I formed part of the second group of Maltese students reading for a Master in Education who were recently hosted for a week by the Behaviour Support Team of the Local Educational Authority in Leicester, UK. The visit was held with the support of our coordinator Carmel Cefai.

Leicester is renowned in the UK for the avant-garde educational systems it has adopted and applied, and in this respect we were not disappointed.

Our course of studies is aimed at providing us with the competencies required to be able to teach and support individual students or groups of students with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, to provide support to staff and parents and promote social and emotional literacy in schools.

We visited various educational settings ranging from infancy age to adolescence. Our duties included observation, job shadowing as well as attending staff training sessions.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which complemented our studies and widened our perspective of the diverse educational possibilities that can be implemented. The different educational facilities we had the opportunity to visit put into day-to-day practice the theory we learnt during our lectures at University.

Although the main objective of our visit was to observe and learn from the work being carried out, all the institutions also gave us the opportunity to work with students and participate in their programmes. We had to bear in mind the extent of the students' social background, and the wide spectrum of behavioural difficulties encountered at all ages could be easily originating from their particular cultural, religious, ethnic or financial settings.

Notwithstanding the students' traumatic social backgrounds, it was positive to note that addressing these difficulties carried no shame either for the students themselves, their families or for society in general.

We immediately noticed the difference in openness with which these circumstances are addressed. If we, as a country, were to become more honest with our children's behavioural difficulties, we would overcome one of the hurdles in catering for their needs.

Notwithstanding the short period of our visit, we were able to witness improvements within hours. These relatively new educational concepts are still highly questioned on the local scene, however, the Leicester experience taught us that individuals have individual needs and we must, at some point, nurture these needs.

There must be a shift from an academically-oriented mentality towards a socio-emotionally literate society in order to address one of the major principles of the National Minimum Curriculum (1999) - Principle 4: Education relevant for life.

The various educational settings we visited were well equipped with top-of-the-range resources and classroom settings which give an immediate, positive visual impact. One could not help noticing that enormous investment is made for the latest technological equipment to be at hand all day in all classrooms.

Their main resource lies in the presence of qualified staff who promote positive reinforcement across the board, whether the student achieves minor or major results.

A day at school was an ongoing celebration where each student experienced a sense of success on a daily basis. The attitude of the educational staff was informal all the way through without any lack of respect from the students.

Also, the educators were well-versed in current infant and youth culture. The language they used was modern and 'trendy'. When music was used, it was the same music the students listen to on their MP3 players, thus making classroom activity highly appealing.

In general, all the activities presented to the students in class were things they could relate to in their daily lives, normally at the cost of deviating from the norm.

The positive reinforcement applied in the classroom was supported by the fact that all the staff are used to working as part of a team, without any disrespect to the different levels of hierarchy. They are there for the other if and when the need arises.

We also attended staff meetings and could witness the healthy atmosphere in which discussions take place. These meetings tended to be both motivational and professional, whereby the main scope was the wellbeing of the individual as part of a team in order to build an effective squad for the benefit of all the students in school.

Subjects discussed varied from serious individual student cases to the chocolate kitty in the staffroom. Even the drink at the pub after work did not harm anyone!

It is part of the intrinsic culture of having a happy staff complement that will pass on the same positive attitude to their students during their day-to-day work.

This methodology is so contagious that even our own group's outlook towards each other and towards our work improved a lot during this week and we felt more part of a team. If these staff members could affect us, imagine how they affect the students they deal with every day and who cannot find such a positive attitude at home.

While educators do not have total control over the lives of their students, they can, however, make a difference by nurturing the emotional voids that these students often have.

We consider ourselves lucky to have had this experience, but we were luckier still to bring back with us the seeds of a very fertile learning environment. We now have a dream: to spread these seeds where there still remains barren land.

Borrowing the words of Alison Bradley, one of our hosts in Leicester, we should "Focus on what it will take to make it right, to make it better or to make it different."

Have your say

If you wish to contribute an article or would like a particular subject to be tackled in the Education section, call Davinia Hamilton on 2559 4513 or e-mail dhamilton@timesofmalta.com.