The Capability of Being Educated in Relation to ELET : Developing an equity-based SBAF policy opportunity, to target the unjust case of family disadvantage in Malta and within the EU

Spiteri, Pamela Marie and Cin, Melis (2022) The Capability of Being Educated in Relation to ELET : Developing an equity-based SBAF policy opportunity, to target the unjust case of family disadvantage in Malta and within the EU. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

Text (2022SpiteriPhD)
Thesis_20th_May_2022_Pamela_Marie_Spiteri_13th_July_2022.pdf - Published Version
Download (4MB)

Abstract

ELET (Early Leaving from Education and Training) and its link to family disadvantage have been a pressing issue in Malta and the EU (European Union) due to an inequality achievement gap, hence social justice implications. This thesis aimed to not only reveal the experiences of disadvantaged parents and educators working with disadvantaged students, but also to provide insights into a specific policy opportunity unique to the Irish context, namely, the HSCL (Home-School Community Liaison) that seeks to develop parental agency and capabilities, while offering recommendations for its possible adoption within the Maltese context. The data for this project was collected through three phases of analysis, the first within the Irish context, the second within the Maltese context, while the third phase was post COVID-19. Sixty interviews were conducted with forty participants. Observations and data analysis were also used for triangulation purposes. Underpinned by Hart’s (2012, 2019) SBAF (Sen-Bourdieu Analytical Framework), the findings firstly highlighted similar inequalities experienced within the capability of being educated in relation to ELET. The study subsequently discussed two main conversion factors linked to these inequalities, namely, parental and educator engagement, which might be substantially limited because of family disadvantage. Secondly, the findings provided policy recommendations that could be employed within different educational contexts in order to target these conversion factors within the capability of being educated in relation to ELET. Thirdly, contextual recommendations for policy borrowing and learning within the Maltese context were drawn up. Moreover, these findings provided two main contributions to knowledge, first by exploring ELET through the SBAF and then by using the SBAF to develop ELET equity-based policy opportunities by analysing the HSCL. These findings indicated the need for educational policies to develop specific support for parental agency in order to not only provide support at school, but also target inequalities at home thereby impacting the children’s agency within the capability of being educated in relation to ELET and providing better opportunities to tackle the limiting factors.