Vocational Teacher Training Unit induction programme

On October 2, the Vocational Training Teaching Unit (VTTU) within the Professional Development Centre at MCAST organised an induction programme for candidates following the BTEC Certificate in Further Education Teaching at the New Dolmen Resort Hotel, Qawra.

This Certificate, a qualification at British NVQ Level 5, is offered to all MCAST assistant lecturers as professional development in pedagogy. The professional's ongoing search for continuous development is obvious and the demand for such a course is actually greater than the supply of places. Criteria set by the principal's office at MCAST establish eligibility for enrolment on this programme.

The programme kicked off with a welcome from the president of MCAST's board of governors, Paul A. Attard. Frank Edwards, principal and CEO of MCAST, followed with a speech on the importance of pedagogical training for quality teaching at the college.

Mr Attard's riveting opening on the professional educator's qualities laid strong foundations for Mr Edwards's enthusiasm, encouragement, confidence build-up and morale-boosting, brilliantly rounded off with solid wealth of knowledge when candidates were addressed by Professor Ronald Sultana, the unit's consultant, who focused on the tradition and development of vocational education in Malta.

The morning was then concluded with a workshop held by the three full-time staff members of the VTTU, namely David Bonello, senior lecturer and co-ordinator, Katya DeGiovanni and Jacqueline Micallef Grimaud, who hold full-time lecturing posts.

This is the second group of lecturers to whom MCAST is offering professional education and training. The first cohort will in fact graduate on Friday. Nicola Mortimer-Stokes, external verifier for BTEC, said the standard reached by these candidates was well above that required, thus commending their excellence.

The BTEC Certificate in Further Education Teaching is one of the many flexible programmes offered by UK Edexcel. It is offered in three stages. Stage 1 is offered to those who lecture for a few hours a week.

Stage 2 is available for those for whom training is a prominent part of their role within an organisation, such as training managers within manufacturing companies. MCAST is offering its lecturers the qualification at Stage 3 since the programme is aimed at training educators who teach or lecture on a full-time basis.

The programme is composed of eight units: Further Education in Context, Communication and the Teacher, The Professional Practitioner, Induction, Initial Assessment and Support, Learning Theories and Teaching Techniques, Teaching Practice and Resources, Purpose and Use of Assessment, The Research Project and the completion of a Professional Development journal as an ongoing process.

Video conferencing

A novelty in this run of the course shall be the use of video conferencing to transmit lectures from Malta to MCAST's lecturers in Gozo. In fact, seven candidates following the course are full-time lecturers at the MCAST Centre in Gozo. MCAST has invested in the provision of video conference technology to facilitate learning and real-time communication wherever possible and practicable.

Furthermore, the college is working closely with the Education Division.

Twenty-one part-time instructors in full-time employment with the Education Division will follow this programme together with MCAST lecturers, with special provision to satisfy their particular professional needs.

Edexcel allows for the modification and finetuning of content to serve a specific purpose with particular emphasis on primary and/or secondary education as the case may be.

It is envisaged that the programme will be concluded in April 2008.