The Early Childhood and Primary Education (ECPE) Research Group of the , within the attended and presented some preliminary findings at the University of Malta’s Research Expo (UMRE’25).
The research expo was held at the UM Valletta Campus on the 28 May 2025. The ECPE Research Group presented a poster and a paper based on research being undertaken following the award of Excellence Research Funds for 2023-2025 in the research category of Social Sciences and Education titled: Addressing Linguistic Diversity in Malta: Teacher Education and Classroom Pedagogy in Early and Primary Education.
The project aims to provide stakeholders with a snapshot of the local situation and explore how in-service and pre-service educators are navigating linguistic diversity in their everyday practice with learners in early and primary education.
The poster depicted an overview of the various facets of the research project being undertaken, with the aim of collecting data thorough a mixed methods investigation through a systematic literature review; a comparative analysis of policy documents and teacher training; a pre-service and in-service teacher survey; and qualitative teacher narratives.
The paper by Prof. Josephine Milton and Dr Josephine Deguara on behalf of the group, focused on the quantitative design and rationale of a part of the project, that is, the survey targeted towards teachers in early and primary school settings. The ECPE Research Group asserts that this research is urgent due to the incessant and rapidly changing linguistic milieu that is placing serious strains on the educational system in Malta.
The ECPE Research Group is composed of , , , and .
The ECPE Research Group acknowledges the UM for funding this research through the award of Research Excellence Funds Award (2023-2025).
