A recent conference entitled ‘Empower, inspire, lead: The way to school improvement’, jointly organised by the Education Ministry and the University of Malta, focused on educational leadership and quality assurance. Attended by around 300 participants over two days, it served as an opportunity to introduce the National Education Strategy 2024-2030 (NES) and engage in a series of panel discussions.
Leaders in education engaged in discussions and reflected on the nature of quality in education and the different quality assurance mechanisms they encounter as leaders on a daily basis. This was discussed in light of the Quality Assurance Framework for Education in Malta (0-16) and the National Quality Standards in Education (3-16), published by the education ministry in 2023.
The conference was conceptualised as a start of a journey of engagement between educators from the State, Church and independent school sectors, educators working with the various directorates/departments, institutions and entities, and colleagues representing different stakeholders. It was described as a journey of transformation, hence moving away from reforms that are conceptualised as being cast in stone, to an approach that is evolving as the different stakeholders engage with the draft strategy.
This approach augurs well but it is far from an easy endeavour. It will take courage; ongoing commitment; a love for learning; sacrifice; a belief that we need to engage difference, and embrace what Matthew Syed describes as cognitive diversity, one that encourages people from different areas of society contributing to this discourse that will lead to transformation.
If we are going to talk of leadership, we need to embrace other important elements, including governance, trust, responsibility and accountability
The three pillars that form the strategy aim to achieve a quality education through meaningful strategic planning and continuous evaluation towards tangible improvement.
We usually do not describe conferences as journeys. Why was this conference different? From the word go, the organisers agreed the conference would serve as a launching pad, the start for further engagements with educators and other stakeholders.
The focus was not on just showcasing the NES or presenting it as a fully-fledged document. We are entering a phase that offers educators in general, and the public in particular, an opportunity to deliberate on the aims/objectives and pillars of the NES.
The Faculty of Education will put forward its views; the Chamber of Commerce will forward their reactions; schools are being invited to participate in various fora to present their observations. And the public and other institutions are encouraged to provide constructive feedback to ensure the strategy captures the needs of students, educators and society in general.
The conference focused on critical issues, namely educational leadership and quality assurance. The keynote address argued for a conference that will break new ground in the way we engage with educational reform in general and the way we define and work with issues of leadership – at systems and college/school level. And, if we are going to talk of leadership, we need to embrace other important elements, including governance, trust, responsibility and accountability.
The keynote presentation highlighted the importance of a strategy that needs to embrace trust not only within the education sector but across the whole of society. The paper also focused on governance and the need to move away from the transactional model of governance to the transformational and transcendent leadership and governance.
Leaders and educators play a crucial role in promoting this new approach towards implementation and evaluation of NES. This is where the role of both internal and external quality assurance mechanisms, as well as the national standards, come into play.
The Quality Assurance Framework for Education in Malta (0-16) brings forward a vision for a sustainable approach towards quality assurance where schools and educational institutions are encouraged to devise their own plans for improvement, based on their context, background and needs. This continuous process, aiming towards clear and tangible standards, will help in bringing national as well as school-specific objectives together towards relevant improvement.
In a series of articles over the coming weeks, we aim to engage readers with the NES. The first article looks at the context we are currently in, the challenges we face and the potential way forward. This will help readers see how the NES needs to introduce new forms of governance, one that allows us to ensure that our colleges/ schools can take leadership seriously.
Unless we introduce new governance structures, our educational institutions will not be empowered, inspired or led to take their schools forward. We need institutions that will be allowed the latitude to lead, to take bold decisions based on identified needs and supported by structures that can adequately help them address the ever-growing challenges our education system/country is facing.
We are faced with personal, organisational and societal challenges. The aim is to ensure that the NES provides healthy debate that will bring about the necessary changes at systems and school level to truly bring about change.
Denise Gatt is director for Quality and Standards in Education at the Education Ministry. Christopher Bezzina is from the Department of Leadership for Learning and Innovation at the University of Malta’s Faculty of Education.