced as a three-year pilot project in 2011 in ten Maltese secondary schools. Following such a successful tests, nine VET subjects are now part of the main state secondary education curriculum. These VET subjects started to be offered in schools from the 2019-2020 scholastic year. The introduction of the current education reform, known as My Journey: Achieving through different paths (MEDE, 2016), was embraced and criticised by many individuals. One of the main comments made by the Maltese society was that the current educational reform is a comeback for Trade School years. This comment was categorised as being critical because Trade Schools were not successful in Malta. In light of this, this study focuses on identifying the main differences and similarities between one of the current vocational subjects, Fashion and Textiles, taught in Maltese secondary schools, and other related subjects taught in Trade Schools. Through an inductive, thematic analysis approach, this study was able to analyse these differences and similarities. This study also investigated the introduction of the current educational reform, the reasons behind students choosing vocational education, and any prospective plans regarding vocational education. These were investigated by conducting six semi-structured interviews with various individuals related in the teaching and planning of vocational education, mainly in Fashion and Textiles, and courses related to the subject. The research findings did indicate various differences and similarities between both subjects; however, other findings were discovered mainly regarding the status and gender associated with vocational education and the reasons why vocational education is important. Recommendations to improve awareness regarding vocational education were also presented in the hope of leading to a better outcome for vocational education.