The publication of Tomorrow's Schools: Developing Effective Learning Cultures (Wain et al, 1995) indicates a starting point for a possible re-examination of current policies and practices in the light of the demands made by a fast changing world. It strives to propose the conditions that should prevail if all children are to have a quality education. For the first time ever, a government document established a set of agendas and strategies for tomorrow's schools aiming to develop a new culture of learning and of effective learning environments. This consultative document paved the way for a revised National Minimum Curriculum published in 1999.
A process of decentralisation and school autonomy was initiated with the aim of renewing the educational system. Decentralisation of the Maltese educational system was intended to allow schools more flexibility and power to decide matters related to educational goals, resource management, curriculum and finance. International research suggests that, through greater autonomy, schools can respond, react and be more accountable to students' needs (Caldwell, 1990, 1997; Chapman, 1987; Eilason, 1996). Through greater school autonomy it was hoped that schools could be in a better position to cater for the needs of their students through an enhanced teaching and learning process. In contrast to previous policy documents that were aimed at restructuring the Maltese educational system, the 1999 NMC can be regarded as the first concerted effort at the re-culturing of the system.
Another reform aimed at achieving the system-wide reform professed in the 1999 NMC was proposed in the document For All Children To Succeed (FACT, 2005) published by the Ministry of Education. This policy document considers school networking as the main organisational form which can bring about the process of transformation in the Maltese educational system advocated for by the 1999 NMC. FACT suggests that "a well-designed and an effective application of the principle of subsidiarity, through greater autonomy of schools and decentralisation of services, ought to better facilitate the improvement in the quality and standards of children's and students' educational experience and performance (1999, p.29)".
This policy document also regards networks as an organisational structure that can replace the traditional top-down approach previously used in the Maltese educational system with a more lateral approach. It recognises that the term "network" may have various definitions.
The policy document clarifies that it adopts a working definition developed by David Hopkins (2005) of networks in education: "Networks are purposeful social entities characterised by a commitment to quality, rigour and a focus on standards and student learning. They are also an effective means of supporting innovation in times of change. In education, networks promote the dissemination, development of teachers, support capacity building in schools, mediate between centralised and decentralised structures and assist in the process of re-structuring and re-culturing educational organisations and systems (2005, p.37)".
According to this policy document, a school network is made up of a number of primary and secondary schools. Each network of schools is called a College and each college provides a range of coordinated educational facilities, resources and services. Different alternative network systems are suggested but all have a number of common elements. Each network has the same managerial structure. Each school within the network has its own head of school and staff.
A new leadership position has been created, that of a college principal who leads the whole network and who chairs a Council of Heads (COH) of schools making up that network. A college board provides direction to the whole network.
In a school network system, children attend the primary school in their town or village and should proceed to a secondary school within that particular network and the policy document proposes that they will no longer be selected for different secondary schools (Junior Lyceum or area secondary school). At present not all 10 colleges have an adequate number of schools to keep all primary students within their own college secondary schools. For this purpose, during the past five years the Ministry of Education has built a number of new primary and secondary schools and will commence with such a building programme. Students of primary schools will proceed to secondary schools within the same network.
The policy document suggests that networks will facilitate horizontal and vertical linkages between schools from early childhood on to primary and then to secondary education.
This policy document led to another important and related policy document, Transition From Primary To Secondary Schools In Malta (2008), which is proposing a smoother flow from one level of education to another and, thus, minimise the effect of one of the major problems of the existing system - that of a difficult transition from primary to secondary schooling resulting from the 11+ examination.
Various studies carried out during the last decade have attempted to identify solutions to the problematic transfer of students from primary to secondary schools. Local studies suggested that the key for an easy transition is communication and cooperation among the different sectors, including the Education Division, school administration, teachers and parents. Wain et al had recommended that "state primary schools should be reintegrated under one management", thus providing students with continuity through the principle of vertical and horizontal integration (p.43).
Wain et al had further recommended that "after careful preparation, national examinations, streaming and the 11+ examinations for entry into state Junior Lyceums and Church secondary schools should be abolished" (p.46).
Following these recommendations, Farrugia (1999) suggested structural and organisational changes, which would help the Maltese educational system to revitalise and renew itself. He stressed that the most essential ingredients for his proposed school reform are a reorganisation of state primary and secondary schools to form combined entities where the transfer from one level to the next is automatic.
The NMC (1999) acknowledged the evidence generated by this research and recognised the importance of creating a smooth transition from primary to secondary level: "a sense of continuity would enable students to realise that education is a process and not a series of disconnected episodes" (p.33).
FACT (2005) envisages that, through networking, schools will be in a better and stronger position to meet the needs of students since they will work in partnership with one another, share resources, jointly solve problems and create new practices within the specific and particular context of a group of schools forming one whole unit. Central to the idea of school networks is the intention that networks are designed around a common learning focus.
Tomorrow: leadership for school networks
Mr Fabri, principal of Saint Theresa College, graduated B.Ed. (Hons.) and M.A. from the University of Malta and read his doctorate in education at the Institute of Education, University of London.
francis.fabri@gov.mt