Educators’ constructions of social diversity : Malta as a case study

Abstract

Schools, reflecting the social changes that are taking place in Maltese society, have become more multi-cultural, multi-faith and multi-ethnic. They receive students from all walks of life, whose different socio-economic status sometimes determines the schools they attend, or the classes in which they are placed. This study explores the yet largely uncharted waters of how Maltese educators construct social diversity and the implications of these constructions on their practices in schools as teachers and administrators. The study draws on social constructionism as a theoretical framework. I argue that teachers’ practices cannot be separated from the visions they have of social diversity and their positions towards it. Their constructions of, and attitudes towards social diversity cannot be taken out of the context in which these have been socialised, nurtured, and perhaps sustained or otherwise challenged. I applied an analytical framework which problematized educators’ visions, positionings and practices in relation to social diversity. This framework provided the possibility of analysing educators’ practices within the context in which they live. In-depth semi-structured interviews were held with 19 participants hailing from State, Church and Independent schools. Educators’ constructions of social diversity reflected their location as citizens of an island nation, with some of the participants seeking to preserve their visions and traditions of an imagined community while others looking outward and embracing change as something positive. They provided multiple constructions of Maltese society and social diversity, reflecting the geopolitics, history, religion and size of the island. Their practices in school reflected, or sometimes contrasted their convictions on issues of social diversity.