Roundtable discussions in Malta

An online roundtable discussion was held with education-based professionals in Malta on the 11th of February 2021. Sixteen participants attended, including Heads of school, Education Officers, Guidance teachers, Personal, Social and Careers Education Teachers, Learning Zones support Teachers.

Discussion points and questions were derived from the initial findings of each of the exploratory countries’ (Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania) data analysis reports.

In discussing which subject the educators felt their students would want to learn more about, the participants in the event highlighted the following as areas of need for the young people they work with: conflict management, emotional expression and self-regulation, including anger management, stress management, relationships and managing bullying.

Educators felt most competent in their capabilities in areas such as knowing their students and understanding the students’ strengths and needs. Conversely, they felt the least competence in areas such as supporting their students’ emotional regulation, such as anger management and stress management, and enhancing students’ empathy.

It was expressed that there was a need for more training amongst educators to support skills such as understanding and empathising with students, cultural responsiveness, emotional literacy, behaviour management, stress management and conflict resolution.

Educators were asked to reflect on what pedagogical methods they think their students prefer and would benefit most from. Overall, they chose collaborative group work, drama, hands-on work, practical activities and project-based learning.

When asked to provide their informed recommendations of how social and emotional education in general may be organised more effectively in secondary schools, educators indicated a need for greater awareness of cultural responsiveness, an emphasis on attending to the individual needs of students, effective collaboration with parents, focus on students’ emotional literacy, provision of multidisciplinary support for students and adequate and supportive training for all teachers from the outset.