The views of primary state school teachers on the national minimum curriculum

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate several topical issues of primary schooling namely : the introduction of the National Minimum Curriculum and its raison d'etre. The study also proposes primarily to review the implementation of the NMC through the eyes of the teachers who are working with the NMC and the headteachers who are implementing it. The political perspective is also analysed in Chapter Four, where all the Maltese Political Parties give their views on the introduction and the implementation of a NMC. Added to the institutional a~d political dimensions, one finds consolidation of personal opinion on the NMC by a direct confrontation with the trade unionistic view point which is marginally divergent. To survey the attitudes of these target samples it was found convenient to utilise both qualitative and quantitative methods. Finally the personal conclusions are drawn on the mutability of the NMC as a curriculum document, its 'forced' adoption, and the will of the Maltese educational establishment to promote change within the state primary sector.