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George Cassar: The Emergence of a Maltese Teacher Corps: From modest origins to strength in unity 1800-1919. Malta University Publishing, 2012. 243 pp.

Of the many studies on the development of education in Malta, most have focused on more recent developments in Maltese schools. Other research has analysed teachers’ preoccupations and aspirations in modern-day Malta.

A few have also delved into the historical background of local education. However, there is as yet no study which attempts to uncover the detail and intricacy of the local teachers’ occupation as an organised teaching body from what might be termed its birth, in the 1830s, to its early maturity in 1919.

This book traces the evolution of the occupational position of the Maltese teacher in colonial Malta at a time when politics (especially the language question) and religion (especially the contrasts between the Maltese Catholic Church and the local Protestant administration) dominated anything and everything within Maltese society.

Consequently, teachers, as others in the public service, were constantly dependent on the political, social and economic environment which prevailed at the time. Teachers’ aspirations, needs, insights and careers depended on forces beyond them, forces which could not be controlled by simple petitions, letters in the press or day-to-day grumbling.

Teachers eventually realised that only through unity and homogeneity of purpose could they hope to mitigate the powers and elements which had been holding them back.

As in other parts of the globe, Maltese teachers understood that the formation of a union comprising the majority, if not all, of the teaching body, was the only way forward towards their aspiration to higher esteem, status and salaries. These wishes had been developing since the 19th century, but became more evident during the first years of the 20th.

The study also entails a detailed inquiry of 19th- and early 20th-century educational thought about the teacher’s role and duties in schools

The birth of the Malta Union of Teachers in 1919 gave rise to the second stage of teacher development in Malta, with the third reached in 1988 when official recognition of the teaching occupation as a profession in its own right was finally achieved.

This study does not look at the teachers’ drive towards their aspirations solely through a historical or chronological recounting of the stages leading to 1919. The teachers’ occupation is examined through an analysis of the conditions of work, the methods of recruitment, appointment and classification, teacher training and the development of salaries, all of which help the reader to conceive a clearer picture of what teachers went through while at their daily work within schools.

It may also be surprising to note that certain problems concerning teachers that were evident in the past, are still with us, to some extent or other, even today.

The study also entails a detailed inquiry of 19th- and early 20th-century educational thought about the teacher’s role and duties in schools. It is revealing how adjourned Maltese thinkers were, with regards to the scope and objectives of education in general and the function of the teacher in particular.

Educational thought in Malta was very much abreast with European educational theories and practices, and through the writings of what was being pronounced by these Maltese thinkers, this rationale was put over to the local authorities and intelligentsia.

To some extent such ideas affected policies in education and offered insights towards the modification of the teachers’ image within Maltese society.

The study embraces the evolution of Maltese teachers as a body. It helps present colleagues within the profession to understand, appreciate and inspire themselves for the future, so as to improve that which their predecessors worked for and which was partly gained through their efforts.

This is a heritage which the teaching profession should be aware of, as it is through knowing its roots that it can understand its present and strive for a better future.