The self-sought professional learning experiences of secondary school teachers in Malta

ABSTRACT

With the introduction of the sectorial agreement signed between the Maltese Government and the Malta Union of Teachers in 2017, Maltese teachers have been incentivised to accelerate their salary scale progression following engagement in self-sought professional learning. The theory of affordances was applied in this mixed-methods research to explore the importance attributed by secondary school teachers towards self-sought learning. Following data collection of 166 questionnaires and 14 teacher interviews, quantitative and qualitative data were analysed using SPSS and MAXQDA respectively. Results suggest that while the majority of teachers are intrinsically motivated to pursue self-sought professional learning, they seek incentives and, in particular, monetary support. Other important barriers that hinder teachers in furthering their professional learning beyond school hours are family responsibilities and lack of time. This study provides insights into teachers’ conceptualisations of professional learning and implications for teacher education.

KEYWORDS:

• Affordances
• continuing professional development
• challenges to teachers’ learning
• secondary school teachers
• self-sought learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2024.2321386

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ritianne Bezzina

Ritianne Bezzina is a mathematics teacher who teaches in a public secondary school. Ritianne graduated as a mathematics teacher in 2012; and throughout these past years she had the opportunity to work in different schools in both the church and public sector, teaching in both primary and secondary years. In 2018, Ritianne participated in the ‘Supporting Mathematics and Science teachers in addressing diversity and promoting fundamental values’ (MaSDiV) project, and in 2020, she graduated with a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and Management. Ritianne is also a practicum visitor with the Institute for Education (IfE) and she visits, supports and assesses pre-service teachers. Her work with various educators led her to research in the areas of teacher professional development, mathematics education, innovative ways of teaching mathematics, and leadership and management issues in education.

James Calleja

James Calleja, PhD, is a senior lecturer in the professional learning and development of educators at the Faculty of Education, University of Malta where he coordinates the Master’s in Educational Leadership and Management course. James also works closely with teachers and schools to support them in developing their continuing professional development (CPD) programmes. He leads the Collaborative Lesson Study Malta (CLeStuM) programme (www.clestum.eu) and is a council member of the World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS). James is also a fellow of the International Society for Design and Development in Education (ISDDE) and the Centre for Mentoring, Coaching and Professional Learning (CollectivED). Before joining the University of Malta, he taught mathematics for 23 years, including 6 years as a Head of Department. His main research interests are CPD, mathematics education, teacher learning, task design, inquiry-based learning and lesson study. He has presented his research in several conferences both locally and internationally and has also published his research in local and international peer-reviewed journals.