Inspire, Foster, Educate: Global Research in Education Today.

Dates: 27-29 November 2025

Welcome

This international conference brings together researchers, teacher-educators, school leaders, policy makers, and practitioners to examine education’s present responsibilities and future possibilities.  The title is deliberately broad in scope.  Over three days, the programme combines conceptual scholarship and empirical inquiry that inspires disciplinary imagination, fosters rigorous cross-sector dialogue, and clarifies the normative stakes of educational practice.  The accepted papers address questions of immediate relevance for classrooms, systems, and communities.

The Institute of Education marks its tenth year of teaching and research.  This milestone invites reflection on the purposes of education and on how research can better serve judgement, equity, and human flourishing in a period of rapid technological change.  The Institute prepares teachers through Bachelor and Master of Education programmes, develops educational leaders through the Master in Educational Leadership, and is now broadening its provision to address the wide range of professionals who serve in schools.  It also offers courses for parents and the wider community.

Dr Stefano Oliverio, Associate Professor of Educational Theory and Social Pedagogy, University of Naples Federico II

Dr Dixie F. Abernathy, Associate Professor of Education, Queens University of Charlotte, USA

Alongside paper sessions the programme includes two plenary panels:

Thursday, 27 November:  Whose Future? Which Education? Reclaiming Education’s Purpose in an Age of Technological Acceleration

Saturday, 29 November: Lifelong Competences for Lifelong Learning:  Integrating Essential Competences Throughout a Child’s Educational Journey.

a) Artificial Intelligence, Digital Competence and Assessment

Studies on AI and core skills, AI-enhanced formative assessment in early years, relationships among digital competence, metacognitive awareness, and success in virtual learning environments, research on public perspectives on assessment reform, and work on integrating academic research into national settings.

b) Leadership, Governance and School Improvement

Analyses of digital leadership in state schools, leadership for learning in specific pedagogical approaches, and system development and improvement.

c) Curriculum, Pedagogy and Learner Formation

Research on interactive teaching in marginalised contexts, creative learning beyond the classroom, and school-based innovation including eTwinning initiatives.

d) Mathematics Education and Learner Wellbeing

Investigations into mathematics anxiety and engagement at lower-secondary level, and pedagogical responses to disciplinary fear and disengagement.

e) Teachers’ Professional Growth and Comparative Perspectives

Comparative studies of teachers’ professional competence and student learning achievement, and practitioner enquiry on the relation between research and classroom practice.

Teacher-educators and classroom practitioners; school and system leader; policy makers; researchers working across technology, curriculum, assessment, inclusion, and ethics.

The conference is organised to support careful argument, collegial exchange, and accessibility.  It provides opportunities for discussion and mentoring across career stages, and it supports emerging researchers alongside established scholars.

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds

Registration

PhD students must send proof of enrolment to [email protected] to benefit from a discounted price of €120. Tickets are non-transferable/non-refundable.

Event Schedule

TimeSessionSpeaker/s
8:00 AM – 8:45 AMRegistration and Welcome Coffee
8:45 AM – 9:15 AMWelcome AddressCEO Ms Joanne Grima
9:15 AM – 10:30 AMKeynote: The Irrelevance of Thought and Technological Bêtise? Educating for
Thinking in the AI Era
Dr Stefano Oliverio
10:30 AM – 11:00 AMNetworking Break
11:00 AM – 12:30 PMParallel Sessions 1

Moderator: Ms Fiona Vassallo Medici
Dr Amanda Schembri Muscat
Dr Loredana Muscat
Dr Michelle Panzavecchia

Moderator: Ms Christine Fenech
Mr Mario Mallia
Dr Edward Wright
Ms Theresa Demanuele Montebello

Moderator: Ms Susanna Azzopardi
Dr Amanda Bezzina
Ms Josephine Ebejer Grech
Ms Stephanie Palmieri

12:30 PM – 2:00 PMLunch Break
2:00 PM – 3:30 PMPanel Discussion: Whose Future? Which Education? Reclaiming Education Purpose in an Age of
Technological Acceleration

Panel Chair: Mr Oswald Tanti Rigos
Dr Stefano Oliverio
Dr Duncan Mercieca
Dr Edward Wright
Fr Mark Ellul

3:30 PM – 4:00 PMNetworking Break
4:00 PM – 5:00 PMParallel Sessions 2

Moderator: Mr Anthony Satariano
Dr Angele Pulis
Prof Mark C. Mifsud

Moderator: Dr Loredana Muscat
Dr Sylvana Zammit Pulo
Ms Susanna Azzopardi

Moderator: Mr Mario Mallia
Ms Dorienne Grech
Ms Monica Ocran

5:00 PM  OnwardsDiscover Malta: An Evening at Your Own Pace
TimeSessionSpeaker/s
8:30 AM – 9:00 AMWelcome Coffee
9:00 AM – 10:30 AMIntroduction & Parallel Sessions 3

Moderator: Ms Christine Fenech
Ms Christa Wuethrich
Ms Claire Marie Vassallo 
Dr Damian Spiteri and Mr Salvo Tomenchuk   

Moderator: Dr Amanda Bezzina
Ms Janice Darmanin
Dr Lihong Huang, Mr Latrell Gray Almosa Arcenas, Mr Mario Mallia
Mr Stefano Zolli

Moderator: Dr Angele Pulis
Dr Duncan Mercieca
Ms Inês Araújo
Mr Oswald Tanti Rigos

10:30 AM – 11:00 AMNetworking Break
11:00 AM – 12:15 PMKeynote Speech: The Integration of Religious Pluralism into Teacher PreparationDr Dixie Abernathy
12:30 PM – 2:00 PMLunch Break
2:00 PM – 3:00 PMMeet the Special Interest Groups: Networking and Discussion

Head-to-Head Educational Leadership: Ms Susanna Azzopardi and Dr Angele Pulis 

Gray Matters: Janice Darmanin  

Intercultural Education & Cooperatives in Education: Mr Mario Mallia 

Social Determinants of Health and Education: Ms Lara Muscat 

Philosophy of Education: Mr Oswald Tanti Rigos

Assessment for Learning: Ms Joanne Rita Grima

Wellbeing: Dr. Amanda Bezzina 

3:00 PM – 3:30 PMNetworking Break
3:30 PM – 4:30 PMParallel Sessions 4

Moderator: Mr Anthony Satariano
Prof Matthew Montebello
Ms Roxana-Madalina Cristea
Dr Michelle Panzavecchia
Dr Damian Spiteri
Dr Rose Anne Camilleri

Moderator: Ms Fiona Vassallo Medici 
Dr Doreen Said Pace
Ms Mariella Porter

5:00 PM  OnwardsDiscover Malta: An Evening at Your Own Pace
TimeSessionSpeaker/s
8:30 AM – 9:00 AMWelcome Coffee
9:00 AM – 10:30 AMPanel Discussion: Lifelong Competences for Lifelong Learning – Integrating Essential Competences
Throughout a Child’s Educational Journey

Panel Chair: Ms Janice Darmanin
Dr Dixie Abernathy
Dr Jacqueline Van Hear
Dr Georgina Fardoe
Mr Clayton Micallef Grimaud
Dr David Darmanin

10:30 AM – 11:00 AMNetworking Break
11:00 AM – 12:30 PMClosing Plenary Session
1:00 PM – 7:00 PMA Taste of Malta: Networking Through Heritage and Brewing Traditions

Meet the Speakers

Transport and Accommodation

Bus Routes:

Direct from Valletta to Pembroke and vice versa; Route 14 (available everyday) 

Direct from Pembroke (Park and Ride) to Xghajra and vice versa; Route 120 (available everyday) 

214, X299, X300, X208, TD1, 211, 110, 233, 88, TD2 are also alternative routes. 

Sponsors

Skip to content