(Left) Prof. Carmen Dalli, Dr Anna Baldacchino, and Dr Charmaine Bonello who presented their co-authored paper ‘The Introduction of the Emergent Curriculum in a Maltese ECEC Context (0-7 years): Seven Case Studies’

(Middle) The ECPE Research Group, (Dr Rosienne Farrugia, Dr Tania Muscat, Dr Josephine Deguara, Dr Charmaine Bonello and Dr Josephine Milton), during the presentation at the 31st EECERA Conference, Lisbon Portugal. 

(Right) Dr Charmaine Bonello during her presentation at the 31st EECERA Conference, Lisbon, Portugal.

Seven academic members from the Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education within the Faculty of Education presented four research papers at the 31st European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) Conference held in Lisbon at the end of August. 

Dr Josephine Deguara, Dr Josephine Milton, Dr Rosienne Camilleri, Dr Charmaine Bonello and Dr Tania Muscat presented the paper, “Me in quarantine”: Young children making meaning through drawings, which was a continuation of the Cov-EM studies. Findings from the data collected in a qualitative study with children aged 4 – 7 years old show the children’s understanding of the characteristics of the COVID-19, their personal pandemic experiences, the effects of the coronavirus on people’s health and lifestyles, and the impact of the coronavirus on the environment.

Dr Charmaine Bonello presented the preliminary findings of a joint research project she developed with Dr Anna Baldacchino (University of Malta) and Prof. Carmen Dalli (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand). The preliminary findings described how educators' adoption of the emergent curriculum approach (with 0-7-year-olds) transformed their views of learning, resulting in new interpretations of learning in Maltese early years settings that featured children's curiosities and agency. 

Prof. Valerie Sollars presented a paper entitled, Curiosity killed the cat ... practitioners’ responses to children’s curiosity in kindergarten settings. Findings from individual interviews conducted with 12 kindergarten educators illustrated how sensitive relationships with the young children in their class helped practitioners respond to the children's interests and curiosities, leading to engaging activities within and outside school through structured and incidental activities.

Dr Jane Spiteri’s presentation on Pre-service teachers’ conceptions of climate change: A Maltese perspective, explored the perceptions of climate change of four pre-service teachers. Although participants had some rudimentary understanding of climate change they also held misconceptions. Based on the findings, teacher training programmes would do well to develop pre-services teachers’ scientific literacy in relation to climate change.