- 2019Implementation
- 2020Implementation
- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
Background
Malta's College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) strives to deliver courses that are relevant to industry. MCAST professional staff, both unit writers and lecturers, need to keep abreast with current industry practices and latest equipment.
The rationale reflects how the Master in vocational education and applied research (MVEAR) provides a holistic study journey enabling participants to develop and strengthen their competences as VET educators by integrating an experiential learning experience in an industrial host organisation as one of the modes of their professional development practice.
The industrial placement may be a catalyst in the building of a community of practice. Through this placement, the participant will go to industry and experience for some hours the culture and identities within specific contexts. Participants will appreciate the importance of preparing students for such cultures to facilitate transitions and improve preparedness for employment.
The industrial placement is an integral and mandatory component of unit 11, 'andragogy in practice in an industrial context'.
Objectives
To give the opportunity to professionals at MCAST to keep abreast with latest developments in the industry sectors which are linked to their area of expertise in which they lecture.
The main learning outcomes (LOs) are:
- LO 1. analyse the professional development achievements of own knowledge and competences;
- LO 2. present own experiences and development ideas to colleagues and learners;
- LO 3. develop content and methods of teaching relevant for the present and future generations of learners towards employment.
Description
Industry placements for teaching staff are presently taking place in following different forms:
- a recently launched MVEAR, a CPD programme for MCAST industry;
- Erasmus+ mobility programmes are offered to MCAST teaching staff, enabling them to visit industries abroad;
- teaching staff voluntarily asks to carry out industry placements, particularly in the summer recess, to keep themselves abreast of developments in the industrial sector relative to their areas of teaching;
- the activities of the pilot mentor training programme also cover the CPD of VET teachers/teaching staff, including a module based on placement in industry.
Master in vocational education and applied research (MVEAR) 4.0 was being delivered for the first time. The unit which includes industry placements was developed and planned to be delivered in subsequent years.
The first cohort of the MCAST Master in VET applied research 4.0 started in February 2019: 45 participants graduated with a postgraduate certificate, with 15 participants moving on to the postgraduate diploma. The second cohort - 40 participants - started in February 2020.
In December 2019, MCAST invested in a new role of deputy director of the Centre for Professional Development. This gave a more defined structure to lifelong learning opportunities for practitioners in this vocational institution as well as a service to the external community requesting support on learning-related initiatives.
The industry placement for the PG diploma year of the MVEAR occurred between November 2020 and January 2021.
The process is as follows:
The participant seeks an industry organisation for own industrial placement. The host and participant identify the objectives/learning outcomes for the industrial placement and agree to the role and responsibilities of the participant while working/observing activity tasks.
The host identifies and assigns the lead trainer who supports and guides the participant while at placement. A schedule between the participant and the industrial host is established.
The three stakeholders - participant, industrial host organisation and MCAST's apprenticeship and work-based learning department - sign an agreement.
The participant is required to spend a minimum of one week of 40 hours as industrial placement at a host industry organisation. This placement can be worked as a block or four hours/week for 10 weeks or any other option.
A member of the MVEAR faculty team will fulfil critical friend duties and may conduct one visit at the host organisation. The critical friend will then view and assess the portfolio (details below).
As a result, an industrial placement journal - Part 2 of My VET professional portfolio - will be compiled with the following main sections:
- host organisation information and industry placement practical information;
- participant role and responsibilities;
- self-reflective questions: a placement logbook to be completed throughout the placement which records the evidence of the participatory work activities at the host organisation and the personal self-reflections of the personal journey as a VET educator;
- feedback from critical friend as well as host organisation references;
- action plan for personal and professional growth;
- a presentation to disseminate as an online contribution promoting the building of a community of practice which also serves to highlight own reflective practices of the industrial experience.
The bachelor in vocational education and training 4.0 (BVET) (Honours) which started being offered in 2020, aims to provide practitioners, or intending practitioners, in VET settings with the knowledge, skills and competences to work effectively, efficiently and confidently as professional teachers, supervisors, mentors, educational designers and agents of change in the fast-changing reality of industry 4.0. Participants on the programme will have the opportunity to build on their existing disciplinary knowledge, while integrating it with the educational learning that is the core of the programme.
An industrial placement was also included in the BVET 4.0. In the first year, BVET students observe learning in industry. In the third and final year, BVET students will lead learning in industry.
The first cohort of BVET students observed learning in industry during this second semester.
Handover of the BVET and that of the MVEAR continued with the Institute of Community Services. The Centre for Professional Development became responsible for all the practice placements of both the Bachelor and the Master teacher education programmes at MCAST.
In May 2021, nine students pursued their formal learning journey by following the vocational education applied research course at Post-Graduate Diploma level. For the first time, in April 2021, 11 participants started the final year towards the MVEAR. During 2021, the Council for the Teaching Profession acknowledged that persons who are in possession of a level six qualification in a subject area taught in local schools and the MVEAR 4.0 in the same (or related) area were eligible to apply for a teacher's permanent warrant.
In May 2022, the MVEAR 4.0 programme began being delivered by the Institute of Community Services at MCAST, where a part-time coordinator was appointed to oversee it.
The BVET (Honours) was offered once again, with the enrolment of four students in the October 2022 intake.
The BVET (Honours), and the MVEAR were offered once again in 2023. In November 2023, a total of 31 participants earned a postgraduate certificate, while three participants completed a postgraduate diploma. The first two graduates of the BVET programme graduated in December 2023.
The BVET (Honours), and the MVEAR were offered once again in 2024. In November 2024, four participants graduated with a Master in vocational education and applied research.
Bodies responsible
- Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST)
Target groups
Education professionals
- Teachers
Thematic categories
Governance of VET and lifelong learning
This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.
This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.
The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.
This thematic sub-category refers both to formal mechanisms of stakeholder engagement in VET governance and to informal cooperation among stakeholders, which motivate shared responsibility for quality VET. Formal engagement is usually based on legally established institutional procedures that clearly define the role and responsibilities for relevant stakeholders in designing, implementing and improving VET. It also refers to establishing and increasing the degree of autonomy of VET providers for agile and flexible VET provision.
In terms of informal cooperation, the sub-category covers targeted actions by different stakeholders to promote or implement VET. This cooperation often leads to creating sustainable partnerships and making commitments for targeted actions, in line with the national context and regulation, e.g. national alliances for apprenticeships, pacts for youth or partnerships between schools and employers. It can also include initiatives and projects run by the social partners or sectoral organisations or networks of voluntary experts and executives, retired or on sabbatical, to support their peers in the fields of VET and apprenticeships, as part of the EAfA.
Modernising VET offer and delivery
This thematic category looks at what and how individuals learn, how learning content and learning outcomes in initial and continuing VET are defined, adapted and updated. First and foremost, it examines how VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses are updated and modernised or new ones created. Updated and renewed VET content ensures that learners acquire a balanced mix of competences that address modern demands, and are more closely aligned with the realities of the labour market, including key competences, digital competences and skills for green transition and sustainability, both sector-specific and across sectors. Using learning outcomes as a basis is important to facilitate this modernisation, including modularisation of VET programmes. Updating and developing teaching and learning materials to support the above is also part of the category.
The thematic category continues to focus on strengthening high-quality and inclusive apprenticeships and work-based learning in real-life work environments and in line with the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships. It looks at expanding apprenticeship to continuing vocational training and at developing VET programmes at EQF levels 5-8 for better permeability and lifelong learning and to support the need for higher vocational skills.
This thematic category also focuses on VET delivery through a mix of open, digital and participative learning environments, including workplaces conducive to learning, which are flexible, more adaptable to the ways individuals learn, and provide more access and outreach to various groups of learners, diversifying modes of learning and exploiting the potential of digital learning solutions and blended learning to complement face-to-face learning.
Centres of vocational excellence that connect VET to innovation and skill ecosystems and facilitate stronger cooperation with business and research also fall into this category.
This thematic sub-category covers all developments related to work-based learning (WBL) elements in VET programmes and apprenticeships which continue to be important in the policy agenda. It includes measures to stabilise the offer of apprenticeships, the implementation of the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships, and using the EU on-demand support services and policy learning initiatives among the Member States. It also covers further expansion of apprenticeships and WBL to continuing VET (CVET), for transition to work and inclusion of vulnerable groups, and for improving citizens’ qualification levels.
Teachers, trainers and school leaders competences
Competent and motivated VET teachers in schools and trainers in companies are crucial to VET becoming innovative and relevant, agile, resilient, flexible, inclusive and lifelong.
This thematic category comprises policies and practices of initial training and continuing professional development approaches in a systemic and systematic manner. It also looks at measures aiming to update (entry) requirements and make teaching and training careers attractive and bring more young and talented individuals and business professionals into teaching and training. Supporting VET educators by equipping them with adequate competences, skills and tools for the green transition and digital teaching and learning are addressed in separate thematic sub-categories.
The measures in this category target teachers and school leaders, company trainers and mentors, adult educators and guidance practitioners.
This thematic sub-category refers to all kinds of initial and continuing professional development (CPD) for VET educators who work in vocational schools and in companies providing VET. VET educators include teachers and school leaders, trainers and company managers involved in VET, as well as adult educators and guidance practitioners – those who work in school- and work-based settings. The thematic sub-category includes national strategies, training programmes or individual courses to address the learning needs of VET educators and to develop their vocational (technical) skills, and pedagogical (teaching) skills and competences. Such programmes concern state-of-the-art vocational pedagogy, innovative teaching methods, and competences needed to address evolving teaching environments, e.g. teaching in multicultural settings, working with learners at risk of early leaving, etc.
This thematic sub-category refers to measures aimed at engaging more professionals into teaching and training careers, including career schemes or incentives. It includes measures enabling teaching and training of staff, managing VET provider and trainer teams in companies to act as multipliers and mediators, and supporting their peers and/or local communities.
This thematic sub-category is in line with the EU policy focus on the digital transition, and refers to professional development and other measures to prepare and support teachers and trainers in teaching their learners digital skills and competences. It also covers measures and support for them to increase their own digital skills and competences, including for teaching in virtual environments, working with digital tools and applying digital pedagogies. Emergency measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic also fall into this sub-category.
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Industry placements for teachers: Malta. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/28431