At Lorenzo Gafà boys' secondary school, where many students are from backgrounds in which education is given little importance, the current head has always worked to "fit the system to the students", instead of the other way round.

"If we want to reach these boys, who range widely in their abilities, we can't work with traditional methods," said Horace Caruana.

One of his solutions, therefore, has been to divide the students into two streams, putting one on a normal curriculum and teaching the other group subjects, often in workshops, that entail a more hands-on approach to learning.

When the new national minimum curriculum held out "differentiated" teaching in the classroom as one of its targets, Mr Caruana had already fully embraced the concept, which is all about teachers taking into consideration their students' diverse needs and abilities.

But how, he asked himself, was differentiated teaching to be put into practice? Mr Caruana felt he found the answer in an approach pioneered in the United States and which has started to catch on in Malta. So he gave all 35 of his teachers the opportunity to receive training in the 'Let Me Learn Process'.

Let Me Learn is based on the premise that each learner is unique, and derives its name from the notion that each also has a kind of inner voice that shouts out "let me learn".

Therefore, teachers are helped to understand the particular manner in which each child learns best, and how to adjust their teaching styles to allow students to express what they know in their own way, unlocking their will to learn in the process.

Such is Mr Caruana's confidence that the method will make a difference that he is aiming to have it applied to nearly every subject taught at his school.

He is not alone in his enthusiasm for the approach. Several other local schools have taken an interest and in the US it has already been tried successfully in hundreds.

Last year LML, which locally is a joint initiative of the University of Malta and the Education Division, was piloted in three state schools, two primaries in Mosta and Valletta and a secondary school in Marsa.

Recently, Lorenzo Gafà teachers completed phase one of their training alongside 45 other teachers from San Gwann primaries A and B, Senglea primary, and secondary schools in Naxxar and Paola.

Phase two, to start in September, will consist of putting the theory into practice within the classroom.

A number of other government schools have applied to start training some of their teachers next year, while others are seeking to hold "awareness sessions" with parents and teachers as a first step.

Some Church and independent schools are also interested, said Colin Calleja, a member of the Faculty of Education who heads Let Me Learn in Malta. Stella Maris Balzan and San Andrea early school are among those where awareness sessions have been held, while next year training sessions in differentiated teaching using LML will be organised for San Anton early and middle school teachers.

And that's just the beginning. Mr Calleja said the long-term plan was to have five schools come on board every year. This will be done with the help of two newly certified LML trainers for the Education Division, Katya DeGiovanni and Bernard Cauchi, who have done a year's training in the US and here.

Furthermore, B.Ed trainee primary teachers are now also given a grounding in how to use the method, so eventually a whole new generation of teachers will be able to draw on this important pedagogical resource.

And from Malta, the method is even starting to spread abroad. So far in Europe, LML has only been taken up here and in Ireland. But the local branch has recently established good links with the teacher training college of Assen in Holland, which is exploring the possibility of incorporating the process into its curriculum with Maltese assistance.

What LML allows teachers to do is basically identify in their students and in themselves their predominant mental learning patterns. This is done through a questionnaire.

Some individuals, for example, learn best if given step-by-step instructions and rules to follow. These would be classified as predominantly 'sequential' learners.

'Precise' learners, on the other hand, ask plenty of questions, crave information and delight in detail, while 'technical' individuals are good problem solvers and do best when learning from real-life experiences.

'Confluent' persons are those who rely on intuition, take risks and look for creative alternatives.

By using the Let Me Learn Process, the teacher can reflect on his or her teaching methods and adapt them in a way that meets the individual needs of all the students, improve the quality of interaction in the classroom, and boost the student's self-confidence as a learner.

On the other hand, said Mr Calleja, students made aware of their predominant learning pattern can be helped to express themselves in a different way - especially given that all students have to do exams and that exams involve a particular mode of expression.

"Some students may need support in how to structure their writing, for example, others in how to expand the language they use.

"Some may be brilliant at mathematics, but simply have difficulty putting things down on paper.

"The first step, however, is to become aware of the way in which they learn."

A very important side benefit of the system is that, because students are better understood, it is less easy to stamp them with labels such as 'unintelligent', 'backward' and 'unmotivated'. Rather, the increased insight into the unique ways in which they learn can help bring out their full potential - which is, after all, the aim of all education.

www.letmelearnmalta.com