As Europe evolves, how can our education system strive to keep up? Jo Caruana talks to Dr Susanne Gatt about the importance of inclusion in our schools, and an international project that has highlighted the changing face of learning across the EU.
Education is evolving at an ever-increasing rate. From the plethora of information to be studied to the methods through which they are understood and the classmates with whom school-day experiences are shared, there is nothing rigid about the way learning can be accomplished.
All this has been vividly highlighted by Includ-Ed, an ongoing EU research project within which Malta has held a fundamental role. The good news? Malta has been shown to be one of the countries moving in the right direction.
“Research is vital when it comes to driving change in education,” explains Dr Susanne Gatt, a senior lecturer and University of Malta’s coordinator for Includ-Ed, as well as the workpackage leader of the research focusing on community involvement in schools.
“This project certainly shows how Malta is contributing to international research and feeding into European policy,” she says.
The basic premise of Includ-Ed is that the more educated people become, the greater social cohesion can be. This is because educated people have more opportunities for employment, as well as a better chance of successfully utilising social benefits such as housing and health services. They are also more likely to participate in civil and political activities.
“We believe education can lead to active citizenship, and this is what we hope our research will eventually achieve,” she says. “For instance, in Spain and the UK we found there are many immigrants with no understanding of the local language.”
This means they’re often completely stuck – unsure where to seek medical help or how best to encourage their children at school. They are limited even at this information stage, and thus struggle implicitly with inclusion on every level.
The project, which is part of the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Developement, is being coordinated by the Univeristy of Barcelona and led by renowned critical pedagogist Ramon Fleche.
“Throughout Includ-Ed we have analysed educational systems across the EU that either contribute to social cohesion or exacerbate exclusion,” says Dr Gatt.
“For example, we learnt that different approaches to segregating or grouping students in schools are associated with varied levels of inequality and a lack of academic achievement.
“As a result, we identified that two of the biggest exclusionary tactics in education are streaming and tracking. Streaming has now been abolished in Malta, and tracking is being phased out too; this is very encouraging and certainly a step in the right direction.”
The project hasn’t simply looked at methods for inclusion, but was particularly focused on five vulnerable groups who regularly face exclusion – namely migrants, cultural minorities, youths, people with disabilities and women.
Includ-Ed has also emphasised the importance of social agents to enhance a child’s education.
In fact, Malta led Includ-Ed’s work package on community involvement, and looked at schools that have noted educational achievement in low socio-economic areas thanks to increased contact with members of their society. Results showed improvements across various areas, including maths and the students’ first language, as well as tolerance for their classmates and teachers.
“Family and community involvement helps overcome inequalities and stereotypes, improves the coordination between home and school, and meets the needs of both the children and the community to a greater degree,” continues Dr Gatt.
“It is pioneering information because there is a lot of American research about how schools can service the community, but this project shows how schools can work with the community for mutual benefit. What we have seen first-hand is how schools, parents, community leaders and NGOs within the community can function together towards a common dream – and it works.”
The study looked at six schools in five different countries, including Malta, and identified common positive and transformative approaches. It found that when a school works within the community as a whole, the students feel better about themselves and have higher expectations.
“Everyone feels better,” says Dr Gatt. When this model is practised, it is not about what the children cannot achieve, but about what they can. In this way, school becomes a point of reference where voices can be heard, listened to and action taken.
Now the project is in its final stretch, and will come to a close in December.
“Now we look forward to the future by looking at ways this research can genuinely make a difference. I hope to see a bottom-up approach emerge, with communities taking its advice and making valuable changes for future generations. It can only grow to serve the community more from here.”
Education explained: Methods of segregation and inclusion
Tracking segregates students into different tracks while they are learning, such as onto a vocational or academic track, which can limit their education.
Streaming uses different curricula based on a students’ ability, where different teachers work with groups of more/less able students, thus conditioning what students believe they can and cannot achieve.
Mixture is based on a traditional classroom set-up, with a diverse student body in terms of ability or culture being taught together by one teacher in the classroom.
Inclusion retains heterogeneity of the classroom and engages professionals, families and volunteers to support all students in a common environment.
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