Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1250967
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 MAY 2020 INTERVIEW not managed to resolve. I have been involved in teacher education for over 20 years now. Our students are passionate and enthusiastic, and they aspire to do what they know how to do best – teach! Once they graduate from the Faculty of Education they are competent enough to prepare lessons, to assess their learners and to carry out all du- ties related to the profession. So while it is correct to have ongoing professional devel- opment, it is sad that teachers express frustration when there is excessive red-tape and, es- pecially, too much paperwork. This distracts them from what the profession is mainly about, namely engaging directly with learners. You pointed out how the suc- cessful adaptation to the cri- sis also came about thanks to private initiatives by many individual teachers. Do you feel that teachers were given enough support to undergo this transition? Or was it case of having to make the most of limited resources? While I am sure that schools provided support, I think that many teachers are performing miracles. Keep in mind that they had to switch completely to dis- tance methods of teaching, in a matter of days. Although I believe that a num- ber of them resorted to learn- ing management systems and to repositories of lesson plans and resources, ultimately it was up to them to keep their learn- ers engaged, despite not having physical contact with them; to help them organise their work and sometimes even to resolve technical difficulties. Maybe most importantly of all, in today's circumstances, they often also had to support sev- eral learners emotionally. This pandemic has affected the men- tal health of many, as we know, and obviously children were not spared. And teachers, who had to face their own problems and keep up their commitments, had to deal with this too. I am aware of cases where they did so admi- rably, without feeling the need to trumpet this on social media... Coming back to e-learning: at the same conference you said that – unless 'blended' – it has its limitations. Could you ex- pand on those limitations… Research on the benefits of e-learning is obviously far from conclusive, although there are findings that indicate that it may work best, in normal circum- stances, when one alternates online learning with "real-life" classrooms. My background is language learning; and in this field, direct interaction is essential for one to improve – hence 'blending' input from technological means with direct personal encounters. I understand, of course, that the pandemic impedes such encounters. But, then again, e-learning can take on different shapes and forms, and it also de- pends on the target groups. For example, with older learn- ers a teacher might resort to placing a short video clip on- line and then expect feedback which can also be delivered in writing – in a similar fashion to a social media chat. This is also a way to ensure and encourage the participation of all, and the interventions can be monitored better by the teacher, thereby understanding the active en- gagement of each student. With younger learners, how- ever, this is harder – they need to move around, and cannot be expected to follow a full school day by sitting down in front of a computer screen. With them, parental involvement is key. The reliance on digital tech- nology for education may also be creating an educational di- vide, with students from poorer households without access to the same technology as oth- ers… This is a huge concern for teachers. Over the past weeks I think every teacher, and stu- dent-teacher, with whom I in- teracted mentioned this. The digital divide is a major issue, and in poorer countries it is obviously even worse than it is here. But this is not a matter that can be resolved in the middle of a pandemic, as it involves major long-term planning. It also requires the involve- ment of the community – so this again brings to the fore the fact that we must understand that schools do not function in iso- lation, and therefore the need to fully respect the role of teachers and school management teams. You were also very critical of the omission of teachers/par- ents from an education 'think- tank' launched by the Education Ministry last week. Why do you think the government failed to consult the main stakeholders when planning for future edu- cation in Malta? I think that my criticism was justified because the ministry it- self, within days, included other stakeholders within this think- tank. We should learn from ex- perience that educators will not own such initiatives, and the re- forms they may possibly envis- age, unless they are part of them. The positive experiences of a journey are found by participat- ing in the journey itself, and not only by meeting at a destination determined by others. Furthermore, till today, I be- lieve that the remit of this think- tank is unclear, and so is what it sets out to do. Maybe the Minis- try will clarify this in due course, although now it seems that it will be looking more at long- term solutions. If this is the case it might con- sider having a look at the con- tribution of the Faculty of Ed- ucation on teacher education and teacher competences to a working group appointed some years ago by the Ministry itself, in order to evaluate the Teach- ing Profession. This included a number of stakeholders who also formu- lated a number of recommenda- tions in 2018, while discussions regarding the new Education Act were ongoing. teachers more It's not only important to value teachers, but also to understand the importance of quality education for the needs of groups of different socio-economic backgrounds