Teaching is a rewarding profession, through which one is actively engaged in social change and makes a significant contribution to people’s lives.
It is also a challenging and demanding profession that deserves no less respect and recognition than any other profession in the service it gives both to society and to individuals. Education is the intellectual birthright of everyone without distinction.
The preparation of teachers, as well as their continuing professional development, must be directed towards situations they face in today’s schools, among which the needs of learners with different socio-cultural backgrounds, the introduction of digital tools and the importance of creating an ambience where all learners are given recognition for what they know and in which their potential can develop.
From October this year, the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta will offer a Master course in Teaching and Learning (MTL), raising the status of Initial Teacher Education to a Professional Master level, in line with practices adopted in several EU countries.
This course represents a Level 7 (Malta Qualifications Framework) qualification, on completion of which one will be eligible to apply for a permanent warrant to join the teaching profession.
The move to upgrading prospective teachers’ level of qualifications has been long debated by the Faculty of Education together with stakeholders, including the Ministry for Education and Employment, the Church and independent school sectors.
Besides the advantage of streamlining entry into the profession locally, by means of the MTL the faculty is responding to needs in the local society and stimulating change in the educational landscape, including those brought about by the introduction of the National Curriculum Framework (2012) and the Learning Outcomes Framework (2015), which are leading to developments in the range of taught subjects and in the way they are assessed.
The MTL aims to upgrade the quality of initial teacher education by preparing teachers who are prepared to take on the current challenges of teaching
The MTL is a professional Master degree, at the heart of which programme is practice in educational contexts. A substantial part of teacher training will be held in schools, and this will further strengthen the present day practicum. Various elements in the MTL are designed to promote critical reflections on the teaching-learning process, while a research component will allow students to engage with specific issues related to education.
The MTL also aims to develop skills and dispositions of students who will follow the course, as together with content and pedagogical knowledge, these are central to teacher formation.
The Faculty of Education also strongly supports the introduction of teacher mentors for student-teachers, in order to ensure that the entry into the profession is suitably guided and supported by fully qualified and experienced teachers in schools. Mentoring is included practically worldwide in teacher education and professional development and has also recently been introduced locally for newly qualified teachers.
A first degree, such as a BA or a BSc, is required to be eligible to join the MTL. On the basis of this, one may opt to apply for a primary school or a secondary school specialisation: while for the former a number of first degrees are considered valid, for the latter one requires a qualification in specific subjects which will lead to a teaching qualification.
Furthermore, prior to application, one will also be required to pass a proficiency test for prospective teachers in both Maltese and English, inasmuch as these are the two vehicular languages through which many subjects are taught in local schools. Applicants will also be required to provide evidence of an educational experience, through which they would have evaluated their own disposition and attitudes towards the profession they are seeking to join.
The MTL aims to upgrade the quality of initial teacher education by preparing teachers who are prepared to take on the current challenges of teaching. Graduates of the MTL will enjoy flexibility for employment as they will be in possession of both an undergraduate degree, thus ensuring content knowledge of the area they specialise in, as well as a post-graduate professional Master degree that qualifies them to teach.
The MTL is a full-time two-year course. It is a non-fee paying postgraduate course and students will be granted a stipend.
Further details are available at: http://www.um.edu.mt/educ/mtl
Prof. Sandro Caruana is dean of the Faculty of Education.