That’s when the Faculty evolved from what was in effect a Faculty of Schooling into a real Faculty of Education in the broadest sense possible incorporating VET, Guidance and Counselling, Leadership, Early Childhood Education, Adult Continuing Education, Prison Education, Museum Education and Community Arts Education among others.
In September 2019, Prof. Mayo was inducted into the International Adult Education Hall of Fame. He has also published 22 books, mainly with international publishers, and well over a 100 articles in refereed journals or as chapters in publications.
It evolved from what was in effect a Faculty of Schooling into a real Faculty of Education in the broadest sense possible incorporating VET, Leadership, Guidance and Counselling, Early Childhood Education, Adult Continuing Education, Prison Education, Museum Education and Community Arts Education among others. I hope it will continue to do so by embracing Higher Education in which a sound international research profile, among a few faculty members, already exists.
Apart from the teaching component, it has evolved also as a research centre of international class proportions in a variety of fields including Environmental Studies, Euro-Mediterranean Education studies, Literacy, Critical Pedagogy/Education, Postcolonial Education, Social Difference (especially Gender, Race, Class, Disability, Faith-based learning) and Educational Philosophy, Psychology and Sociology. The research profile of a considerable number of its faculty has soared highly over the years with a few having their books translated into several languages and others even editing prestigious compendia, by Springer etc., in specific fields. A few are international leaders in a number of areas. I would like to think this is a collective effort and would not single out any individuals in a faculty that came of age thanks to some Deans and other academic leaders who have been a breath of fresh air and internationally recognised scholars in their own right.
How can tertiary educated people be better educators for their own children?
They will generate a love of learning and knowledge, and a sense of understanding, as relational beings, which they would be prepared to share with others, while being open to learning from them.
They can arouse what Paulo Freire calls ‘epistemological curiosity’. And by others I refer to people of different cultures, bringing with them different knowledge/s, wisdom/s and learning traditions that have evolved out of the different contexts in which they were born.
All of the above, to which I will add a strong emphasis on reason, emotion and imagination. These are interconnected. It can translate into generating love of others and learning with them. It translates to arousing critical consciousness and sensitivity to issues of social injustice and ecological degradation. It does so while allowing for flights of the imagination in proposing alternatives to these injustices and the systems that perpetuate them.
A good teacher allies all this to the ability to teach well and rigorously the subject or areas meant to be taught. There has to be substance. A great educator not only teaches but, as the old maxim goes, inspires and does so by arousing curiosity and commanding authority which is not allowed to degenerate into authoritarianism.
How can education offer a space of debate and be a catalyst for change, especially when there are inequalities across the globe?
Education, as I had learnt from my first forays into Educational Sociology and Sociology in general, should not be given powers it does not have. It cannot change things on its own as it is not an independent variable.
Can an educational system that goes online be as effective as one with face-to-face interaction?
My immediate answer is a qualified No. Let us not make a fetish out of it.
For a small once isolated country such as Malta, connectivity has allowed us to accomplish tasks hardly dreamt of earlier. I am therefore not ready to knock online platforms. They have helped me to reach out globally without having to travel physically.
On their own, however, they cannot replace the immediate physicality of actual face to face teaching in an intimate space. They for instance prevent eye contact to see who is on the verge of expressing a view, but would hold back because of timidity or fear of embarrassment. Eye contact can provide the encouraging sign for the student to speak without fear.