English teachers’ reception of the new assessment system

Abstract

The Maltese educational sector is currently undergoing large-scale reforms with changes being implemented in the curriculum and various syllabi, the pedagogies used to educate Malta’s youth, and the ways used to assess students’ learning. One of these reforms consists of how students’ Secondary Education Certificate examinations in English (Language and Literature) is assessed. The reform posits that, as of 2020, students will begin to be assessed via School-Based Continuous Assessment in the forms of various tasks for the English Language examination and assignments for the English Literature examination. This study aims to examine how the teachers are responding to having to take on the role of assessing segments of these qualifications as parts of their professional lives. The Literature Review identifies various factors which are associated with how teachers may respond to such reforms, with these having then been used to create an online questionnaire. The areas under which the factors fall are divided into three broad areas: what the teachers think about the reform, how they think the reform will impact their working lives, and their efficaciousness when it comes to handling the reform. Each one of these also represent a research question in the study. The study intended to follow a mixed methodology approach, yet various factors led to the qualitative aspect being abandoned in favour of a more quantitative approach. The study concludes that, whilst there are a number of areas which are indicative of a positive reception on the teachers’ ends, there are also a number of areas which are being perceived negatively. This mixed reception and its implications for stakeholders are discussed.