Dissertation

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Objectives of the Study and Research Question

This study is intended to examine the community of Zabbar in terms of language, education, social compositions, community services and community resources. Through analysing both the quantitative data (questionnaires) and also the qualitative data (interviews) obtained, we will therefore be able to get a better understanding of the Zabbar community.
By taking into account all the limitations, considerations and challenges of developing a community learning centre, and through determining the knowledge which the Zabbar community holds within its respective locality for learning; the establishing of a community centre in Zabbar will be considered accordingly. Furthermore, we will be ultimately evaluating the practicality and viability of establishing a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre.
Based on this foreword, the research questions that guide this study are divided into four main categories, in terms of demographics, services, resources and education. Vide the appendix, one will find the questionnaire questions. Furthermore questions which we, as researchers prepared very attentively for our semi-structured interviews are the following:
What are the main services that the Zabbar community benefits from? Do you think that there is a need for other additional services to be offered in the community? If so, what are the services which you may propose? Do you think that the Zabbar community makes good use of its resources?
What are the social issues within the Zabbar community which you are most concerned about? Do you think that there is a need for a community learning centre in Zabbar? What is your view about establishing a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre?
1.2
Significance of the Study
Taking into consideration the important issue of globalisation, the possible development and establishment of a community learning centre is considered as means of education for all the community members irrespective of their age, gender, ethnic group and educational attainment. This subject will put forward the idea of life-long learning in Zabbar. Additionally, the issues with regards to addressing and evaluating both the short and long term implications and goals of this approach within the local community will be proposed.
Up to this day, studies about the community of Zabbar are limited and thus, with this study we will be exploring and understanding the community members perceptions about benefits and services associated with establishing a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre. Through analysing the views of experts in the area and prominent people in Zabbar, this study will also be identifying general concerns, themes and other aspects of community life that have the potential to serve as good basis for community learning.
1.3 Context information
1.3.1 General Information about Zabbar
Zabbar is located in the South East of Malta. Being gradually developed after the World War II, Zabbar became one of the largest towns in Malta. In fact, Zabbar is a residential town which
nowadays according to the National Statistics Office (2011), has an estimate population of 15,000 (p. 25).
1.3.2 Services and Resources in Zabbar
Zabbar offers an extensive variety of services to its own community. Additionally, one can also find a range of resources present within this locality. For instance, Zabbar endorses a wide range of shops amongst which includes pharmacies, supermarkets, butchers and clothing stores. Moreover, unlike many other localities, in Zabbar one can find two primary schools; primary school A and primary school B. The primary school A comprises children in their early years; from kindergarten up to year 2 whilst the primary school B comprises children in their junior years; from year 3 up to year 6. Meanwhile if we analyse the number of churches/chapels in Zabbar, these add up to 11 in total; one of which is the Zabbars Parish church dedicated to Our Lady of Divine Grace. At this point, it is important to note that the Zabbar Parish church offers countless services to its own community. These include the services offered by the M.U.S.E.U.M, the legion of Mary and the social workers. Furthermore, Zabbar has its Parish Museum which is commonly known as the Sanctuary Museum (Pace, 2010, p. 27). Amongst many other resources, one can also find a private hospital, medical clinics, dental clinics and commercial banks (Pace, 2010, p. 27).
Other important services offered to the community of Zabbar are those offered by the local council. In fact these services range from courses held in the civic centre to other services provided outside the premises themselves; such as the bulky refuse and the recycling services.
1.3.3 The Festa as the most popular annual event in Zabbar
The most popular annual event in Zabbar is the feast dedicated to Our Lady of Graces. It does not only attract the local community, but it also attracts thousands of people from other localities. In Zabbar one can find two band clubs i.e. Maria Mater Gratiae Philarmonic Society and St. Michael Band. Volunteers from the band clubs work day and night in particular as the feast approaches. Rivalry between both band clubs is surely felt in Zabbar and such competition goes back to more
3
than a century ago. There were times in which considerable doubts were whether the feast was going to be celebrated and this was due to the trouble caused and the reciprocal insults made by the hot-headed supporters of both band clubs. However, in 1992 an agreement for reconciliation between both band clubs was reached. This was renewed again in 1996 and from those times onwards, excluding some isolated incidents, the feast became a colourful outburst of joy, revelry and devotion to Our Lady of Graces (Pace, Palma & Cassar, 2000, p. 173).
1.4 Overview of Study Chapters
As to conclude this introductory chapter, we will now outline a brief description of the following dissertation chapters. In chapter 2 we will review all the relevant literature on the purpose, planning, development and challenges of community learning centres. After analysing all the research contributions on the subject, in chapter 3, we will then outline the methodology used in this study in order to examine the community of Zabbar in terms of demographics, language, social and educational issues, community services and resources.
In chapter 4 both the results of the quantitative research and the qualitative research are presented; to then lead to chapter 5 in which analysis of the obtained results will be presented. Through the analysis, we will be able to determine the extent to which there is the need of establishing a community learning centre in Zabbar. Furthermore, we will evaluate the practicality of establishing a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre. In Chapter 6 we will be able to outline our conclusions and determine the primary school which has the greatest potential of being established as a community learning centre. Moreover, Chapter 6 will ultimately outline possible future studies which could be built upon our findings and analysis about this subject.
References National Statistics Office (2011). Demographic Review 2010. Valletta: NSO. Pace, P. (2000). Growth of a City. In Sciberras, M. A. (Ed.), abbar: A Living Histor (p. 9-28). abbar: abbar Local Council. Pace, P., Palma, A. & Cassar, M. (2000). The Festa. In Sciberras, M. A. (Ed.), abbar: A Living History (p. 9-28). abbar: abbar Local Council.
Chapter 2: Literature Review

In this chapter, we are going to present a broad overview of several research contributions about the idea of establishing community learning centres. Through reviewing both international and also national research contributions, we will be able to provide the reader with the current literature on the purpose, planning, development and challenges of community learning centres.
2. 1 Introduction
Prior to the 1970s, families used to perform and accomplish quite well the role of after school hours care (Hofferth, Brayfield, Deich & Holcomb, 1991 as cited in Dodd & Bowen, 2011, p. 12) but across time, especially with having both parents working, a greater need for after-school programs that include social and educational opportunities as well as recreation (Dodd & Bowen, 2011, p. 13) emerged. Eventually such a new reality necessitated the importance of developing and establishing Community Learning Centres (CLC). When the Maltese National Minimum Curriculum was revised in 1999, a working group on schools as community learning centres was set up. This working group provided a report which stated that such practices should first take place as a pilot project (Giordmaina, 2000, p. 358). Despite the fact that each community learning involves a community with its own specific needs and different available resources (Parson, 1999, p.3), the pilot project, would still be and serve as a model for the other future converted schools to community learning centres (Mayo, 1994, p. 96).
2.2 What is a Community Learning Centre (CLC)? As quoted by UNESCO (2007) in Strengthening Community Learning Centres through Linkages and Networks: A synthesis of six country reports, a CLC is a local place of learning outside the formal educational system. A CLC doesnt necessarily require new infrastructure, but can operate from an existing health centre, temple, mosque, primary school or other suitable venue. Additionally, CLCs have been recognized as effective delivery mechanisms of literacy and continuing education programmes through community - based approaches (p. 1).
The term community refers to all those who are interested in and affected by the quality of education, not just those with children in the schools (Epstein et al., 1997, p.9). Meanwhile, in this regard, the Maltese National Minimum Curriculum (1999) outlined the importance of schools as community learning centres that, apart from catering for the education of children, they will also target the education of the adult community. This implies that a school as a community learning centre will be promoting holistic education, lifelong education and the participation of people in the community (p. 67). All this will aid in developing community learning centres which demonstrate educational and social benefits amongst all participants (Anderson-Butcher, 2004, p.248). Furthermore, through transforming a primary school into a community learning centre, it will encourage the community school to partner with other organizations to address the different needs of the local community including the educational, social and recreational needs (AndersonButcher, 2004, p.252).
2.2.1 Characteristics of schools as Community Learning Centres (CLCs) Since schools as community learning centres have to accomplish wide-varied duties, they hold different characteristics from traditional schools. They can be compared in terms of different dimensions including time, space, relationship to other organizations and agencies, family/community involvement, instruction, use of technology and source of leadership (Parson, 1999, p. 17). Table 1.1.highlights the latter differences (Parson, 1999, p. 17-24). Table 2.1 presents the differences between traditional schools and schools as community learning centres. Table 2.1 Differences between traditional schools and schools as community learning centres
Traditional Schools
Schools as Community
Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja Learning Centres Time Space Relationship to other School hours Education in the classroom Hardly any connections All year long Education within the community Numerous connections with different organizations in order to provide and maintain services to the local community (Parson, 2004, p. 109) Family/community involvement Instruction Classroom teacher teaching a class of children Traditional mode of assessment Parent involvement Community involvement in the whole project Teachers who work in teams with mixed abilities Assessment which proves whether the community can solve real life situations using their knowledge Instructions mainly depend on the resources which the teachers provide Focus on individual learning Instructions are based on the resources which are present in the community Collaborative learning
organizations and agencies
Table 2.1 Differences between traditional schools and schools as community learning centres (cont.) Traditional Schools Schools as Community Learning Centres
Use of technology Mainly in computer labs during school hours Limited educators are trained in instructional technology (p. 22) Accessed from varies areas in the school All staff and community will know how to use instructional
Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja technology Limited access to internet Access internet from all classrooms Apart from videotapes, there is no televised instruction Source of leadership Principals are held responsible for their respective schools two way televised instruction (p. 22) to enhance the curriculum for all the community Shared responsibility between principals, teachers, staff, parents, students and members of the school community (p. 24) Stakeholders are held accountable for the project Community has no voice in decision making processes Community is invited to participate in the decision making processes
2.3 The Need for Community Learning Centres Education in Malta is considered to be quite a fundamental element especially in childrens lives and in fact, Malta offers sixteen years of free schooling to all its citizens. In addition, one can see that various programmes have been implemented both at community and national levels to ensure that children are respected and offered inclusive education. During a time of globalization, however, in order to move our society towards a knowledgebased society, adult education plays an important role and thus all citizens should be encouraged and provided with resources to engage in organized education. This reflects the importance of establishing community learning centres which are able to serve as a
9
focal point for providing non-formal and informal education activities for local people of all ages (Leowarin, 2010). Through making use of its available resources, a community learning centre will therefore have the potential to be flexible and serve the community involved (Gelsthorpe & WestBurnham, 2003, p. 220). Thus, a community learning centre will be able to bring the whole local community together as well as further the development of the community. Community Development is a social process by which human beings can become more competent to live with and gain some control over local aspects of a frustrating and changing world. Personal growth through group responsibility is the focus (Biddle & Biddle, 1965, p. 78). Although such a definition of community development was developed during the 1960s, literature shows that it is still very applicable to the twenty first century (Parson, 1999, p. 118). This, in itself reflects that the establishment of community learning centres within localities, will help the respective communities to further their knowledge whilst developing both academically and socially. Also, research shows that as time passes by, such an initiative would help in reducing the number of crimes and delinquencies and thus making the involved localities safer (De Kanter, 1998, p.1). Community learning centres welcome and comprise learners of different age groups and who have completed different levels of education. It pursues the students own educational interests at the students own level of attainment (Parson, 1999, p. 70).
2.4 The role of teachers in Community Learning Centres The teacher in the Community Learning Centre will be a collaborator - a team leader and guide, rather than a boss. The teacher will model values that encourage students to be committed to inquiry, collaborative effort, and life-long learning (Parson, 1999, p. 67). The community schools should ensure that the role of their educators will be facilitators of knowledge; and thus shifting and transmitting the power to those they serve. This is
10
surely a major challenge which both the community educators and also those who provide their training and support must overcome in order to develop an effective community school (Poster, 1990 as cited in Poster & Krger, 1990, p. 28). They are also responsible for the curriculum development, the choice of the resources, the usage of the selected resources, and also the choice of the methodologies which maximize the students potential to learn (Parson, 1999, p. 66). Furthermore, teachers should co-operate with each other and they must have a sense of leadership (Parson, 1999, p. 165).
2.5 The role of students in Communtiy Learning Centres In community learning centres, whilst teachers are expected to be facilitators of knowledge, students are expected to be active participants of their own learning. Students, frequenting community learning centres, are empowered to construct new knowledge and understanding (Parson, 1999, p. 165). This will be acquired through engagement with previous knowledge and experience and will help in the development of their deep and complex thinking (Parson, 1999, p. 71). 2.6 Planning and developing a Community Learning Centre Anderson-Butcher (2004, p. 248) argued that there are lots of considerations to be taken into account when developing a school into a community learning centre. For instance, using the school premises after the traditional school hours requires lots of time, energy and commitment and thus establishing a community learning centre requires a new system and new management in order to function appropriately (Parson, 2004, p. 107). Such changes are compulsory to help individuals feel at ease whilst being treated as adults and having the opportunity to disassociate themselves as much as possible from possible failure experiences of their childhood (Mayo, 2004 as cited in Mndel & Schugurensky, 2004, p. 98). The management will have several roles and responsibilities, including being responsible of the opening and closing hours of the school, the restructuring of some parts of the school and the investment in resources in order to make the educational programmes effective (National Minimum Curriculum, 1999). The management will be also
11
be held responsible for the whole project whilst having the responsibility of being accountable to the school council. When the Ministry of Education allocates a certain amount of money to such projects, a monitoring panel should be appointed and a call for project proposals by school councils should be issued. Furthermore, school councils will issue a job application in order to employ a co-ordinator of the project. It is compulsory that this person will be constantly observing the principle that community members should be involved in the process of identifying needs, formulating plans and developing and evaluation projects (Giordmaina, 2000, p. 358). Through this way schools will become more flexible as the decision-making process is shifted to the community school involved. Through moving the locus of control closer to the learner community and by having a collaborating administration, teachers and the members of the community will be able to adopt the learning activities as necessary, based on the needs and interests of the involved local community (Parson, 1990 as cited in Poster & Krger, 1990, p. 33). Representatives from the community together with individuals competent in Adult Education should always take an essential part in the development of the centres. In addition to the latter, it is important that research amongst the community members is conducted whilst planning; in order to get both a clearer idea about what activities should be organised and implemented as well as which needs and interests need to be addressed. It is also of extreme importance that the community is encouraged to participate and help in the restructuring of the school (Anderson-Butcher, 2004, p. 248). All this implies that even though the community learning centres can differ in the organisational structures and in terms of financially support; what is common between community learning centres is that all CLCs are dependent on the active support and participation of the local community (UNESCO, 2007, p. 9). For schools to act as community learning centres, the schools council and their respective local council must collaborate with each other to adjust the school culture appropriately. Together they must put demands on the Government to keep up with its responsibilities whilst allocating the available funds for the restructuring of the school building as necessary so as to make it suitable for people of different ages within the community (Mayo, 2004, p. 98). Besides that, the restructuring process of the school also entails
12
ending the isolation of learners by age. This can be done through restructuring the schools in a way that the whole local community, irrespective of the age, is given the opportunity to learn in the very same environment (Parson, 1990, p. 32). Thus, it is additionally important to strengthen the adult section within the Education division in order to support the community learning centres whilst investing in multiple resources which are to be used during the educational activities (Anderson-Butcher, 2004, p. 248). Furthermore, as Kruczek et al. (2005) highlights, there are three important core counseling interventions that should be found within community learning schools and these are individual counseling, family counseling and group guidance (as cited in Dodd & Bowen, 2011, p. 15). Such interventions are most likely to be able to solve quite a good percentage of the possible social and emotional problems which will be present within the population of the local community centres.
2.7 Activities taking place in a Community Learning Centre Kruczek et al. (2005) speaks about the importance of constructing activities that are able to remove multiple nonacademic barriers to learning (as cited in Dodd & Bowen, 2011, p. 16) and as can be imagined there are several potential activities which can be implemented and which are able to emphasize life-long learning and prioritize community partnerships based on the different needs of the community (Anderson-Butcher, 2004, p. 252). This thus reflects the importance of having an active CLC committee (UNESCO, 2007, p. 13) so that community needs are identified and activities planned and varied according to the respective needs and demands of the particular community. As put forward by Dawn Anderson-Butcher in Transforming Schools into 21st Century Community Learning Centers (2004), a wide variety of activities can take place including remedial educational activities and academic enrichment learning programmes, arts and music education activities, entrepreneurial education programmes, social and recreational
13
activities, parent education classes and support groups, character education and programs that provide activities for limited English proficient students (p. 249).
2.8 Why should schools be developed as community learning centres? Education for All is a principle which is given importance both at a national level, especially with its implementation in the National Minimum Curriculum (1999, p. 23) and its proposed in the National Curriuclum Framework, as well as at an international level. Despite this, statistics show that there are still many individuals around the world who are at risk and at a disadvantage for proper schooling and literacy. This reflects more the importance of the development of community learning centers, especially in small islands like ours (UNESCO, 2007, p. 9). Education is a lifelong activity and establishing schools as community learning centres with proper restructuring will give adults and the older generations an opportunity of learning in a natural context of an all-age environment (Rennie as cited in Poster & Krger, 1990, p. 4). Meanwhile, the younger the students will be, the more able they are to realize that learning is an ongoing process that does not stop with secondary or with tertiary education. On the contrary, they will gain better understanding of two important concepts i.e. that learning is truly a lifelong process (Parson, 1990, p. 32) and that learning is a joint process with each person contributing (p. 37). As the National Curriculum Framework (2011) argued, through lifelong learning the young generations are also prepared and equipped to be able to face all the challenges which the labour market may disclose (p. 8). Researched literature shows that strong communities require strong schools, and strong schools require strong communities (Bingler et al., 2008; p.25). However for many years, many researchers argued that schools are operating distinctly from the rest of the local community. In fact as Curtis, Livingstone and Smaller (1992) argued, unfortunately community members rarely enter schools (as cited in Mndel & Schugurensky, 2004, p. 113); eventhough, the community can surely be a great resource for learning. For instance, in community learning centres, with the aid of classroom teachers, representatives from
14
the community will be welcomed to enter classrooms and discuss their experiences with the students. Students will surely benefit from these experiences since they will be able to relate to individuals who can really understand them and their concerns better. Furthermore, elderly people within the community can also share their experiences whilst transmitting and passing on their skills to the rest of the community (Giordmaina, 2000, p. 358). In addition, teachers can take the students on outings in which the latter are given the opportunity to explore different educational resources which are available in their locality (Mayo, 1994, p. 40). Through developing schools into community learning centres, schools will have the opportunity to offer educational services to all the members of the community of their respective locality. State schools are a public resource and if they are to be established and used as community learning centres, this will be a democratic initiative since the premises will be open and equally accessible for everyone in the local community (Bray, 1992 as cited in Mndel & Schugurensky, 2004, p. 96 & Giordmaina, 2000, p. 357). Such an initiative will also have a positive economic impact on the community as the premises and resources will be much more used and thus will eliminatine the reality of having dead capital for several hours and entire weeks and months (Giordmaina, 2000, p. 357). In addition to the mentioned benefits with regard to developing schools as community learning centres, in the long run, a community learning centre will also be helping in reducing the social problems which exist within the involved community as well as offering communal support to children with learning difficulties. The community will thus be given the chance to develop both socially and academically (National Minimum Curriculum, 1999). A school which serves as a community learning centre is an investment for the locality since it helps the human development in the local community (National Minimum Curriculum, 1999). Moreover, as the National Curriculum Framework (2011) argues, schools have therefore the potential to become the locus for lifelong learning (p. 62). Meanwhile through developing our schools into community learning centres there will be more involvement from the parents in their childrens educational process and thus the
15
school and the childrens home environment will get closer and support each other (Mayo, 2004, p. 97). Community learning centres have the potential to meet both the needs of the students and also the needs of the community and establishing a community learning centre within ones locality is truly an investment which is able to bring together the school and community (Bingler et al., 2008; p.25). In fact, as literature shows, community learning centres will eventually turn into centres where everyone belongs, works together, and succeeds (Bingler et al., 2008, p. 27).
2.9 Lifelong Learning through Community-Learning Centres Like other countries across the world, in Malta, we do promote the idea of life-long learning on a national level. In fact, the Foundation for Educational Services (FES), a foundation which was set up in Malta in 2001, offers a multiple of educational services across many localities. These services target different communities members and one of its main aims is to eliminate the gap between formal and non-formal education (Ministry of Education, Employment and the Family, 2012). Additioanlly, it is also important to note that the general goals of non-formal education are to improve the quality of life and poverty alleviation of non-formal target groups as well as to enhance capacity and create Lifelong Learning opportunities for the out-of-school population. At present, the resource persons in community learning centres have the responsibility of improving the quality of life of the community in line with their environment and social context. In particular, community learning centres will serve both as the focal point for conducting lifelong activities for people in the community, as well as the place for creating learning opportunities, where knowledge is transferred, experiences exchanged, and local wisdom shared. The centre will also serve as the community service source for providing various activities which are consistent with the social changes in the globalization era, and encourage the development of a learning society. In addition, community learning centres also promote the way of democracy and self-reliance development within their respective
16
communities which are milestones of long term sustainable development (Leowarin, 2010). As Parson (1999) stated a Community Learning Centre is a genuine learning community. The first factor which proves the latter statement is that the learning which takes place within the community involved uses the community's respective resources rather than resources which can be found lying within classrooms. Also, the learners are active participants in their learning whilst the teachers are facilitators of knowledge. Furthermore, each learner has his/her own mentor from the community who is always ready and available to offer help and support (p. 65).
2.10 Challenges in developing schools into community learning centres Can the project be sustained over the years? One of the greatest challenges of transforming schools into community learning centres is ensuring financial support i.e the budget. Developing a community learning centre involves large amounts of money in order to maintain, sustain and run the project efficiently over the years and so is the need for a good amount of capital to fund the project. Another challenge is the cleaning of the premises since the premises will be used till late and in the mornings the premises will be open again for the children, thus leaving little time for the employees to carry out their job properly. Maintenance of equipment and resources might also be another challenge which community learning centres might face. In fact, it is compulsory that maintenance should occur in the shortest time possible so that the communal and school programmes will not be disrupted (Giordmaina, 2000, p. 365). Heads of schools might also treat the co-ordinators unfairly especially if the same heads applied for the latter position and were not chosen. Unfortunately, this may occur due to
17
several reasons especially due to heads of school facing fear of losing power and control (Parson, 1999, p. 95). Also, heads of schools might be opposing the idea of using the school premises during Summer since they will be away for their Summer holidays. In addition, school councils meet only during the scholastic year and thus such unavailability during Summer might cause problems and disrupt the community learning centres since community learning activities are even continued throughout such a period of the year (Giordmaina, 2000, p.365). Furthermore it is compulsory that the management of the learning centres will draw up the necessary strategies in order to ensure that the programme is meeting the needs of the community members who are mostly in need. Through this way, the community centres will be reaching their main target i.e. the social and academic development of the whole local community (Giordmaina, 2000, p.366). In addition, such projects require lots of funds in order to be viable, effective and on-going. Thus, it is compulsory that the management will manage the funds properly in such a way that the expectations and the needs of the community are still met (Giordmaina, 2000, p.365).
2.11 Conclusion After analysing all the relevant literature research contributions about the establishment of community learning centres, in the following chapter we will describe and evaluate the research methods conducted in this study. Through our methodological approach we will get a deeper understanding of the Zabbar community as to be able to analyze the possibility of establishing one of the primary schools in Zabbar as a community learning centre.
18
References Anderson-Butcher, D. (2004). Transforming Schools into 21st Century Community Learning Centres. Children & Schools, 26(4), p. 248. Bingler, S., Blank, M. & Berg, A. (2008). Bringing back the neighborhoods. Education Digest, 73(8), 25-27. Biddle, W. W. & Biddle, L. J. (1965). The Community Development Process. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. De Kanter, A. (1998). 21st Century Community Learning Centres Program: Keeping Schools Open As Community Learning Centers. Darby: Diane Publishing. Dodd, A. T. & Bowen, L. M. (2011). 21st Century Community Learning Centers Improving the Academic performance of at-risk students: A Bronx Tale. Journal of Health and Human Services, 34(1), 10-41. Epstein, J. et al. (1997). School, Family, and Community Partnerships Your handbook for Action. California: Corwin Press.
19
Gelsthorpe, T. & West-Burnham, J. (Eds.). (2003). Educational leadership and the community: Strategies for School Improvement through Community Engagement. Harlow: Pearson Education. Giordmaina, J. (Ed.). (2000). National Curriculum on its Way: A Conference on the Implementation of the National Minimum Curriculum Malta 9th-11th June 2000. Msida: Gutenberg Press. Leowarin, S. (2010). Community Learning Centres in Thailand. In Hinzen, H. (Ed.), Adult Education and Development (74th ed.). Bonn: dvv international. Retrieved on August 1, 2011 from http://www.iiz-dvv.de/index.php?article_id=1070&clang=1 Mayo, P. (1994). L-iskola miftuha ghall-komunit. In Sultana R.G. (Ed.), Genituri u ghalliema ghal edukazzjoni ahjar :Gwida ghal Shubija Gdida,(p. 37-42). Msida: Mireva. Mayo, P. (2004). To be inspired by the Popular-Public School? Schools as Community Learning Centres. In Mndel, K and Schugurensky, D. (Eds.), Lifelong Citizenship Learning, Participatory Democracy and Social Change, Vol. 1. Toronto: Transformative Learning Centre, OISE/University of Toronto. Ministry of Education (2001-2008). Report on the National Consultation Process on Lifelong Learning. Retrieved July 21, 2011 from http://www.education.gov.mt/edu/edu_division/report_lll_10.htm Ministry of Education, Employment and the Family (2012). Foundation for Educational Services (FES). Retrieved on January 22, 2012 from https://www.meef.gov.mt/Page.aspx?pid=224&depid=2&pageid=14 Mndel, K. & Schugurensky, D. (Eds.). (2004). Lifelong Citizenship Learning, Participatory Democracy and Social Change, Vol. 1. Toronto: Transformative Learning Centre, OISE/University of Toronto. National Minimum Curriculum (1999). Creating the Future Together. Malta. Ministry of Education. Parson, S. R. (1999). Transforming Schools into Community Learning Centres. Larchmont, NY: Eye On Education. Parson, S. R. (2004). Journey into Community: looking inside the community learning center. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.
20
Poster, C. & Krger, A. (Eds.). (1990). Community Education in the Western World. Norfolk: Biddles. The National Curriculum Framework (2011). Towards a quality education for all. Sliema: Salesian Press. UNESCO (2007). Strengthening Community Learning Centres through Linkages and Networks: A synthesis of six country reports. Retrieved July 21, 2011 from http://www2.unescobkk.org/elib/publications/104/Strengthening_CLC.pdf
Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1 Introduction
In order to carry out a study, as researchers, we had to evaluate and choose the most useful research methods for the study at hand (Beiske, 2002, p. 1). After analyzing all the research methods, we decided to gather our data about the Zabbar community(ies) by carrying out both qualitative and quantitative research often referred to as mixed methods research (Drnyei &
Taguchi, 2002, p. 109).
We conducted ten interviews with prominent individuals within the Zabbar community(ies) including parish priests, members of parliament, a member of the local council and social workers. Primarily, the criteria for choosing these individuals were that they should have been living/working in Zabbar for at least five years. Furthermore, we chose respondents who are coming from different professions. We also opted to carry out an interview with the Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation for Educational Services (FES) as a supportive interview. As outlined in the literature review, this foundation offers a variety of educational programmes across many localities in both Malta and Gozo. The main objectives of this foundation include provision of after school hours, collaboration with other institutions to provide a better service as well as opportunities for life-long learning through the establishment and development of community learning centres (Ministry of Education, Employment and the Family, 2012). In addition, through carrying out an interview with Mr. Roderick Agius (CEO), we got to know about both the
21
current educational programmes offered in Zabbar and also about prospective programmes which are to be implemented in the same locality in the very near future.
With regard to the quantitative research part of our study, we personally distributed three hundred questionnaires across different areas within the locality of Zabbar. Hence, we were given the opportunity to understand the Zabbar community(ies) in terms of language, social issues and also community services and resources available in the locality. In addition, we also achieved a better insight of the community(ies) education and educational experiences whilst obtaining the residents opinion about the possible establishment of a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre.
We strongly believe that, opting to carry out mixed methods as our instrument to gather data, is the most suitable method for this study. These methods are to provide us with sufficient data in order to be able and provide the Zabbar community with the correct information, ideas and insights on how to establish their primary school into a community learning centre.
3.2 Interviews
Each interview took approximately thirty minutes. Questions were semi - structured and were posed in a logical order. As a result, whilst conducting the interviews, we found this to be quite practical as to lead the interviewee from one question to another. Furthermore the interview questions were planned and designed in a manner which allowed easy to answer questions about both the resources and needs of the Zabbar community to be asked prior to more demanding questions. Among the latter was the question regarding the establishment of a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre (Grinnell & Unrau, 2008, p. 250). This is because the latter question entails deeper thought and research shows that if interviewers ask such questions at the beginning of the interview, the interviewees may become resentful or immobilized and may refuse to continue (Grinnell & Unrau, 2008, p. 249).
22
As researchers, conducting the interviews provided us with factual information and details about different aspects of the community including social issues present in Zabbar as well as services and resources offered and owned by the community. The qualitative research in this study thus provided us with data that recounts the views of different prominent individuals in Zabbar through getting to know about their perceptions, meanings and interpretations of the Zabbar community(ies) (Holloway, 1997, p. 5). Additionally, interviewees were provided with the opportunity to use their own educational experience to comment on what they would like to learn within their own community. In other words, as Rubin and Rubin (2005) argues in Qualitative interviewing: the art of hearing data, through the interviews conducted, as researchers, we will be able to elicit depth and detail about the research topic by following up on answers given by the interviewee during the discussion (p. 4). In return, the latter will help us to identify and analyze more accurately the needs and the interests of the community. As a consequence, the latter will help us clarifying and maintaining the importance of developing a community learning centre in Zabbar.
3.2.1 Difficulties and Biases
The phrasing of questions, the interviewers tone of voice, the emphasis on particular words and the apparent comfort and discomfort with questions are all factors which unfortunately can influence the interviewees (Grinnell & Unrau, 2008, p. 243).
Prior to signing the ethics form, interviewees were given the opportunity to choose whether they agree or disagree to having their interview recorded. Although the majority accepted, we believe, that some interviewees found the idea of being recorded very intrusive and as a result, we sensed that they were not answering the questions confidently and comfortably (Powney & Watts, 1987, p. 27). Fortunately enough, the individuals who did not give us their consent to record their interview, agreed to let us take notes during the interview. Despite this, a disadvantage which we found in note-taking, was that at times it was very difficult to catch up with what the interviewee was saying. As a result, we could not fully concentrate on what s/he was saying and there were times when we had to unfortunately interrupt the flow of the interviewees responses (Powney & Watts, 1987, p.
23
27) as to clarify important points. On the other hand, voice recording was easy and all cues were gathered with the only disadvantage being that transcription of interviews is quite time consuming.
Since both the interviewee and the interviewer(s) are human beings, the bias factor is inevitable. Through interacting, the interviewee and the interviewer may influence each other. As interviewers, self-aware of such an issue, we examined our own biases and expectations that might influence the interviewee prior to conducting the interviews. We have done so as to minimise as much as possible the bias factor. Furthermore, we were always conscious about the way that we present ourselves, since the way the interviewers present themselves may surely affect and influence the interview (Rubin & Rubin, 2005, p. 30).
Additionally, when conducting a semi-structured interview, the chances are that the interviewer is immersed in the discussion and questions arise in light of the answers given. As Monette et al. (2011) argued the interview is a social relationship designed to exchange information between the respondent and the interviewer (p. 182). The role of the interviewer is to lead the subject to certain themes and not to put words in the respondents mouth since as Kvale (1996) argues, the interviewer leads the subject toward certain themes, but not to certain opinions about these themes (p. 34). Although we did our best to remain impartial and do not condition any replies, this could have happened indirectly and unconsciously, (Connaway & Powell, 2010, p.171) particularly when asking the interviewees to clarify ambiguities in certain statements which could result in several possibilities of interpretation (Kvale, 1996, p. 34).
3.2.2 Limitations
Interviews have a higher response rate; they offer the opportunity to correct misunderstandings and to carry out observations while controlling for incompleteness when compared to any other research method. Despite this advantage, on the other hand, it is important to note that they are also very time consuming to conduct and to process (Oppenheim, 1992, p. 102).
24
Although transcribing interviews are tools for the interpretation of what was said during the interviews (Kvale, 1996, p. 182), and gives us, the interviewers, the possibility to analyse the interviews in more depth; it is important to note that it still has some limitations. Though words and sounds can be transcribed, gestures and facial expressions expressed during the interview could not be recorded and transcribed. In some way, the latter is found to render the transcribed interviews an incomplete account of the wealth of meanings expressed in the lived interview situation (Kvale, 1996, p. 50).
Another limitation, which was particularly frustration with interviews, was the inaccessibility of some potential interviewees (Grinnell & Unrau, 2008, p. 243). Even though it was not impossible to achieve the interviewees contact numbers and/or emails, at times it was quite difficult to get in touch with these individuals or to set a date and time. Furthermore it is quite understandable that such individuals lead quite a busy and demanding life which can make it difficult to pin them down. Yet, all contacted respondents were willing to contribute to this study and fortunately they were able to find a slot for an interview with us despite their busy schedules.
3.3 Questionnaires
Gathering data through questionnaires provided us, the researchers, with quantitative data about peoples attitudes, values, experiences and past behaviour (Bell, 1999 as cited in Beiske, 2002, p. 4).
Each questionnaire took us approximately fifteen minutes to be carried out. Participants were Maltese citizens aged over eighteen. We took this decision since the idea of establishing a community learning centre in Zabbar is particularly meant to target adults (over eighteen) as to provide them with opportunities to join together and enhance both their educational and social attainment. Our main aim in fact is to help foster a life-long learning approach within the local community so that, in the long run, a community learning centre will hopefully contribute to increase these attainment levels at Zabbar.
25
Questionnaires were distributed and conducted personally and hence we believe that we have managed to obtain a higher response rate than if we were to send questionnaires via snail mail or electronic mail (Beiske, 2002, p. 4). In fact, research shows that when questionnaires are distributed via email or through the post, the respondents may not even bother to have a go at the questionnaire (Drnyei & Taguchi, 2002, p. 7).
Additionally, we were provided with extra knowledge since we had personal contact with all the respondents. Furthermore, we had the opportunity to follow up ideas and clarify issues when having respondents answer the open questions. Therefore, this way, the acquiescence bias was avoided (Drnyei & Taguchi, 2002, p. 9). All of this allowed us researchers to obtain the maximum amount of reliable and valuable data (Beiske, 2002, p. 5).
Conducting questionnaires also helped us to determine the knowledge which the community holds whilst achieving a better understanding of the Zabbar community(ies) within their respective locality in terms of language, community services, social issues, education and educational aspirations.
3.3.1 Difficulties and Biases
A number of participants asked us to fill in the questionnaire for them ourselves since they were illiterate. Furthermore, in some instances, we were asked to either rephrase the question or to give examples so that the participants were able to understand and hence responding the question better. This created a difficulty in itself. Although in such cases we could not do otherwise, we believe that some answers could have been inevitably and unconsciously biased. These respondents find the task intimidating or overwhelming (Drnyei & Taguchi, 2002, p. 7) however since their opinions and views are just as important as those of the other respondents, we believed that their contribution is still very important and thus it is a must that we also take their views on board.
26
One must also take into consideration that various studies showed that there is no strong correlation between what respondents state they will do and what they actually do in real authentic situations (Foddy, 1993, p. 3). This is therefore something which needs to be borne in mind, lest false hopes are raised.
Social Desirability bias (i.e. participants appearing to be other than they are) is another main bias which the researchers are faced with when they conduct questionnaires (Brace, 2008, p. 195). Although we took all the necessary measures (including the way questions were written and constructed) so as to minimize this bias, it is still particularly present in this study as questionnaires were personally distributed and conducted.
Another bias which is very similar to the one just indicated and very likely to be present is instrumentation. This happens when very consciously, the respondent answers the questions in a specific way so as to contribute to bringing about a desirable outcome (Nancarrow, Brace and Wright, 2000, p. 198). Very often, such bias was not felt although lack of awareness and concentration, could have created this bias.
There is also the question of self-deception. This bias is created unconsciously by the respondent. In this case, the respondent does not only deceive the researcher but also him/herself. This happens because the respondent maximizes his/her virtues whilst minimizing his/her faults so as to feel more worthy and valuable (Hopkins et al., 1990 as cited in Drnyei & Taguchi, 2002, p. 8).
Through the halo effect, there is the tendency for respondents to over-generalize in their replies. For example if they have a positive impression about a specific issue, then all the replies for the relevant questions are going to be positive. Meanwhile, if they have a negative impression about something, then the relevant replies will be negative. They would thus ignore and underestimate all the related positive factors (Drnyei & Taguchi, 2002, p. 9).
27
Throughout the questionnaire, the respondents may become tired and bored and this factor cannot be ignored. For this reason, we designed our questionnaire in such a way that the open ended questions are asked as earliest as possible whilst other information, such as the personal details (involving mostly ticking the boxes) are asked at the end of the questionnaires as the latter is filled in quite quickly without much thought (Drnyei & Taguchi, 2002, p. 9).
3.3.2 Limitations
Since questionnaires were personally distributed, it was quite time-consuming. Although we believe that a sample of three hundred questionnaires was enough to provide a clear picture of the communitys knowledge, views and opinions, more questionnaires would have helped us to clear some dilemmas with regard to certain answers.
Another limitation about questionnaires is that different respondents reveal different attitudes regarding their participation. This can be noted the moment they are given the questionnaire. Most people do not see the questionnaire as beneficial to them personally and as a community in the long term. Unfortunately, lack of time and care to fill in the questionnaire properly may influence the quality of the results obtained during the data analysis. (Hopkins, Stanley & Hopkins, 1990 as cited in Drnyei & Taguchi, 2002, p. 7).
Although we argued that both questionnaires and interviews have their difficulties, biases and limitations; we firmly believe that mixed methods are the most appropriate for conducting this type of study in order to obtain valid and reliable results. Through questionnaires the community members were given the opportunity to express their opinion about a possible establishment of a community learning centre in Zabbar. Meanwhile, interviews, enabled us to discuss at some depth the idea of a community learning centre with prominent people knowledgeable about the Zabbar community, people who have for years been involved at the grassroots.
28
Research shows that it is very common that questionnaires are combined with interviews in studies as nowadays they are seen as complementary rather than as contrasting (Murray Thomas, 2003, p. 6). In fact as Gillham (2008) argued, interviews can both illustrate and illuminate questionnaire results and can bring your research study to life (as cited in Drnyei & Taguchi, 2002, p. 109).
3.4 Conclusion
This chapter gives a detailed view about the research methods involved in this study. We are of a strong belief that it is significantly important to choose the appropriate methodology for the achievement of the study objectives. who foster mixed methods. Hence, we as researchers considered arguments that encouraged quantitative and qualitative methods as well as arguments put forward by scholars
Nowadays, studies where questionnaires are combined with interviews are seen as complementary rather than as contrasting (Murray Thomas, 2003, p. 6). This argument was found and adopted for this study as the nature of research demanded.
Descriptions and clarifications presented in this chapter discuss all the important aspects of the methods employed in this study. The next chapter provides a presentation of the findings of this study. This is followed with an analysis chapter as to evaluate the possibility of establishing a community learning centre to then analyse the practicality and viability of establishing a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre.
29
References
Beiske, B. (2002). Research Methods: Uses and limitations of questionnaires, interviews, and case studies. Munich: GRIN.
Brace, I. (2008). Questionnaire Design: How to Plan, Structure and Write Survey Material for effective market research (2nd Ed.). London: Kogan Page.
30
Drnyei, Z. & Taguchi, T. (2002). Questionnaires in second language research: Construction,

Administration and Processing (2nd Ed.). New York: Routledge.
Foddy, W. (1993). Constructing questions for interviews and questionnaires: theory and practice in social research. New York: Cambridge.
Grinnell, R. M. & Unrau, Y. A. (Eds.). (2008). Social Work Research and Evaluation: Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice. New York: Oxford.
Holloway, I. (1997). Basic Concepts for Qualitative Research. Oxford: Blackwell.
Kvale, S. (1996). InterViews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. Sage: California.
Ministry of Education, Employment and the Family (2012). Foundation for Educational Services (FES). Retrieved on January 22, 2012 from https://www.meef.gov.mt/Page.aspx?pid=224&depid=2&pageid=14
Monette, D. R., Sullivan, T. J. & DeJong, C. R. (2011). Applied Social Research: A tool for the human services (8th Ed.). Belmont: Brooks/Cole.
Murray Thomas, R. (2003). Blending qualitative & quantitative research methods in theses and dissertations. California: Corwin Press.
Oppenheim, A. N. (1992). Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement (2nd Ed.). New York: Continuum.
31
Powney, J. & Watts, M. (1987). Interviewing in Educational Research. Frome/London: Butler and Tanner.
Rubin, H. J. & Rubin, I. (2005). Qualitative interviewing: the art of hearing data (2nd Ed.). California: Sage.
Silipigni Connaway, L. & Powell, R. R. (2010). Basic research methods for librarians (5th Ed.). California: ABC-CLIO.
Chapter 4: Results
4.1 Introduction
The purpose of this study was to analyze the Zabbar community in terms of demographics, language, education, community services and resources. Specifically, the researchers examined to what extent community members expressed is the need toof establish ing a community learning centre within the same locality. The required methods for the purpose of acquiring results of the research questions of this study were discussed in the methodology chapter of this study. The findings, which are presented in this chapter, are a combination of statistical and narrative findings. Quantitative data were derived from a questionnaire. The questionnaire includeds four sections which are were demographics, language, services and education. Both services and education sections include employed a Likert Scale aimed to allow the respondents to determine specificallyexpress their agreement/disagreement levels with regards to specific query items options (Shank & Bircher, 2009, p. 316). Additionally, the questionnaire
Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Not Bold, Not Italic, Font color: Black Comment [CP1]: Study is completed now so change to past tense.
32
includeds open-ended questions as to primarily to provide the researchers with additional an insights regarding of the community's awareness on the subjects of services, resources and the establishment of the Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre. Besides, openOpen-ended questions will giveallowed the respondents the opportunity to further express their ideas and perspectives in their own words. Qualitative data were derived from semi-structured interviews. The sSemi-structured interviews were organized under the following six research questions: i. ii. What are the main services that the Zabbar community benefits from? Do you think that there is a need for other additional services to be offered in the community? If so, what are the services which you may propose? iii. iv. Do you think that the Zabbar community makes good use of its resources? What are the social issues within the Zabbar community which you are most concerned about? v. vi. Do you think that there is a need for a community learning centre in Zabbar? What is your view about establishing the Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre? Qualitative data were read, reviewed Responses given by each and every individual wereand studied carefully and then grouped by emergent themes. Furthermore, the presentation has been done with the consideration that each section of the questionnaire as well as research questions derived from interviews, are addressed separately. Moreover, as can be noticed from the following sections, the quantitative data are presented first followed by the corresponding qualitative data.
4.2 Questionnaire Respondent Demographics

Responses emergeDemographic data were derived from the 300-responded sample which was distributed personally.
33
Prior to giving their consent, each respondent was presented with an information sheet which provided the former with information about the purpose behind conducting the questionnaire. They learnt that whilst answering the questionnaire, any items could be left unanswered. Additionally, respondents were given the opportunity to cease answering the questionnaire. Table 4.1 displays the respondent demographics.
Table 4.1 Demographics of Questionnaire Respondents

Demographic Items Response Frequencies (N=300) Gender of Respondents Female Male Highest Level of Education Attained Primary Education Secondary Education Post-Secondary Education Diploma Bachelors Degree 80 134 61 10 15 26.70% 44.70% 22.30% 3.30% 5.00% 212 88 70.70% 29.30% Response Percentage
Comment [CP2]: Usually you put this at the top of the table.
34
Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja Age of Respondents 18-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 66-75 75+ Left Unanswered Marital Status Single Married Separated Divorced Widowed Cohabitation Left Unanswered 54 222 4 1 13 1 5 18.00% 74.00% 1.30% 0.30% 4.30% 0.30% 1.67% 43 46 37 55 77 34 7 1 14.30% 15.30% 12.30% 18.30% 25.70% 11.30% 2.30% 0.33%
Table 4.1 Demographics of Questionnaire Respondents (cont.)

Demographic Items Response Frequencies (N=300) Number of children in the household No children 1 child 2 children 3 children 4 children 5 children Number of adults in the 169 62 49 15 4 1 56.30% 20.70% 16.30% 5.00% 1.30% 0.30% Response Percentage
Comment [CP3]: Usually you put this at the top of the table.
35
Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja household (including respondent) 1 adult 2 adults 3 adults 4 adults 5 adults 6 adults 7 adults Left Unanswered Children in their primary level of education No Yes, primary state school Yes, independent/ church school Children attend Zabbar Primary School Yes 41 13.70% 248 43 9 82.70% 14.30% 3.00% 16 150 64 56 9 2 1 2 6.00% 50.00% 21.30% 18.70% 3.00% 0.67% 0.30% 0.67%
Table 1.1 Demographics of Questionnaire Respondents Nearly 30% of the respondents were males whilst 70.70% of the respondents were female. The age of respondents varied with the age range of 56-65 (25.70%) being the most popular; 13.60%. 13.60% of the respondents were older. whilst Tthe majority (60.20%) were between 18 to 55 years of age. 74.00% Oof all respondents, 74% were married whilst the other 24.20% fell under one of the following five categories: i.e. single, separated, divorced, cohabitating and widowed. The majority (18.00%) of which being single individuals. 44.70%The percentage of individuals who completed their secondary level of education was 44.70% whilst 30.60% being were individuals who accomplished higher levels of education. Meanwhile, 26.70% of the respondents answered that primary education was
36
Comment [CP4]: Usually you put this at the top of the table. Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines
Comment [CP5]: Reword this so you dont start a sentence with a number. Make this change in all areas where you start the sentence with a number. You can write out the number in words, but not proper to begin the sentence with numerals.
the highest level of education they had attained. Slightly more than a majority (56.30%) of the respondents households had no children, whilst the remaining 23.70% indicated that they had at least one child. Exactly In the meantime, looking statistically at the number of adults in the household shows that exactly half of the respondents (50.00%) occupiedy households with two adult members. 6.00%Six percent of the households were occupied by 1 adult member, whilst the remaining percentage (43.97%) represents households indicated they had 3 to 7 adult members. The percentage of children going through their primary level of education was 17.30%. Of which, 14.30% attended state schools, with 41 children (13.70%) attending the Zabbar primary school. The remaining 3.00% were children completing their primary education in either an independent or a church school.
Comment [CP6]: I took out this sentence because it was unnecessary.
Formatted: Heading 2, Widow/Orphan control, Adjust space between Latin and Asian text, Adjust space between Asian text and numbers Formatted: Heading 2, Widow/Orphan control, Adjust space between Latin and Asian text, Adjust space between Asian text and numbers Comment [CP7]: Typically you lead in with some introduction type sentence to tell the reader what will follow in terms of what is displayed in the table.
4.3 Questionnaire Respondent Language
Table 4.2 presents findings specific to the language skills survey queries.
Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines Comment [CP8]: Again, unless specified to the contrary by the UoM format requirements, move the table title to on top of the table. Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Bold, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Bold, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Bold, Font color: Black
Table 4.2 Language of Questionnaire Respondents

Language Items Response Frequencies (N=300) Response Percentages
37
Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja Comfortably Speaking Maltese English Comfortably Reading Maltese English Italian Maltese and English Maltese and Italian Left Unanswered Communicating with family and friends Maltese English Maltese and English Maltese and Italian Communicating with the Zabbar community (using the same language as communicating with family and friends) Yes No 299 1 99.70% 0.30% 284 1 14 1 94.70% 0.30% 4.70% 0.30% 214 70 1 12 1 2 71.30% 23.30% 0.30% 4.00% 0.30% 0.67% 287 13 95.70% 4.30%
38
Nearly all of the respondents (95.70%) declared that they felt the most comfortable
Language Items Response Frequenciesdents (N=300) Comfortably Speaking Maltese English Comfortably Reading Maltese English Italian Maltese and English Maltese and Italian Left Unanswered Communicating with family and friends Maltese English Maltese and English Maltese and Italian Communicating with the Zabbar community (using the same language as communicating with family and friends) Yes No 299 1 99.70% 0.30% 284 1 14 1 94.70% 0.30% 4.70% 0.30% 214 70 1 12 1 2 71.30% 23.30% 0.30% 4.00% 0.30% 0.67% 287 13 95.70% 4.30% Frequency Response Percentages
Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines
Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black
speaking in their mother-tongue (i.e. Maltese). The remaining 4.30% affirmed that English was the language which they spoke most comfortably. With regards to reading the answers were more diverse. Whereas 23.30% opted for the English language, 0.30% chose the Italian language. whilst More than seventy percent the majority (71.30%) chose the Maltese language as their preference. Additionally a selective percentage (4.30%) did not have a forte; they proclaimed that they felt equally comfortable reading in two languages. 0.30% chose Maltese and Italian Wwhilst 4.00% opted for Maltese and English, 0.30% of the respondents chose Maltese and Italian. .
39
Looking at the preferences of the Zabbar community with regards to communicating with their family and friends, Maltese was once again the preferred language. In fact, 94.70% communicated with their relatives by using the Maltese language whilst 0.30% communicated by making use of the English language. 5.00%Five percent used two languages as a means of communication with their family and friends. Of which, 4.70% communicated both in Maltese and English whilst the remaining percent (0.30%) use Maltese and Italian. Research statistics showed that only a marginal percentage (0.30%) did not use the same preferred language/s to communicate both with their family and friends as well as with the Zabbar community. In fact, as table 1.2 shows, 99.70% answered positively when asked to indicate whether or not they used the same language to communicate with the Zabbar community and with their family and friends.
Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines
Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Font color: Black
4.4 Questionnaire Respondent Services

Table 4.3 presents findings specific to the respondent services. Table 4.3 Services of Questionnaire Respondents
Community Services Items Respondents Response Frequencies (N=300) Frequency PercentResponse Percentages
Comment [CP9]: Now add a sentence that tells what the table displays. Also, ideally keep the table intact on one page even if that means you have to have some blank space preceding it. Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Not Bold, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Not Bold, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Not Bold, Font color: Black
40
Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja Community Leadership Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered Community Organisations Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered Community Spirit Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered Education Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered 17 148 103 29 3 5.70% 49.30% 34.30% 9.70% 1.00% 11 112 153 21 3 3.70% 37.30% 51.00% 7.00% 1.00% 21 106 134 12 27 7.00% 35.30% 44.70% 4.00% 9.00% 55 133 99 7 6 18.30% 44.30% 33.00% 2.30% 2.00%
Table 4.3 Services of Questionnaire Respondents (cont.) Table 1.3 Services of Questionnaire Respondents
Community Services Items
Response Frequencies (N=300)
Response Percentages
41
Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja Employment Opportunities Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered Festivals and Events Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered Friendliness and Hospitality Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered Housing Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered Recreational Activities Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered 34 151 93 12 10 11.30% 50.30% 31.00% 4.00% 3.33%
Comment [CP10]: How come in this section of the write up you have these additional subheadings but dont use additional subheadings in the above section? Seems like you should be consistent one way or the other. Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Not Italic, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Not Italic, Font color: Black Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Not Italic, Font color: Black
167 89 28 2 14
55.70% 29.70% 9.30% 0.70% 4.67%
30 81 160 15 14
10.00% 27.00% 53.30% 5.00% 4.67%
6 71 187 28 8
2.00% 23.70% 62.30% 9.30% 2.67%
5 137 122 28 8
1.70% 45.70% 40.70% 9.30% 2.67%
Community Leadership 33.00%Thirty-three percent referred to the leadership as being good and 2.30% were of a belief that the community leadership was excellent. Despite this, slightly more than a
42
majority, 188 respondents (62.60%), rated community leadership either fair (44.30%) or poor (18.30%).
Community Organizations 48.70% of the ZabbarResidents from the Zabbar community who participated in the study opted to choose either good (44.70%) or excellent (4.00%) regarding the services provided by community organizations. Meanwhile, 35.30% graded rated the community organizations as providing fair services whilst 7.00% referred to the service they offered as being poor.
Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Not Italic, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Not Italic, Font color: Black
Community Spirit More than the majority (57.00%) of the respondents (i.e., 153 respondents) opted to choose good and 21 respondents answered that the community spirit was excellent. On the other hand, 37.30% declared that the community spirit was fair and 3.70% of respondents referred to the community spirit as being poor.
Education Slightly less than half of the respondents (49.30%) rated educational services as being fair. An additional 5.70% of the respondents declared that the educational services provided were poor. Despite this, 34.30% and 9.70% were of a belief that the educational services offered were good and excellent, respectively.
Employment Opportunities
43
A significant amountstrong majority of respondents (85.40%) displayed their opinion about employment opportunities in Zabbar and chose either poor (55.70%) or fair (29.70%). In the meantimeMeanwhile, 28 (9.30%) respondents rated this service as being good and 2 (0.70%) respondents opted to rate this services as being excellent.
One hundred and seventy-five respondents (58.30%)Festivals and Events 58.30% of the respondents who displayed their belief about festivals and events organized in Zabbar as beingopted for either good or excellent (i.e., 53.30% and 5.00% respectively). Having said that, 27.00% opted for fair whilst 10.00% opted for poor. The remaining 15% of the respondents did not rate this serviceleft this service un rated.
A significant amountA strong majority of the Zabbar community (i.e., 215 respondents) 71.60% perceived friendliness and hospitality within the Zabbar community as being good or excellent; whereas the remaining 25.70% of those who gave their opinion perceived the same service as being fair or poor.
Comment [CP11]: Cannot use the word significant unless you are reporting data re: statistical significance.
Housing 4.30% less than half of the respondents i.e. 137One hundred and thirty-seven respondents (45.70%) stated that the housing service being offered in Zabbar was poor fair whilst the remaining 51.70% rated this service as being good (40.70%), excellent (9.30%), and poor (1.70%).
Recreational Activities Only 4.00% consider recreational activities as excellent. The remaining 92.60% of those who rated this service opted for fair (50.30%), good (31.00%), and poor (11.30%).
44
Table 4.4 presents the sServices which are offered within the Zabbar community, as mentioned by the respondents. Table 4.4 Services mentioned by the questionnaire respondents
Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Not Bold, No underline, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Not Bold, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Bold, Underline, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Bold, Underline, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Bold, Underline, Font color: Black
Community Services Items
Banking Doctrine Educational Health Legal Local Council Parish Recreational Commercial Social Services Telecommunication Providers Veterinary Voluntary Organisations Meet the Community Needs Yes No Left Unanswered
5 11 93 160 20 60 46 19 6
1.67% 3.67% 31.00% 53.33% 6.67% 20.00% 15.33% 9.33% 2.00%
11 1 1 38
3.67% 0.33% 0.33% 12.67%
244 39 17
81.30% 13.00% 5.70%

Formatted: Space After: 0 pt, Line spacing: 1.5 lines
Table 1.4 Services mentioned by the respondents The most popular services mentioned by the respondents (53.33%) were related to health, including St. James Hospital, general practitioners and pharmacies. The next most commonly mentioned service (31.00%) was the educational service, including both primary schools (i.e., school A & school B), the child care centre, and a nursery school.
45
Following, mentioned by 60 respondents (20.00%) were the services offered by the Local council. Such services included computer lessons, language courses and the library service. When asked whether or not the mentioned services met their community needs, 81.30% of respondents answered positively, whilst 13.00% were of the belief that these services did not meet their needs. Amongst the remarks that the latter made, it was commonly said that their needs could be better met by having more dedicated staff. Additionally, respondents believed that having these services offered in a more central location and at flexible times would make these services more beneficial.
Table 4.5 presents community resources within the Zabbar community, as mentioned by the respondents. Table 4.5 Community resources mentioned by the questionnaire respondents
Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Bold, Underline, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Bold, Underline, Font color: Black
46
Community resources present within the Zabbar community, as mentioned by the respondents
Community Resources Items Response Frequenciesdents (N=300) Awareness of community resources Yes No Left unanswered Community Resources mentioned by respondents Items Band Clubs entru Nazaret Civic Centre Doctrine Football Nursery Club Parish Hall Political Party Clubs Schools Voluntary 7 6 165 17 2 17 4 11 7 3.37% 2.88% 79.33% 8.17% 0.96% 8.17% 1.92% 5.29% 3.37% 208 87 5 69.30% 29.00% 1.70% Frequency PercentResponse Percentages
Comment [CP12]: Same comments
A majority of the respondents (Table 1.5 Community Resources mentioned by Respondents 69.30%) stated that they were aware of the fact that one could find various community resources within the locality of Zabbar. Meanwhile, 29.00% declared that they were not aware of any community resources.
47
The Civic Centre was the most commonly mentioned resource out of the 208 respondents (69.30%) that indicated that they were aware of community resources. Following were the parish hall and doctrine resources each mentioned by 17 respondents (8.17%). 11 Eleven respondents (5.29%) were aware that the primary schools were a resource which the community benefited from.
4.5 Interview Responses about services in Zabbar

Two of the six interview questions addressed the services identified and desired, as per the interviewee responses are presented below. 4.5.1 Question 1 Services Respondents Respondents were asked to list the main services that the Zabbar community benefits from. Figure 1. displays the range of services referred to by all the interviewees, with the most commonly mentioned (70.00%) being services which the parish offers. Amongst the list of services mentioned were courses which prepare couples for marriage, informational sessions for parents, and weekly meetings for the elderly members of the community. Next mentioned were the Vinci community project1, educational services offered by the Zabbar primary school and services which the local council offer (40.00%). Moreover, band clubs and football nurseries (30%) were also services mentioned by the Zabbar respondents.
A service managed by the St.Jeanne Antide foundation in association with the parish. 48
Question 1
Parish courses/sessions 20% 10% 10% 10% 40% 20% 10% 30% 30% 40% 40% 20% 20% 70% Vinci Community Project schools local council services band clubs football nurseries private hospital banks printing press doctrine lessons
Figure 4.1 The services mentioned by the interview respondents
The scope of services was summarised by one interviewee as follows: The Zabbar community benefits from the services common to most of our towns and villages responded Dr. Josie Muscat when asked about the main services that the Zabbar community benefits from. 4.5.2 Question 2 Additional Services Interview responses In this question, interviewees were asked to state whether they were of a belief that there is a need for other additional services to be offered in the Zabbar community. When they answered positively, they were asked to outline the services which they proposed. A primary school teacher and a retired engineer both suggested and spoke about the need to open an elderly home for the elderly members of the community. The former interviewee and Dr.Francis Agius expressed their views about the need for a lifelong learning centre within the Zabbar locality. Additionally, providing homework help and extracurricular activities for children after the normal school hours were services which a local council member and Dr.Helena Dalli proposed for the Zabbar community.
49
As illustrated in figure 2., other services were mentioned when interviewees were asked to recommend services which they believed the Zabbar community could benefit from. Only one interviewee, a female social worker, did not suggest any services and supported her argument by stating that: naseb raal illi fil-verita gandu ftit minn kollox ... Naseb jien huwa miluq minn afna affarijiet I think that Zabbar is a locality which has all the services that one may require
Question 2
Elderly home 10% 20% health centres day centre/shelter 10% lifelong learning centre gymnasium extra curricular activities & homework help
20%
10% 20%
10%
Figure 4.2 Additional services proposed by the interview respondents
4.5.3 Interview responses about the use of resources in Zabbar
The third interview question asked about opinions with regards to whether or not the Zabbar community makes good use of its resources. Half of the interviewees argued that once community members became aware of the resources present in Zabbar, the former would make sufficient use of such resources. One
50
of the main reasons that supported this argument was the fact that community members believed it was their right to make use of resources present within their locality. In fact a social worker stated: hemm min jgid li dak huwa dritt u mmur u niedu there are individuals who state that it is their right to make use of the resources present in the community In contract, the remaining half of the interviewees stated that the Zabbar community did not make use of the resources available efficiently. An argument strongly put forward was the issue of pride. Regarding this issue the Parish priest said: Mhux l-ewwel darba li wieed jibqa lura jew gax jisti jew gax jiba jew gax xse jgidu l-orajn it is not the first time that one does not use the resources either due to being shy or else due to being afraid of the judgement of others Another reason mentioned was the need for one-to-one communication with the community members about the resources available to them. Furthermore, residents living in the outskirts were also looked at by these interviewees as a reason to why not all members of the community use resources efficiently.
51
Question 3
50%
50%
the community makes use of the resources present in Zabbar the community does not make sufficient use of the resources present in Zabbar
Figure 4.3 The usage of the community resources in Zabbar
52
4.6 Questionnaire Respondent Education
Comment [CP13]: Same comments re: intro sentence, table heading and all of table on one page. I wont add comments from here on when same edits need to be made. Im sure you get the idea re: what to change in all similar places
Table 4.6 presents aspects related to the educational service provided by the Zabbar Primary School, as mentioned by the questionnaire respondents. Table 4.6 Education of Questionnaire Respondents
Education Items Respondents Response Frequencies (N=300) Adult and Community Education Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered Primary Education Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered Extracurricular activities Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered 10 63 129 17 81 3.30% 21.00% 43.00% 5.70% 27.00% 2 21 144 69 64 0.70% 7.00% 48.00% 23.00% 21.33% 25 104 70 9 92 8.30% 34.70% 23.30% 3.00% 30.67% Frequency PercentResponse Percentages
53
Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja Counselling and Guidance Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered 9 69 101 11 10 3.00% 23.00% 33.70% 3.70% 3.33%
Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Bold, Underline, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Bold, Underline, Font color: Black Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Bold, Underline, Font color: Black
Table 4.6 Education of Questionnaire Respondents (cont.)Table 1.6 Education of Questionnaire Respondents.
Education Items Programmes for students with disabilities Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered Handling discipline problems Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered School Buildings Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered Teachers Poor
8 78 75 13 126
2.70% 26.00% 25.00% 4.30% 42.00%
5 48 106 48 93
1.70% 16.00% 35.30% 16.00% 31.00%
10 73 119 20 78
3.30% 24.30% 39.70% 6.70% 26.00%
0.70%
54
Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered School Administration Poor Fair Good Excellent 1 37 137 39 0.30% 12.30% 45.70% 13.00% 34 142 42 80 11.30% 47.30% 14.00% 26.67%
Table 4.6 Education of Questionnaire Respondents (cont.)Table 1.6 Education of Questionnaire Respondents.
Education Items
Left Unanswered Recreational Facilities Poor Fair Good Excellent Left Unanswered
86
28.67%
11 106 80 12 91
3.70% 35.30% 26.70% 4.00% 30.33%
One hundred and four respondents ( Adult and Community Education 34.70%) considered adult and community education as fair whilst another 8.30% looked at adult and community education as poor. On the other hand, 23.30% perceived adult and community education as good and 3.00% as excellent.
55
Primary Education From the number of respondents who rated primary education, 48.00% regarded primary education as good, 23.%% as excellent and another 7.70% as either fair (7.00%) or poor (0.70%).
Recreational facilities and extracurricular activities Whilst 30.70% of the respondents rated recreational facilities as being either good (26.70%) or excellent (4.00%), 48.70% rated extracurricular activities as being good (43.00%) or excellent (5.70%). 35.30%On the other hand, 35.30% regarded recreational facilities as being fair and 3.70% of the respondents rated the same facilities as being poor. Furthermore, Meanwhile, 21.00% considered extracurricular activities as being fair whilst and another 3.30% regarded these same activities as being poor.
Counseling and Guidance One hundred and one 101 (33.70%) respondents referred to counseling and guidance services offered as being good whilst another 11 respondents (3.70%) considered the former services as being excellent. An additional 26.00% considered counseling and guidance as being fair (23.00%) or poor (3.00%).
Programmes for students with disabilities 26.00%Twenty six percent of the questionnaire respondents noted programs for students with disabilities as being fair, 25.00% as being good, 4.30% as being excellent and 2.70% as being poor. The remaining 42.00% of the respondents did not rate these programmes. Handling discipline problems A significant amount ofOne hundred and fifty-four respondents the respondents i.e. 154
56
Formatted: Font: Cambria, 12 pt, Not Italic, Font color: Black
respondents (83.3051.30%) considered the managing of discipline problems as being good (35.30%) or excellent (16.00%). In the meantime, 17.70% of the respondents who gave their opinion about the managing handling of discipline problems rated the former as being either fair (16.00%) or poor (1.70%). With regards to the primary school buildings, School Buildings 3.30% and 24.30% were the percentages for the buildings being graded asregard the primary school buildings as being poor or fair, respectively. On the contrast, 46.461.30% regarded these buildings as being excellent (6.70%) or good (39.70%).
School Administration and Teachers 45.70% and 47.30% regard Sschool administration and tteachers of the Zabbar primary schools were rated as being good, 45.70% and 47.30% respectively. as being good. In addition, 13.00% and 14.00% considered school administration and teachers, respectively, as excellent. Whilst, 0.30% rated school administration as poor, 0.70% graded the teachers as poor. Furthermore, school administration (12.30%) and teachers (11.30%) were rated as fair by 71 respondents.
57
4.6.1 Questionnaire Respondent Zabbar Primary School as a Community Learning Centre
Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 13 pt, Bold, Font color: Text 1
Table 4.7 presents findings with regards to the question asking questionnaire respondents about establishing Zabbar Primary as a Community Learning Centre. Table 4.7 Establishing Zabbar Primary as a Community Learning Centre, as answered by respondentsRespondent Zabbar Primary School as a Community Learning Centre
Establishing Zabbar Primary School as a Community Learning Centre (under education headings) items Establishing Zabbar Primary School as a Community Learning Centre Yes No Do not know Agree with establishing Zabbar Primary School as a Community Learning Centre items Active learning Comparison with skola ta bil-lejl Educate community Educational Attainment Less illiterates Life-long Learning Making optimum use of the school as a resource Need and urge for learning opportunities Need to educate the community both 13 6 4.35% 2.05% 292 7 1 RespondentsResponse Frequencies (N=300) 13 2 8 4 32 50 10 97.30% 2.330% 0.330% Frequency PercentResponse Percentages 4.45% 0.68% 2.74% 0.14% 10.96% 17.12% 3.42% Response Frequenciesdents (N=300) Frequency PercentResponse Percentages
58
Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja academically and socially
Table 4.7 Establishing Zabbar Primary as a Community Learning Centre, as answered by respondents (cont.)Respondent Zabbar Primary School as a Community Learning Centre
Agree with establishing Zabbar Primary School as a Community Learning Centre items Opportunity for adult members to both work and further their studies/ knowledge Opportunity for learning after normal school hours Opportunity for social interactions Resource where workshops can take place Right for Education Use of resource in the heart of Zabbar Left unanswered
Response Frequencies (N=300) 5
1.71%
93
31.85%
8 1
2.74% 0.34%
9 33
3.08% 11.30%
2.67%
Nearly all of the respondents (97.30%) agreed upon the need to establish a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre. Only, 2.3330% opposed this idea, and 0.330% did not have an opinion with regards to this issue. As shown in Table 1.8, various reasons were expressed regarding the need to establish the community centre. The opportunity for learning after normal school hours was the idea most commonly mentioned (31.85%). The demand for life-long learning (17.12%) and the urge for a resource (11.30%) to be utilized in the heart of Zabbar were the following most
59
common reasons put forward. The 2.30% of respondents who opposed the idea, supported their opinion by giving the following reasons. Adults were given the opportunity to learn during their childhood thus it was now the time to focus on educating and giving learning opportunities to the young generations, schools should only offer academic related subjects, and the school buildings are not fit to accommodate a community learning centre.
4.7 Interview responses about the need of a community learning centre

All individuals interviewed agreed upon the need for establishing a community learning centre within the Zabbar community. However, the agreement on establishing the community learning centre had different degrees. Three interviewees showed that they strongly agree with such a statement whilst seven respondents included their if statements with their responses. What was of a worry to these interviewees was the response rate had this learning centre become established. In fact, a social worker expressed her views in this regard and remarked that you can take the horse near the water but you cant make him drink. Figure 5. displays the sentiments of the interviewees pertaining to the need for a community learning centre in Zabbar.
Question 5
30%
strongly agree with establishing a community learning centre in Zabbar agree with establishing a community learning centre but have their concerns
70%
60
Figure 4.4 The need for a community learning centre in Zabbar 4.7.1 Interview responses about establishing a zabbar primary school as a community learning centre
Three interviewees, a teacher who had been teaching in Zabbar Primary school B for the last 20 years, Dr. Helena Dalli and Dr. Francis Agius, members of parliament, stated that it was a wise idea to make optimum use of the school as a resource would be establishing the latter as a community learning centre. This centre would open its doors to the community after normal school hours. Moreover, as indicated by Dr. Francis Agius and a female social worker in Zabbar, both primary schools were in the heart of Zabbar. Consequently were one of these schools to be established as a community learning centre, access would be made easier to all community members. Furthermore, a local councillor and the Zabbar parish priest, Rev. Sebastian Caruana claimed they were of a belief that the communitys perception was that a schools building is directly associated with children. Thus, their logical deduction was that the community members would find it hard to identify themselves with such an environment, and as a result would be taken aback by the idea of learning within this context. Local councillor: jekk tara li r-riorsi li gandek huma limitati allura tua dak il-bini if one notices that the resources available are limited then you us building Rev. Sebastian Caruana: ovjament imma tii biex tagel u tgid mgandix post ... tibda fpost li
61
the
once you have to decide about the building and you do not have a suitable
gandek gax ma tistax ma tkunx wise hawnhekk...tua l-post li gandek
building at hand ... then the wisest idea would be to start using an already existing building
All in all, as reflected by the above two quotations, these interviewees noted that ultimately, especially when resources are limited, using already existing resources within the community is always the most sensible decision one will take. In addition, another two of the interviewees stated that one has to start utilising the resources space according to demand. Figure 6 displays the interviewees views about the establishment of a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre.
Question 6
making optimum use of the school through opening it after normal school hours 20% 30% the school is at the heart of Zabbar and thus will be easily reached by each community member in Zabbar
10%
10% 20% 20%
Figure 4.5 Establishing a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre
62
Table 4.8 presents findings with regards to the questionnaire item that asked respondents about establishing a Zabbar Primary school as a Community Learning Centre in relation to their age. Table 4.8 Establishing a Primary school as a Community Learning Centre * Age Crosstabulation
Age 18-25 Count No % within Age Primary school as a Community Learning Centre Do not know Yes Count % within Age Count % within Age Count Total % within Age 4 9.3% 39 90.7% 0 0.0% 43 100.0 % 26-35 0 0.0% 46 100.0 % 0 0.0% 46 100.0 % 36-45 2 5.4% 34 91.9% 1 2.7% 37 100.0 % 46-55 0 0.0% 55 100.0 % 0 0.0% 55 100.0 % 56-65 1 1.3% 76 98.7% 0 0.0% 77 100.0 % 66-75 0 0.0% 34 100.0 % 0 0.0% 34 100.0 % 75+ 0 0.0% 7 100.0 % 0 0.0% 7 100.0 % 7 2.3% 291 97.3% 1 0.3% 299 100.0 % Total
63
Figure 4.6 Establishing a Zabbar Primary school as a Community Learning Centre in relation to the respondents age
4.8 Interview responses about the social issues which they were mostly concerned about
The forth interview question asked was about the social issues which the interviewees were mostly concerned about. To start with, nine out of ten interviewees stated that drug abuse was one of the social issues which they were most concerned about. In fact, a local council member stated strongly that, prinipalment hija l-uu ta droga, ssib diversi pereempju siringi mitluqin f postijiet entrali drug abuse predominates as one can find many syringes across different areas of Zabbar
Furthermore, half of the interviewees declared that poverty was another issue which the community suffers from. Poverty in this study referred to economic poverty, academic poverty and lack of goodies of life. Finally, four interviewees were of a belief that the issue of unsuccessful marriages, single parent families and lack of education were quite of a concern to the Zabbar community. Figure 4.7 shows the social issues which the interviewees were most concerned about.
64
Question 4
10% 10% 10% 90% 20% 30% lack of education poverty 20% substance abuse
40% 40%
50%
unseccussful marriages and single parent families abondoned elderly
Figure 4.7 The social issues which the interview respondents are mostly concerned about
4.9 Supportive Interview with the Chief Executive Office of the Foundation for Educational Services Mr.Roderick Agius
Speaking with Roderick Agius, the Chief executive officer (CEO) of the Foundation for Educational Services (FES), we learnt that currently there are no services offered by the foundation in the locality of Zabbar. He adds that despite this present situation, the foundation felt the need to provide the Klabb 316 service to the Zabbar community. Basically this need was felt due to having a big locality with a sufficient amount of working parents. He added that this would be possible since Zabbar has two large school buildings and the majority of FES programmes take place in school buildings. When asked whether or not the services and programmes offered by FES were based on the community needs, Mr.Agius responded positively. He added that not only were the
65
programmes based on community needs, but the foundation, prior to establishing the programmes, took school feedback with regards to community needs. When asked what were the main challenges that the foundation has to face with regards to implementing its programmes within localities, Mr.Agius replied: Hemm ew sfidi kbar. Bla dubju ta xejn l-isfida finanzjarja. Ida hemm ukoll sfida ta riorsi umani We have two great challenges: the financial and the human resources challenges
Mr.Agius remarked that the idea of establishing community learning centres in Malta has been called on for a number of years, and Access is one form of a community learning centre which has been established in Malta. The CEO argued that having a primary school building in each locality made it even more possible: fdawn l-aar snin kien hemm tentattivi kbar biex jibqgu jintuaw these past years there were various attempts to keep being used
In fact, he added that the lifelong learning directorate has fourteen centres established, with the majority of them operating in primary school buildings within different Maltese localities. Moreover, Mr. Agius put forward the following important and strong statement: il-community learning centres, filwaqt li huma inizjattiva interessanti immens gandhom bonn ta afna u afna sieb This reflects the need to establish centres which reflect the specific needs of the community since different communities have different needs; ideally having a community centre within the heart of each community. even though community learning centres are very interesting initiatives, they entail lots of thinking
66
4.10 Conclusion
The findings of this study, which are based on a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data queries, were presented in this chapter. The presentation of data has been done in tables and figures for convenience of the reader. The next chapter will provide an analysis of the collected data.
67
References
Shank, P. & Bircher, J. (2009). Essential Articulate Studio 09. Plano: Wordware Publishing.
Chapter 5: Analysis
5.1 Introduction This chapter discusses the relation between our present study's findings and previous studies findings in order to evaluate the purpose and the role of community learning centres in societies. What are the services that a community centre provides and what should it provide? How does a community learning centre enhance the education of adults and elderly people? This chapter also discusses the importance of primary schools set up as community learning centres and the role which a Zabbar primary school would play in this regard. Moreover challenges faced by a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre are also brought up.
5.2 Demographics The most common category of our respondents is married women between the age of 18 and 55 years. This quantitative result indicates that the Zabbar community has a majority of married woman. Most of the respondents, 56.33%, are over 35 years old and do not have children in their households. As a result, the percentage of on-going children for primary education is also very low. In fact only 51 out of 300 respondents have children in their primary education and most of them prefer to attend state primary schools, Zabbar primary school being the priority over private or church schools. The level of education
68
achieved by the people of Zabbar community is somewhat disappointing, as most of them have only attended secondary education level while the second majority has simply achieved primary education. Meanwhile, only about one-fifth of the respondents (61) acquired tertiary education and most of them are only bachelor degree holders. Literature review does not particularly correlate the need of learning centres with gender. As a result of this, age groups were given priority in our analysis. It was found that respondents who fall within the age 45-75 are more inclined towards the idea of establishing a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre. As it has been observed earlier, primary education was the common level of education that members of the community managed to attend. We therefore strongly believe that this factor is one of the main reasons for which a community learning centre is necessary in Zabbar. Adults feel that such learning centre could help them achieve what they were unable to achieve earlier on in their lives. This idea was also supported by the Maltese National Minimum Curriculum (1999, p. 67), since as stated in the literature review, community learning centres are important because they do not only provide education to children but also aim at providing education to adults. As referred to in the results chapter, the need of elderly homes is penetrating gradually and constantly within the community. This need can be met by setting up a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre where old people can spend their time meaningfully. Giordmaina (2000, p. 358) says that elderly people can share their experiences by transferring their skills to other community members. Literature review ascertain that a community learning centre may encourage other organizations to deal with the social and the recreational needs of the community vis- -vis education (Anderson-Butcher, 2004, p.252). Respondents aged 25-45 have several reasons to support this idea such as life-long services, employment, and education for their children and themselves. Furthermore, the Maltese National Minimum Curriculum (1999, p.67) states that a school set up as a community learning centre may promote holistic education, life-long education and interaction amongst community members.
69
5.3 Language Maltese is the main language used by the Zabbar community and is spoken and read by more than three-fourth of our sample. The percentage of respondents speaking the English language is relatively low despite it being an international language. Individuals from the Zabbar community who cannot speak the English language confidently, can read it but again their number is considerably less than those who feel comfortable reading in Maltese. Less than 1.00% of the respondents communicate through the use of the English language with their family, friends and other relatives whilst 4.70% use both Maltese and English to interact with others. This may be due to the low percentage of respondents attending postsecondary education. This is because higher education tends to make individuals feel more comfortable in using another language other than their mother tongue. Signs of improvement in language could not be identified in the literature review but, according to Dawn Anderson-Butcher (2004, p.249), a variety of activities that can take place in a community learning centre include character education and programs that may provide opportunities for students who are less proficient in the English language. 5.4 Services Provided Respondents seem satisfied with the services provided in Zabbar, as the majority of their answers fall in the category of either fair or good, unemployment being the only aspect that received poor comments. Taking a close look at the leadership quality of the Zabbar community, it is commonly rated as fair whilst another considerable amount of respondents considers it to be good. Other few respondents consider this service as poor whilst another mere percentage of respondents consider the community leadership in Zabbar as excellent. This doubt regarding the leadership quality of the community can be eliminated by providing a communtiy learning centre which may help to inculcate the true leadership qualities. Parson (1999, p. 24) also counts the leadership aspect of community as a characteristic of community learning centres. According to Parson (1999, p.24), shared responsibilities of parents, teachers, staff of school, and students provide more opportunities for better leadership. Meanwhile Parson (1999, p. from the table i.e 17 to 24,
70
how am I gonna say it :S) believed that community members should be allowed to participate in the decision making process related to the projects. Respondents are satisfied by the organisation and spirit of the community. The reason behind their satisfaction can be seen under the results of recreational activities, hospitality, arrangement of festivals and events, education and housing that are generally thought to be fairly provided. These features of the Zabbar community can also be enhanced by setting up a community learning centre. In fact, as Dawn Anderson-Butcher (2004, p. 252) argued, a community learning centre can cover a variety of activities like arts and music educational activities, social and recreational activities, and other educational and academic enrichment activities. Employment opportunities was the only issue which the respondents were not content with. The majority of respondents feel that employment opportunities provided by the community are poor and only about a quarter of them think it to be fair enough. The direct effects of establishing a community learning centre on employment opportunities for a community were not available in the conducted literature review but Leowarin (2010) stated that learning centres can improve the quality of life and alleviate poverty through providing non-formal education and life-long opportunities for out-of-school population, i.e., adults. Although in the results chapter it has been already mentioned that only few of the respondents are satisfied with the educational services provided in the community, respondents do seem satisfied with the quality of primary education provided in Zabbar. Furthermore, according to these respondents, the school provides an extensive amount of services including guidance, counselling, and options for extra-curricular and recreational activities. The idea of setting up a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre is therefore applicable, as Parson (1999, p. 65) considers community learning centres as a genuine learning community. Teachers and administration are believed to be dedicated and maintain discipline. The most positive aspect emerging from the responses was their satisfaction towards the programmes for children with disabilities. In fact these programmes were chosen to be an excellent service provided by the Zabbar primary school. Establishing a Zabbar primary
71
school into a community learning centre will help children with disabilities in a more efficient way. As it was indicated by the National Minimum Curriculum (1999) through its first principal Quality Education for All (p. 23), community learning centres may have the potential to offer a communal support to those children who have learning disabilities in the long run.
5.5 Services Mentioned The most common services mentioned by the respondents were related to health and education. Lack of higher education achievement can be a reason behind mentioning education. Similarly, for the same reason, it is one of the issues the Zabbar community has started addressing. The Zabbar community learning centre can play a vital role in order to strengthen the education sector of the community. UNESCO (2007, p.13) has recognized that, for the effective delivery of literacy and to provide continuity to the education programmes through community approaches, community learning centres are one of the best employable mechanisms. Services offered by the Local Council are also popular among the respondents whilst commercial, telecommunications, and veterinary and voluntary services did not attract much appreciation of respondents. Generally, respondents seem to agree that the services offered within Zabbar do meet their needs. The other respondents who were not satisfied with the services provided, suggested ways of how these services could be improved. The suggestions put forward included more dedicated staff, flexible timings, and a central location for making these services more reachable. According to Bingler et al. (2008, p. 25), community learning centres can meet the needs of the students as well as those of the other community members. Therefore, one may argue that community learning centres have the potential to bring the whole community together. As there are several potential activities which can emphasize life-long learning based on community needs by their implementation (Anderson-Butcher, 2004, p. 252), an active committee for the community learning centre is important as it can identify and plan activities to meet these needs. The collaboration of teachers, students, members of
72
the community, and staff will enable the involved community to adopt the appropriate learning activities and pedagogies. On the other hand, results derived from qualitative analysis suggest that the Zabbar community need an elderly home, life-long learning centres and a place where children could be assisted with their homework. Furthermore the community needs a place which provide the children with constructive recreational activities. Identifying education as a life-long learning activity, Rennie (as cited in Poster & Krger, 1990, p. 4) suggested that establishing schools as community learning centres will give adults and elderly people the opportunity to learn in a natural context of an all-age environment. On the other hand, Anderson-Butcher (2004, p.252), Ministry of Education of Malta (1999, p. 67), and Parson 1990 (as cited in Poster & Krger, 1990, p. 33) did I write this part of reference good coz I came in a difficulty believe that a community learning centre can be a focal point where all the needs regarding education of children, lifelong learning for both children and adults and recreational activities can be met. 5.6 Social Issues Interviewees were very much concerned about drug abuse and apparently it is a very common social issue in the locality. For this reason, they surely want this social problem to be addressed as earlier as possible. Certainly, a community learning centre within the locality under health or counselling sectors can surely minimise this social issue. Poverty, both educational and economical, is thought to be another social issue of the Zabbar community. It was observed that the community is unable to provide employment services efficiently and also community members have concerns about educational provision. Through establishing a community learning centre, the community could deal with this issue as this initiative will help in providing employment opportunities as well as better education to both children and adults, especially in todays global dynamic world.
73
5.7 Community Resources Zabbar community members are very well aware of the various available resources and this awareness allows them to avail of these resources as much as possible. Respondents mentioned the Civic Centre as one of the most prominent resources their community possesses, one from where they get different benefits. Parish halls and teaching of doctrine follow this resource while respondents are less aware of recreational places such as band clubs, political party clubs, and football nursery clubs. A contradiction regarding education can be observed here, as results show that people are satisfied with education provided by the community but only a few of them (5.29%) mentioned it as a beneficial community resource. On the other hand, interview results show that schools were the second preferred service provided by the Zabbar community.
Leowarin (2010) believes that community learning centres serve as a central point for
providing formal and informal education activities to the members of community and become a resource which can be conveniently used. Investing to use the multiple resources for educational activities and strengthening adult education sections are equally important in order to support a community learning centre (Anderson-Butcher, 2004, p. 248). The same is the case about parish services provided within the community. Very few questionnaire respondents mentioned parish services as a resource from which they get benefits; but according to the interviewees, the services the parish provided amounted to the best resource which Zabbar holds. One reason behind this contradiction can be extracted from an argument given by one of the interviewees, who said that The Zabbar community benefits from the services common to most of our towns and villages. This implies that the community does not do anything specific to provide and benefit from these resources; rather Zabbar residents are aided similar to members in other communities. According to the qualitative results, exactly half of the sample believe that as soon as the community is aware of the available resources, then the community makes an optimum use of such capital. A comment from a social worker which supports this argument was that; there are individuals who state that it is their right to make use of the resources present in
74
the community. Similarly, a supportive comment it is not the first time that one does not use the resources either due to being shy or else due to being afraid of the judgment of others was put forward by a parish priest in respect of the other half of the respondents who believe that community does not use its resources efficiently. Lack of effective communication and a central location could be the causes behind this response, as these two factors were mentioned by the respondents when asked whether the services available meet their needs. Here the need of establishing a community learning centre is again specified, since a community learning centre situated at the heart of locality can serve the involved community in a more flexible way by making use of its available resources (Gelsthorpe & West-Burnham, 2003, p. 220).
5.8 Setting up a Zabbar Primary School as a Community Leaning Centre A strong majority agrees on setting up a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre. They want a community learning centre which can provide opportunities of learning after school hours to children and opportunities of life-long learning to both adults and children. The need of after-school programmes was also mentioned by Dodd and Bowen (2011, p.13), who said that, as time passes, working parents need after-school learning which may include educational and social opportunities for their children. Use of resources in the centre of Zabbar community and a learning place for less illiterates but not highly educated people is also a need which can be met if a Zabbar primary school is established as a community learning centre. Most of the interviewees appeared to be interested in setting up a community learning centre even if they have their particular concerns about the response rate after the community learning centre would have been established. As it was observed earlier, the community is aware of its resources and does make use of the available resources once they know about them. Similarly, according to the interviewees, the Zabbar primary school is an already available resource which could be very well developed and established as a community learning centre. Also, it is quite easily
75
accessible for all the members of the community as it is situated in the heart of the community. They also believe that as long as you do not have any other resource in which you can implement this project; the optimum use of available resources is a wise solution. As outlined in the literature review, using state schools as community learning centres is well suggested as the premises are always very easily accessible by the members of the community (Bray, 1992 as cited in Mndel & Schugurensky, 2004, p. 96; Giordmaina, 2000, p. 357). Moreover it has a positive economic impact on the community, as an already available resource is continuously used rather than wasted and left dead for several hours (Giordmaina, 2000, p. 357). Meanwhile, those opposing this idea argue that adults already had their opportunity to learn and now only younger generations should be given a chance to enhance their learning. That is why, according to these respondents, setting up a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre is not a good idea and schools should only be used to teach academic subjects. Also, some interviewees argued that primary schools are directly associated with children. This issue could therefore lead the community to find it hard to identify themselves as part of it and may, hence, hesitate to grasp this opportunity of learning. This hesitation was also presented as an argument by Curtis, Livingstone and Smalleras (1992, p. 113 as cited in Mndel & Schugurensky, 2004, p. 96); that community members hardly enter schools. 5.9 Challenges faced by the Zabbar community to establish a Community Learning Centre
An interview with the Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation for Educational Services (FES), Mr Roderick Agius, shows that the main challenges faced for the establishment of learning community centres are human and financial resources. Availability of primary schools buildings has somehow solved their problem, as UNESCO (2007, p.1) suggested that it is not necessary to build a new infrastructure for any community learning centre but it can be operated from an existing health centre, temple, mosque, primary schools, or other venue.
76
Teachers and older people can become a human resource to run this learning centre together. Parson (1999, p. 67) believes that teachers will act as collaborators and team leaders rather than as dictators or bosses in community learning centres. Having a sense of leadership, teachers are also responsible for the development of curriculum, choice & usage of resources and pedagogies in order to enhance the learning potential of students. According to Mr. Agius, despite being an interesting initiative the establishment of a community learning centre demands lots of thinking and programming. This argument was supported by Parson (2004, p. 107) who argued that setting up a community learning centre needs much consideration a new management system, energy and time are needed in order to function effectively and efficiently. According to Parson (2004, p. 107), members of the community along with competent individuals should partner each other in the development of community learning centres.
5.10 Conclusion In this chapter, we compared the findings of our study with the literature review. Notably, findings and literature review are supporting each other on many points. For instance, the establishment of community learning centres is important and vital in order to enhance education and life-long learning. Other than that, the idea of setting up a Zabbar primary school as a community learning centre was also supported by the previous findings ,which show that using primary schools as community learning centres is one of the most applicable and feasible ideas. The relationship between gender and the need of community learning centres is not studied yet, thus, more research has to be conducted in order to get a clear picture of the relationship between the two factors. Also, impacts of community learning centres on the lives of disabled children should be more researched; particularly in these days, in which inclusion is considered as one of the main focal points in our educational system.
77
References Anderson-Butcher, D. (2004). Transforming Schools into 21st Century Community Learning Centres. Children & Schools, 26(4), p. 248. Bingler, S., Blank, M. & Berg, A. (2008). Bringing back the neighborhoods. Education Digest, 73(8), 25-27. Dodd, A. T. & Bowen, L. M. (2011). 21st Century Community Learning Centers Improving the Academic performance of at-risk students: A Bronx Tale. Journal of Health and Human Services, 34(1), 10-41. Gelsthorpe, T. & West-Burnham, J. (Eds.). (2003). Educational leadership and the community: Strategies for School Improvement through Community Engagement. Harlow: Pearson Education. Giordmaina, J. (Ed.). (2000). National Curriculum on its Way: A Conference on the Implementation of the National Minimum Curriculum Malta 9th-11th June 2000. Msida: Gutenberg Press. Leowarin, S. (2010). Community Learning Centres in Thailand. In Hinzen, H. (Ed.), Adult Education and Development (74th ed.). Bonn: dvv international. Retrieved on August 1, 2011 from http://www.iiz-dvv.de/index.php?article_id=1070&clang=1 National Minimum Curriculum (1999). Creating the Future Together. Malta. Ministry of Education.
78
Mndel, K. & Schugurensky, D. (Eds.). (2004). Lifelong Citizenship Learning, Participatory Democracy and Social Change, Vol. 1. Toronto: Transformative Learning Centre, OISE/University of Toronto. Parson, S. R. (1999). Transforming Schools into Community Learning Centres. Larchmont, NY: Eye On Education. Poster, C. & Krger, A. (Eds.). (1990). Community Education in the Western World. Norfolk: Biddles. UNESCO (2007). Strengthening Community Learning Centres through Linkages and Networks: A synthesis of six country reports. Retrieved July 21, 2011 from http://www2.unescobkk.org/elib/publications/104/Strengthening_CLC.pdf
79

Dissertation

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Исходное описание:

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Dissertation

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

1.1 Objectives of the Study and Research Question

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Significance of the Study

1.3 Context information

1.3.1 General Information about Zabbar

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

1.3.2 Services and Resources in Zabbar

1.3.3 The Festa as the most popular annual event in Zabbar

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

1.4 Overview of Study Chapters

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

organizations and agencies

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Taguchi, 2002, p. 109).

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

3.2.1 Difficulties and Biases

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

3.3.1 Difficulties and Biases

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Drnyei, Z. & Taguchi, T. (2002). Questionnaires in second language research: Construction,

Holloway, I. (1997). Basic Concepts for Qualitative Research. Oxford: Blackwell.

Kvale, S. (1996). InterViews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. Sage: California.

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

4.2 Questionnaire Respondent Demographics

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Table 4.1 Demographics of Questionnaire Respondents

Table 4.1 Demographics of Questionnaire Respondents (cont.)

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

4.3 Questionnaire Respondent Language

Table 4.2 Language of Questionnaire Respondents

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Ingrid Fiorentino Jessica Bugeja

Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines

4.4 Questionnaire Respondent Services

Community Services Items

Response Frequencies (N=300)

55.70% 29.70% 9.30% 0.70% 4.67%

10.00% 27.00% 53.30% 5.00% 4.67%

2.00% 23.70% 62.30% 9.30% 2.67%

1.70% 45.70% 40.70% 9.30% 2.67%