THE INCLUSIVE SCHOOL? A Study of Education for All in Maltese Secondary Schools. Implications for Improvement.

The thesis explores what makes an inclusive school in the Maltese context. Three main themes are discussed in the literature review: inclusive leadership, Universal Design for Learning and professional learning communities for inclusion. The study is focused in six Maltese secondary state schools across different parts of Malta and Gozo, where three groups of participants, Heads of School, Inclusion Coordinators and teachers discuss their views, their challenges and their strategies with regards to inclusion. They also share their lived experiences, feelings and attitudes within their work.
A mixed-methods approach is applied for the study; data comprise interviews with six Heads of School, six Inclusion Coordinators and twelve teachers; questionnaires distributed to two hundred and twenty-two teachers. Data are analysed according to four themes: views about inclusion, difficulties and challenges, good practices and recommendations. Findings indicate that the majority of stakeholders in Maltese secondary state schools believe in inclusion and do their best to implement the inclusion policy. However, the participants demonstrate feelings of worry and frustration, especially when catering for mixed ability classes, learners with multiple living and learning needs, gifted students and international students.
The principal implications for improvement that emerge from this study suggest that primarily, there is the need: to re-evaluate the national inclusion policy; to provide effective training for all educators; to offer more human resources and, to revise particular syllabi so as to further accommodate the educational needs of all learners. These implications are also presented as suggestions to policy-makers as a means to further develop inclusive schools.