Occasionally daily papers publish articles on the state of teacher education in Malta, on the need to attract top graduates to our university courses, on the landscape that surrounds educational reforms that impinge on improved professional practice, on various initiatives under way to improve the learning experiences of students and adults alike.

Often, national policies focus on new responsibilities and more accountability features to enhance the quality of education in our country. The quality of teachers and teaching conditions features less frequently in these discussions.

We may hold different opinions and views about the teaching profession, but healthy debate is critical if we truly want to place education as central to the overall development of our country.

The educational landscape is rife with research studies, reports and policy directives, and yet various issues, some of which have been raised repeatedly over the past decades, have not been adequately addressed.

So the debate continues.

In our article ‘New master’s degree shifts focus to teaching practice in schools’ (The Sunday Times of Malta, August 7), we explained how the faculty has recently reviewed its teacher education programmes  and, as a result, moved towards the two-year Master in Teaching & Learning (MTL).

This course, to the extent which is applicable in teacher education, draws from experiences in other caring professions, which include a clinical or practicum component. In fact, while teacher education has always been exemplary in the emphasis it placed on the teaching practice component, thereby giving importance to the interface between theoretical and practical knowledge, the MTL shifts towards a model where student teachers learn by working directly alongside and with skilled practitioners throughout the duration of the course.

In fact, the MTL places field placement at the core of the two-year professional master’s course, with student-teachers having ongoing and meaningful experiences in schools and other learning settings. Student-teachers will be placed in schools from the beginning of the academic year and will be engaged in tasks which will be completed through the support and guidance of, among others, school-based teacher mentors.

Furthermore, we aim to prepare teachers to address the needs of all their learners in today’s schools, and part of the MTL will be dedicated to the more pressing issues and challenges that teachers face.

This will be carried out through specific components, entitled ‘Themes in Education’, during which stakeholders will be involved alongside university lecturers. Through this, the faculty aims to create stronger partnerships with schools themselves, policymakers and the education authorities.

Through this master’s programme, we aim to attract graduates who are truly interested in joining the profession, who believe that they can play a role in helping students become knowledgeable and engaged citizens within our communities.

For, becoming and being a teacher implies a lifelong journey.

Transforming theory into practice is a complex, dynamic interplay between the political, economic and social environment, national and school context, as well as teacher-related factors. Every teacher wants to be an effective educator, for our role goes well beyond imparting knowledge, but also includes establishing positive relationships with and enabling students to become motivated and capable learners.

For this to take place, teaching is demanding of the whole person, particularly the heart (being passionate about learners and learning, being an inclusive, caring and ethical person), the head (such as the knowledge of the theory of pedagogy, curriculum and content knowledge, assessment and human development) and the hands (being a highly skilled practitioner). This triad for us is central, not only at the pre-service stage but it also needs to be sustained throughout one’s career, as one needs a context which respects and nurtures a love for learning.

Such a triad, we argue, needs to be applied to the whole education system by strengthening and connecting with staff within schools, the school as a community, reaching out to parents, guardians and community members and the policymakers, ministry, government, agencies and researchers. All need to be interdependently linked.

We need systems that encourage greater devolution of authority to the school site, encouraging and supporting schools to take decisions that are meaningful to them while nurturing accountability features. This is what good governance is about as people develop a common understanding of purpose and identity – who we are, what we stand for, a commitment to do what is good, a commitment to work with and for people, nurturing faith and character – for without them, as Thomas Sergiovanni notes, we “are not able to move beyond the ordinary to extraordinary performance”. This remains the perennial challenge.

The faculty, over the past two years, has looked inwards and reformed its initial teacher education programme. This has been done to strengthen the practicum also, always a central course component, and to help future teachers address the complex realities they encounter in today’s schools.

The Faculty of Education is striving to ensure that pre-service, induction and CPD come together to create a mindset, character and culture that embraces care, commitment and the courage to place the learning of one and all at the forefront of our discourse.

Sandro Caruana is Dean and Christopher Bezzina Deputy Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Malta.

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