Can the migrant speak? Voicing myself, voicing the other

Voices of immigrants heard in local academic spheres are largely mediated through those of academics or researchers whose representation of the other is necessarily interpreted and understood through their privileged and powerful veils. This paper will draw on Spivak’s paper, “Can the subaltern speak?’ that refers to the work of the Subaltern Studies group committed to the postcolonial challenging the power and knowledge of the Western academic in speaking for the subaltern. Spivak’s discussion is particularly relevant to the increasing research interest in the local migrant. It calls for the epistemic responsibilities of researchers in persistently critiquing their textual representations of the migrant and the dangers of academic translation of migrants’ subjugated knowledges. In doing so, it will discuss the problematic interrelatedness of the migrant and the academic and researcher referring to the work of theorists that have instigated sensitivity to the general disregard of migrant knowledge as non-knowledge. The voice of the migrant in this paper is heard through a local migrant’s story that accentuates the need for a deconstructive approach to knowledge production in investigative research processes.peer-reviewe

A little memoir of the life of a good and pious woman educator

This paper is concerned with ‘A little Memoir of a Good and Pious Woman Educator’, namely Emmanuela Azzopardi, a headteacher living in the second half of nineteenth century Malta. The memoir – written by Canon Paolo Pullicino, the Director of Education at that time – is a very important one as it uniquely tells the story of a woman’s life, outlining the official duties of the teacher and defining her ideal characteristics. My interests in this particular archive do not only lie in examining the virtues expected of the woman teacher; a reading which is very useful in tracing the formation of the teacher as we know it today. Feminist poststructuralist theories lead me to question the uses of the memoir itself, its politics of representation and the spaces it opens for the theoretical considerations of the portrayal of this teacher. As a feminist exploring knowledge/ power and gender relations, I will be discussing issues of women’s voice and representations, particularly the possible uses of the space created by the memoir for subversive purposes.peer-reviewe

Educating the migrant girl : a politics of difference

This paper problematises discourses about integration, their claims for accommodating difference and their implications in conceptualising the education of young migrant women. In thinking about the ethics and politics of integration and particularly those that are promoted through discursive frameworks generated by EU institutional mechanisms I argue that they reflect a politics of assimilation that does not allow educational processes of becoming different. A politics of difference, in spite of the possibilities of generating conflict within schools and classes would better inform our thinking about an education that democratically attends to student differences. I shall draw on situations and examples related to the education of young migrant women to suggest that processes of migration, rather than those of integration, can be important sources in conceptualising education as processes of transformation where becoming different women is possible.peer-reviewe

The teacher, literature and the Mediterranean

This chapter discusss writer Francis Ebejer's thinking about education as it is expressed in his autobiographical work but more imprtantly through his fictional and theatrical writings. This is explored in the context of the history of colonialism and Ebejer's own experience of this phenomenon.peer-reviewe

Mercy in the Maltese educational system : education practices to foster respect for diversity towards the migrant population

The growing diversity of learners in Maltese schools presents new challenges to policy-makers and practitioners. Schools and teachers often find themselves at odds when trying to respond to the increasingly diverse needs of the student population within schools. Over the past decade Malta made the shift from a country of emigration to a country of immigration. This trend is represented in Maltese schools, as the student population becomes increasingly heterogeneous. While this new reality is more pronounced in certain areas, all colleges have a representation of non-Maltese students, with Maria Regina College having the highest representation with a total of 1,134 students (819 at primary level, 95 in middle school and 220 in secondary school) and Saint Nicholas College having the lowest number, with a total population of eighty one migrant students (fifty-nine in the primary, eleven in middle school and eleven in the secondary school).peer-reviewe

Neurobehavioral Alterations from Noise Exposure in Animals: A Systematic Review

Ecosystems are increasingly involved and influenced by human activities, which are ever-increasing. These activities are mainly due to vehicular, air and sea transportation, thus causing possible repercussions on the fauna that exists there. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the possible consequences that these activities may have in the field of animal neurobehavior, with special emphasis on the species involved, the most common environment concerned, the noise source and the disturbance that is caused. This research includes articles published in the major databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Embase, Web of Sciences); the online search yielded 1901 references. After selection, 49 articles (14 reviews and 35 original articles) were finally scrutinized. The main problems that were reported were in relation to movement, reproduction, offspring care and foraging. In live experiments carried out, the repercussions on the marine environment mainly concerned altered swimming, shallower descents, less foraging and an escape reaction for fear of cetaceans and fish. In birds, alterations in foraging, vocalizations and nests were noted; laboratory studies, on the other hand, carried out on small mammals, highlighted spatio-temporal cognitive alterations and memory loss. In conclusion, it appears that greater attention to all ecosystems should be given as soon as possible so as to try to achieve a balance between human activity and the well-being of terrestrial fauna

Balancing conflicting needs : a case study in the conservation of the endemic honeybee, Apis mellifera ruttneri

Apis mellifera ruttneri is an endemic honeybee confined to the Maltese Islands and is one of just ten honey bee sub-species described in Europe. It is an important receptacle of environmental adaptations and if it is to thrive, it is essential that suitable habitats that can provide adequate foraging, with minimal exposure to competitors and pathogens are available.peer-reviewe

Differences in navigation performance and postpartal striatal volume associated with pregnancy in humans.

Pregnancy is accompanied by prolonged exposure to high estrogen levels. Animal studies have shown that estrogen influences navigation strategies and, hence, affects navigation performance. High estrogen levels are related to increased use of hippocampal-based allocentric strategies and decreased use of striatal-based egocentric strategies. In humans, associations between hormonal shifts and navigation strategies are less well studied. This study compared 30 peripartal women (mean age 28 years) to an age-matched control group on allocentric versus egocentric navigation performance (measured in the last month of pregnancy) and gray matter volume (measured within two months after delivery). None of the women had a previous pregnancy before study participation. Relative to controls, pregnant women performed less well in the egocentric condition of the navigation task, but not the allocentric condition. A whole-brain group comparison revealed smaller left striatal volume (putamen) in the peripartal women. Across the two groups, left striatal volume was associated with superior egocentric over allocentric performance. Limited by the cross-sectional study design, the findings are a first indication that human pregnancy might be accompanied by structural brain changes in navigation-related neural systems and concomitant changes in navigation strategy

A comparative study of colony performance, hygienic behaviour and parasite and disease infection in the endemic honeybee A. M. Ruttneri and the introduced A. M. Ligustica in Malta

Apis mellifera ruttneri, the honey bee subspecies endemic to Malta, must be regarded as seriously endangered. However, there is a critical need for scientific data to support and guide conservation measures, since only two scientific papers concerning this subspecies were published since its original description in 1997. To this end in June 2017, a first systematic study was initiated to compare colony development, performance, hygienic behaviour and infection levels of honey bee diseases of the endemic honey bee with introduced colonies of A. m. ligustica. A total of 33 colonies (A. m. ruttneri, n=15 and A. m. ligustica, n=18, headed by sister queens) were evenly distributed across two locations on Malta, at a central site UNI (n=17) and a site in the Southern region SIGG (n=16). After an initial treatment against Varroa destructor, no further chemical treatment was performed. Standard methods are used to assess colony productivity and behaviour (number of adult bees, number of brood cells, number of visible cells with pollen) in regular intervals. Hygienic behaviour is assessed using the pin test method; Varroa infestation is monitored using powdered-sugar and natural mite fall methods. Assessment of infection levels with Nosema spp. and the most common honey bee viruses is also being carried out. The selected commercial stocks of A. m. ligustica remain consistently less defensive and calmer on the combs. However, by spring 2018, the A. m. ruttneri colonies in general showed higher numbers of adult bees, brood cells and pollen cells. Early seasonal drone production and significant swarming behaviour were observed in the colonies of the endemic bee, but not in A. m. ligustica colonies. The baseline data on the performance of native and introduced genotypes under Maltese environmental conditions provided by this study will contribute to guiding beekeepers in their decision on queen purchases, and ultimately, support conservation measures for A. m. ruttneri.peer-reviewe

Gender differences in visuospatial planning: an eye movements study.

Gender studies report a male advantage in several visuospatial abilities. Only few studies however, have evaluated differences in visuospatial planning behaviour with regard to gender. This study was aimed at exploring whether gender may affect the choice of cognitive strategies in a visuospatial planning task and, if oculomotor measures could assist in disentangling the cognitive processes involved. A computerised task based on the travelling salesperson problem paradigm, the Maps test, was used to investigate these issues. Participants were required to optimise time and space of a path travelling among a set of sub-goals in a spatially constrained environment. Behavioural results suggest that there are no gender differences in the initial visual processing of the stimuli, but rather during the execution of the plan, with males showing a shorter execution time and a higher path length optimisation than females. Males often showed changes of heuristics during the execution while females seemed to prefer a constant strategy. Moreover, a better performance in behavioural and oculomotor measures seemed to suggest that males are more able than females in either the optimisation of spatial features or the realisation of the planned scheme. Despite inconclusive findings, the results support previous research and provide insight into the level of cognitive processing involved in navigation and planning tasks, with regard to the influence of gender