Reflections on the role of the subject co-ordinator in government secondary schools/Junior Lyceums

Abstract

In this work I intend to study the role of the Subject Co-ordinator. In Chapter One I start with an explanation of the role of the Head of Department which had been created in Malta in 1975. What led to the creation of a new post, that is of the Subject Co-ordinator, according to the MUT - Government Agreement of 1994? ls there a difference between these two posts? Then in Chapter Two I deal with the duties of the Subject Co-ordinator, the formal duties as enumerated in the position description and as explained to co-ordinators during formal meetings. In Chapter Three I study the demands on the Subject Co-ordinator. It is not a matter of what is expected, but what is actually being done. So the title of this chapter is called "The Subject Co-ordinator in Action". Constraints on the Subject Co-ordinator are dealt with in Chapter Four. I give an explanation of various difficulties which the Subject Co-ordinator has to overcome in order to carry out his duties satisfactorily. This will bring us to Chapter Five which deals with choices. Choices increase or decrease depending on the demands and constraints. So in this Chapter I investigate how the Subject Co-ordinator can make demands less demanding, constraints less constraining in order to increase the area of choice. Chapter Six deals with initiatives some of which have already been taken by Subject Coordinators and have proved to be very fruitful. I also present my own proposals regarding further initiatives which can be adopted by Subject Co-ordinators working individually or preferably as a team. So, in this chapter, I present views on how this relatively new post can become much more valid and significant. The Concluding Points at the end of this work are of utmost importance. These can serve as a quick reference or a summary of all the findings. A number of Recommendations follow the concluding points. I have tried to present practical measures which, if undertaken, will ameliorate the post of the Subject Co-ordinator. The whole education system will definitely benefit. I have drawn on my own experience as Subject Co-ordinator (appointed with the first group in October 1996). I have interviewed many colleagues, made use of reports of group discussions and comments made by co-ordinators during periodic formal meetings. I have taken into consideration what was said during a meeting for co-ordinators held on 25th February 1998 at the MUT headquarters in Valletta as well as during a Conference held on the 25th and 26th April 1998 on "The Role of the Subject Co-ordinator and the Education Officer". I have also made use of the results of the study of sixty cartoons made by Subject Co-ordinators in July 1997 and the Subject Co-ordinators' Training Programme Evaluation Sheet Results of March 1997. In December 1997 I carried out a questionnaire among Subject Co-ordinators. Throughout this work I have made references to the questionnaire, a copy of which is included in Appendix 1. Very often I have boxed this information with a thick black border in order to differentiate it from the rest and at the same time to highlight its significance.