Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/497863
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 APRIL 2015 12 News MARTINA BORG A recent statement by the Malta Un- ion of Teachers has suggested that the level of political discourse (or rather, mud-slinging) taking place in the local scene is having a ripple ef- fect on young minds. Which inevitably makes people ponder the nature of thinking in the country – politics often tends to bring out some of the worst aspects of local society; strengthening social and ideological divides, with heated arguments and disagreements col- ouring the debate. The fact that this verbal animos- ity tends to spill over from political party leaders onto the public is not news in itself, but its effects on young minds can be somewhat shocking in the long term. Indeed MUT president Kevin Bonello confirmed with MaltaTo- day that concerned educators had already called the union to report in- cidences of personal attacks among students. "Arguments and disagreements are only natural when there are elec- tions, with children picking on each other according to their beliefs. The situation is, however, compounded by the fact that party leaders do not treat each other with respect," Bonello said. He was referring in particular to the recent occurrences of personal attacks and mud-slinging that domi- nated the news in the run-up to the local elections and spring hunting referendum. "Such attitudes go against the very principles of education," Bonello re- iterated. "Politicians have a very strong in- fluence on Maltese society and as such I think they should act as an example." It seems however, that Bonello is not isolated in his opinion. Freelance writer and blogger Josanne Cassar also recently published a blog post on the subject, where she sets off with the premise that at the spring hunting referendum a substantial number of Maltese voters had voted according to the political leaders' choices, rather than their own, inde- pendently mulled-over decisions. Although not referring to mud- slinging tactics in particular, Cassar too raises political influence as an issue that hinders critical thinking, with many people clearly accepting the words and opinions of their lead- ers as sacrosanct rather than coming to their own conclusions. According to Cassar the issue comes down to a lack of formative training in schools that should be teaching children how to think. "Our educational system is excel- lent in so many ways when it comes to academic achievements, but I'm afraid it is still lagging far behind when it comes to holistic subjects such as debates," Cassar's blog reads. She even goes on to suggest that the educational system's emphasis on exam results comes at the cost of critical thinking. This view is in fact even shared by Kevin Bonello, who admitted that critical thinking was somewhat lack- ing in the national system and that these issues needed to be addressed to ensure that society becomes less easily influenced. "Notwithstanding its lack of power in the matter, the union has been working with relevant authorities in the government's Learning Out- comes Framework, which aims to reform the educational system, start- ing all the way from kindergarten," Bonello explained. The fact that the formative child- hood years are essential to develop- ing a critical mind, was also hinted at by philosophy lecturer and director of the Centre for Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Malta, Jean-Paul De Lucca, who said that the main issue was that many people accepted old and new clichés with- out questioning them. "In my opinion, the key lies in pri- mary education. Children need to develop basic thinking skills at the outset," De Lucca said. He added that the process would be easier if only people had a deeper understanding of democracy as not merely a right to vote, but above all as a possibility to discuss one's views and ideas. "People need to be capable of en- gaging in dialogue by articulating their own ideas and listening to each other with as open a mind as pos- sible, and that can only be achieved through a development of certain thinking skills," he stressed. De Lucca reiterated the importance of primary education in the creation of such open-minded persons. "Efforts need to be made in order to incentivise the best minds of so- ciety to embark on the profession," he said, adding that ensuring higher earnings and stricter selection cri- teria could be ways of boosting the profession. He said that education needed to become more broad and far-reaching; giving as holistic a for- mation as possible. "There is too much over-special- ising at an early age," he said. "If we want all-round thinkers, then we need an all-round education, to pro- mote good character formation, " he said. Associate professor at the Univer- sity of Malta's Education Faculty, Carmel Borg said that references to critical thinking constituted a fixture in most of the official documents dealing with education. "The rhetoric of critical thinking is ubiquitous in speeches delivered by officials occupying different po- sitions of the educational hierarchy. Unfortunately, however, with ex- ceptions, critical thinking is absent where it really matters; that is in school cultures, continuous profes- sional development, school develop- ment plans, classroom pedagogy and assessment for learning," Borg said. Borg added that critical thinking was the last thing that crossed sig- nificant adults' mind in the three- year run up to SEC examinations, where the main goal was getting good grades rather than engaging the world critically, systematically and intelligently. "Schools are operating in a so- cial context that is highly regulat- ed, overly watched and polarised. Within the schooling communities, critical thinking, and the knowledge and actions it generates, is gener- ally perceived as controversial and dangerous, both professionally and pedagogically." Borg explained that this intellec- tual vacuum that dominates school curricula is often filled by spaces out- side schools that are very poor train- ing grounds for authentic democracy and democratic citizenship. The local scenario stands in stark contrast to other European coun- tries, which stress the importance of developing thinking skills through their insistence on certain subjects throughout their years of education, much like the local system encour- ages the study of Systems of Knowl- edge at sixth form, but arguably this is rather too little, too late. A recent article by French newspa- per France 24 revealed for instance that French teenagers were required to sit for a compulsory four-hour philosophy exam in order to be ad- mitted to university. However, the study of philosophy is different, in that it requires stu- dents to answer questions like, "Can a scientific truth be dangerous?" or "Is it one's own responsibility to find happiness?" by using past philoso- phers' ideas to bolster their own, and not simply to look at the history of thought. The subject is however seen as vital throughout secondary school in France, and in the last year of high school alone it is a compulsory sub- ject for all students, with those stud- ying humanities doing eight hours of philosophy a week, and pupils study- ing science and technology doing two hours a week. Though the French system may ar- guably be too intense for comfort, it may perhaps carry some vital lessons for its Maltese counterpart – starved as it clearly is of mechanisms that ensure young people aren't at the mercy of swallowing and internalis- ing the buzzwords and clichés politi- cal leaders spout on a regular basis. To think or not to think? The Turkish invasion will be tweeted The Great Siege documented 'live' on Twitter and Facebook as part of the promo blitz for an upcoming TVM documentary TEODOR RELJIC A TVM initiative takes a quirky look at one of the most celebrated events in Maltese history, as the Twitter ac- count The Siege of 1565 (@1565tvm) and its Facebook counterpart docu- ments the 1565 Siege of Malta as if it's happening right now, with ac- companying images and hashtags. Interspersing strategic factoids with bite-sized comments on key personalities in the Siege, the social media accounts will presumably continue to run up until 18 May – the 450th anniversary of the Siege. But apart from commemorating the Siege in the digital realm, these social media accounts are actually part of an ongoing promotional campaign towards a TVM documentary on the Great Siege, to be shown on TVM in the coming months. 'Spies based in #Constantinople in- form GM #delaValette of #Ottoman preps for a massive fleet to set sail in spring', a 2 March tweet informs us, while we also get a glimpse of the financial burden that the Siege may have had on the Knights: 'The #Knights feel the pinch: not enough income to finance the mercenaries needed to defend #Malta in case of #siege'. Some tweets prompt visitors to en- gage in historical speculation, such as the one accompanying a skull- and-bones encrusted catacomb, which reads, 'Bet 1540s and 1565 d Turks were regular visitors of Malta & Gozo. Were these the victims of a raid on Żejtun in 1614?' The programme forms part of a cluster of events leading up to the 450th anniversary of the Great Siege of Malta. Arts Council Malta and Heritage Malta have announced their own Siege-themed collabora- tive events earlier this week, which will be starting in May. After several months of continu- ous battle between the invading Ottoman forces and the Knights of Malta, the fighting came to an end on 8 September, a date that contin- ues to be commemorated with the annual public holiday Il-Vitorja. The dramatic unfolding of the Siege had a substantial effect on the continent, leading to the founding of Valletta a year later. Trending: Jean De La Valette Political rhetoric may be quashing the critical impulse of children and youths