The role of the head of department for inclusion in Maltese primary schools

Abstract

This study investigates how the Head of Department for Inclusion (HoD ensures that the learners’ needs are being addressed in Maltese primary schools. A qualitative approach to the data analysis contributed to understanding the role within the Maltese educational landscape as it led to discussing the implications that this role has on the philosophy of inclusive education in Malta. By conducting an interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith, Flowers & Larking, 2009), the researcher examined the ways in which HoDs provide their professional help to educators, namely teachers and learning support educators, to ultimately support primary school children. The interview data, which were gathered from contexts where the HoD Inclusion is exclusively school-based or, alternatively, where the HoD visits on a regular basis but is not school-based, further reveal the complexity of this role across different school contexts. The interview data helped identify the chief themes for the focus group discussions with teachers and learning support educations. The HoDs’ own evaluation of their professional role, together with the educators’ understanding and interpretation of this support, provides multiple insights into the relevance of this role to the development of inclusive communities. The collated data reveal how the nature of the context in which the HoD Inclusion works in a key factor which impacts directly the degree of support that the HoD provides in Maltese schools. This research study concludes with a number of recommendations that can help improve the quality of the support that the HoD Inclusion provides to learners ith individual educational needs.