From the what to the how of change: A study on the effectiveness of boys’ secondary Catholic schools in Malta and their improvement

This study starts out from the ideas of School Effectiveness Research, which analyses the impact of schools on students. Although these ideas have been contested, this school of thought provides the necessary background to see if boys’ secondary Catholic schools in Malta are effective and how this effectiveness can be improved. Adopting an interpretivist and constructivist paradigm, and a mainly qualitative method, this study carried out interviews with all ten headteachers of boys’ secondary Catholic schools in Malta and Gozo, sent questionnaires to students, parents and teachers, and lastly, carried out a personal reflection, while also analysing official Church documents with the aim of highlighting the main themes which make a boys’ Catholic secondary school effective. Notwithstanding the fact that the general perception of people is that Catholic schools in the Maltese islands are effective, which is also attested by the main stakeholders in this study, some key areas for improvement within the same schools are also underlined. The main conclusions of this study point towards a new discourse in Catholic school effectiveness, where such effectiveness is not measured primarily by tangible results, but more in terms of a vision, mission, and values, concepts which, although found in all types of schools, may yet provide the measurement against which Catholic school effectiveness can be determined. This points towards the potential for improvement, with suggestions for improvement in Catholic schools being made. As a result of this research, a number of recommendations are made, including those relating to spiritual formation for families, for educators and staff, and also for persons in key roles in schools, together with the challenge of striving each day to be authentic in the everyday life of the school.