Key Message 3: Innovation in Teaching and Learning

The amount of co-operative effort, energies, and contributions that have been generated by the participatory stakeholder consultations that led to the formulation and adoption, in 1999, of a new National Curriculum provided proof of the importance given by stakeholders to innovations in the area of teaching and learning. Further proof of this bias towards innovation are the eighteen implementation plans submitted to the National Steering Committee on the Implementation of the National Curriculum by eighteen working groups that each focused on an important theme or aspect of the new National Curriculum, and current developments in the area of technology education in schools that include the introduction of a new University Certificate Course in Technology Education for teachers. New co-ordinated directions in this area are being provided by the National Curriculum Council established in March 2001, by the in-service training (INSET) programme for all teachers in Malta provided by the Division of Education, the senior staff development programme (SSDP) for educational leaders offered by the Division of Education, and the emphasis being placed on the professional development of School Development Plans that highlight plans as well as resources needed in this crucial area. Mobility opportunities for teachers through EU programmes as well as participation in exchange programmes are enhancing competencies in this area.

Further stakeholder opinions and recommendations generated on this theme through the consultation questionnaire on lifelong learning include the following:

1. The all-embracing concept of lifelong learning entails innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Education is conceptualised not as a time-conditioned process but as an ongoing one, occurring at all stages of a person's life. While educators should not shirk their responsibility to teach, they must render the teaching-learning process interactively. This process does not deny teachers' authority (to be distinguished from authoritarianism), derived from their competence in the area being tackled and as pedagogues. It does however allow learners the possibility of being 'learners-teachers' at the same time, since they are encouraged, through dialogue, to share their insights and specific interpretations with others, including the teacher. The latter would therefore be a 'teacher-learner', at times relearning that which she/he already knows through interaction with other learners. The learners can provide fresh and different insights on the matter at issue.
2. Both educators and learners should render knowledge dynamic, rather than static, through an interactive process, whereby the matter at issue becomes the object of co-investigation by the educator and learners. This process can help arouse a sense of "epistemological curiosity" that is central to the development of persons as lifelong learners.
3. Furthermore, educators further need to help nurture in learners the attitude of being capable of becoming self-directed and autonomous learners, both individually and collectively.
4. The emphasis on learners taking charge of their own learning should not, in any way, minimise the importance of learning as a social act. This explains the use of the word 'collectively.' Furthermore, the emphasis on people being able to take charge of their own learning should not imply that the State abdicates its responsibility in ensuring quality provision in both initial and adult education. Otherwise, we would run the risk of transferring all the responsibility for learning to the individual (with all the financial implications involved) who is often referred to, in this context, as the 'self-directed' learner.
5. Within the concept of lifelong learning, a whole variety of settings can be conceived of as educational settings - different sites of educational practice. These include the home, schools, training centres, universities, museums, the church and its network, the workplace, public libraries, the media, youth centres, band clubs, political party clubs, hospitals, old people's homes and others. The personnel engaged in these settings can be conceived of as educators in the broadest sense. They contribute, often in a direct way, to the learning of those who make use of their services in the various settings. The philosophy of lifelong education should therefore be a feature not only of initial and in-service teacher preparation but also of preparatory and in-service (continuing professional development) courses for those engaged as journalists, university lecturers, librarians, museumologists, social workers, priests, trade unionists, youth leaders, gerontology specialists, managers etc.
6. Ways should be determined of monitoring and documenting the various examples of good learning practices occurring in these different settings.
7. Furthermore, lifelong learning entails making use of a variety of resources which, in certain contexts, ought to be inter-linked through appropriate computer technology. One particular stakeholder stated that plans were once in place, in Malta, to link all libraries in this way. As another stakeholder pointed out, lifelong learning also entails the use of online learning involving interactive use of web pages.
8. eLearning will undoubtedly be one of the main developments for education in Malta in the forthcoming years. It has often been argued, however, that excessive use of computer technology can continue to render learning an isolated and individualistic activity. It often diminishes that element of human interaction, between teacher and taught, which is regarded as key to a dynamic learning process (one in which knowledge is constantly created and recreated through co-investigation between educators and learners). eNetworking is another interesting development that allows people possibilities for collective learning, often with a social purpose, across the globe.
9. One stakeholder proposed, with respect to higher education, that University education at undergraduate level should be broad- based, allowing more flexible combinations of areas (e.g. a BA in Theology and Computer Studies) than is the case at present. This can allow greater options for specialisation at postgraduate level and other sustained intellectual activity later on in life.
10. A lacuna that needs to be addressed in Malta is the acquisition, by those actively involved in non-formal and adult education work, of pedagogical skills appropriate for adult learners, and skills appropriate to responsibilities connected with the management of schools as community learning centres.