The last scholastic year, in more ways than one, has shown us all how schooling is not confined to the four walls of a classroom or to the boundaries of schools or colleges. Decisions regarding education have an impact on the life of us all, they affect plans of parents, of families, of society as a whole.
When educational authorities make a move, reactions pour in instantaneously and, whether in agreement or disagreement with decisions taken, most of us find ourselves in a position in which we have to abide by them and act accordingly.
The effects of decision-making in education are much more problematic, and questionable, when issues are shrouded in uncertainty, such as when proposed reforms are not completed and no clear answers are provided when questions are asked about them.
Let us go back a few years, to pre-pandemic times which, alas, are starting to become a distant memory. In 2014, the Faculty of Education, University of Malta, was heavily involved in proposed reforms which did not only concern university students and those becoming teachers.
They were being discussed, with the involvement of all major educational stakeholders, to propose a new legislation to regulate the sector, which would eventually replace the 1988 Education Act. Besides the teaching profession, this proposed legislation would also provide the basis to regularise other extremely important sectors in our educational system, such as those of Learning Support Educators (LSEs) and Kindergarten Educators (KGEs).
The Faculty of Education was then also going through a process of internal change, as, from time to time, should be the case of any tertiary educational institution worthy of this name.
This included rethinking its initial teacher education courses and establishing much-needed new areas of studies, for educational mentors, to address continuing professional education and the introduction of vocational subjects in schools, among others.
The faculty was also engaged in a process to revise its established fields, including educational theory, school leadership and the teaching practice component, carried out in partnership with schools.
These internal changes were intrinsically hinged to the proposed new legislation, entitled the ‘Teaching and Allied Professions Act’, for which a consultation phase was launched by the Ministry of Education and Employment in 2016. The faculty was involved in this process and established its own consultative committee, which also included the MUT, the ministry itself, schools and the private sector. This was undoubtedly an exciting time for education in Malta, despite the huge challenges involved.
As far as the Faculty of Education was concerned, this led to the setting up of new departments and to the introduction of a teacher-education course, the Master’s in Teaching and Learning (MTL). This Master’s level course is in line with international trends in the field and it acknowledges the knowledge and competence demands made on teachers today.
Reforms discussed and approved years ago risk becoming outdated before they are implemented- Sandro Caruana
It was clear, through these concerted efforts involving stakeholders and through the proposed legislation, that work was underway in order to give better recognition to the teaching profession, to provide the legal basis for all educators engaged in schools and to, slowly but surely, start moving our educational system towards ambitious goals. These included giving schools more autonomy and valuing teachers both as experts of their subject and as professionals who could guide learners to reflect critically on knowledge and to engage fruitfully with their peers and, as a consequence, within society.
Although several years have now passed, the Teaching and Allied Professions Act has remained on paper. The faculty has often asked for an explanation, to the extent that it also questioned whether this Act is still on the cards or not.
Although it has been approved by parliament, its implementation is apparently caught up in a web of bureaucratic tangles, including a proportionality exercise, which involves an intricate national and EU-based legal process.
Although this may be justified, uncertainty is not healthy, more so in education, a sector which involves the lives of many. Reforms discussed and approved years ago risk becoming outdated before they are implemented, especially in the circumstances which we have found ourselves in.
Since the start of this reform process, more than five years ago, the newest generation of fully-qualified teachers, who have completed the Master’s in Teaching and Learning (MTL) degree, await to be informed whether this qualification, in the coming years, will be recognised as the entry level degree to the profession.
They have invested in their own future and in the future of their learners and, at least for their sake, clarity is required. Instead, since the start of the process which led to the Teaching and Allied Professions Act, prolonged procrastination has left questions largely unanswered in relation to its implementation.
I hope that this will not be yet another squandered opportunity for our educators and for our educational system. Having been in the field for over 30 years has made me become used to back-tracking, sometimes even to the detriment of fundamental educational principles, but this does not mean I can resign myself to accept it.
If circumstances dictate that the Teaching and Allied Professions Act as approved by parliament cannot be implemented in its current state, it would be only fair that this is communicated as soon as possible and that this state of limbo in teacher education, and in the sector as a whole, ceases.
Sandro Caruana, former dean, Faculty of Education