Exploring the Learning Experiences of Year 10 Students in Maltese State Schools Attending Top-set Classes and Comparing them to Average Ability Classes

This thesis aims to investigate and document how students, teachers and parents experience learning and schooling within top-set and average ability classes in the Maltese track system. A narrative literature review was carried out to inform the compilation of the semi-structured interview questions for the main study. This study also analysed the students’ experiences from the perspectives of their teachers and parents/guardians. The inductive analysis of the interview data led to the identification of four themes and three sub-themes. Overall, the school experiences of the gifted and average participants were positive and together with their parents, they felt that tracks supported their academic, social and emotional needs. They had similar learning experiences and preferences and they felt their learning needs were being met by their teachers. Both gifted and average participants had no difficulties in social relations and were not affected by the track system. Gifted student participants differed from average learners in that they did not feel pressured by their parents. Their families’ expectations were in line with their own, whereas average participants felt their parents’ pressure to achieve good grades and that their families’ expectations were not in line with their own. Whilst gifted participants learned faster than their peers, both gifted and average participants had their preferred strategies for learning. Teachers also remarked on the gifted students’ fast way of learning and the challenges they found to implement learning strategies for gifted students. This thesis is a contribution to the understanding of learning experiences of gifted and average students in the Maltese track system. In so doing, it signifies the critical role of educators to create nurturing and inclusive schools with suitable pedagogies. It also makes several recommendations to policy makers, educators and researchers, on potential ways to address the needs of gifted students attending Maltese schools.