Global citizenship and the role of education in the twenty-first century

This paper seeks to define concepts such as ‘citizenship’ and ‘global citizenship’ in a democracy and what it means to be ‘a good citizen’. It also seeks to explain that every individual can be ‘a good citizen’ in different situations and scenarios. Of the many agents responsible for the development of an individual, education, together with the home environment and culture, play an important part. Education is also the key to liberty and freedom, while the media is the key to accessing a wealth of information and knowledge. While referring to different modern-day scenarios and the positive and negative effects of globalization, one hopes to create or contribute to a dialogue, an inward and an outward dialogue, in order to understand further the role of education in the 21st century and the implications on active global democratic citizenship.peer-reviewe

Democratic values and citizenship : a pedagogical reflection about module 1 of the new Systems of Knowledge syllabus 2008-10

In January 2006, the Senate of the University of Malta approved the new Systems of Knowledge syllabus 2008-10. Module I is a totally new module related to democratic values and citizenship aiming at supporting the present and future young Maltese generations to become active democratic Maltese, European, and global citizens. This paper acknowledged, firstly, that there is a lot of content that is necessary but new to most of the students. Secondly, in line with the wording of the document itself, there is a need to shift the emphasis of the aims, away from emphasising teaching content to teaching of skills as well as creative and deliberative thinking. Thirdly, this assertion is corroborated with findings from very recent empirical research administered by the author. Finally, this pedagogical reflection sets a challenge for all stakeholders to investigate whether students are able to use the content acquired during lectures in everyday life.peer-reviewe

An exploration of the students' understanding of the concepts of 'democracy' and 'citizenship' at the Junior College of the University of Malta, through a qualitative method

Through a qualitative research method, namely the use of semi-structured interviews with eight lecturers of Systems of Knowledge at the Junior College of the University of Malta, this study explores the lecturers' understanding of the concepts of 'democracy' and 'citizenship ' and it also explores the lecturers' perceptions of the students' understanding of the same concepts at the same College. The research evolved mainly around the concepts of 'democracy' and 'citizenship' and their influence if any, on the development of the students as democratic citizens.peer-reviewe

Promoting democratic citizenship : an exploration of the current educational debate about what students at the beginning of the 21st century should be encouraged to understand by the concepts of ‘democracy’ and ‘citizenship’

The study refers to two main theories in the field - the theory that promotes citizenship education for national identity, and the other theory that foregrounds citizenship education as shared fate. This study proposes reflections and conclusions as a result of the exploration of the foregoing theories. In this way the study synthesises the positive elements of both theories and proposes recommendations to improve the effectiveness of education for citizenship.peer-reviewe

Surviving the democratic deficit : the contribution of young citizens in the 21st century

Democracy has always been a debated concept but even more so in the 21st century when we are faced with a crisis in democracy and citizens have overlooked the democratic values and responsibilities in society. Citizens have lost faith in democratic values as they see their countries facing economic problems and high unemployment, and are influenced by what they read on the media. Citizens are turning to populist and far right movements in order to seek resolution to the problem of immigration. This paper commences with a theoretical analysis of the changes that have occurred in the definition of democracy, their effect on society in recent decades and how democracy is now in crisis. Reference is then made to a longitudinal study administered by the author in January 2019 focusing on the students’ understanding of ‘democracy’ and ‘citizenship’ in the 21st century using the same research instrument employed in 2004 to compare and contrast the progress or shortcomings related to the understanding of the concept of ‘democracy’ and ‘citizenship’ of young Maltese students attending the Junior College of the University of Malta. Keeping the findings in mind, the study proposes a number of recommendations to better prepare young Maltese citizens to face the challenges they will definitely meet throughout their life and also in defence of the value of democracy.peer-reviewe

Renewed investigations at Taung; 90 years after Australopithecus africanus

2015 marked the 90th anniversary of the description of the first fossil ofAustralopithecus africanus, commonly known as the Taung Child, which was unearthed during blasting at the Buxton-Norlim Limeworks (referred to as the BNL) 15 km SE of the town of Taung, South Africa. Subsequently, this site has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site on the basis of its importance to southern African palaeoanthropology. Some other sites such as Equus Cave and Black Earth Cave have also been investigated; but the latter not since the 1940s. These sites indicate that the complex of palaeontological and archaeological localities at the BNL preserve a time sequence spanning the Pliocene to the Holocene. The relationship of these various sites and how they fit into the sequence of formation of tufa, landscapes and caves at the limeworks have also not been investigated or discussed in detail since Peabody’s efforts in the 1940s. In this contribution we mark the 90th anniversary of the discovery and description of the Taung Child by providing a critical review of previous work at Taung based on our recent preliminary work at the site. This includes a reassessment of the Taung Child Type Site, as well as renewed excavations at Equus Cave and the lesser-known locality and little-investigated Black Earth Cave. Preliminary results suggest that much of our previous understandings of the BNL’s formational history and site formation processes need to be reassessed. Only through detailed analysis on the BNL as a whole can we understand this complex depositional environment

Renewed investigations at Taung; 90 years after the discovery of Australopithecus africanus

2015 marked the 90th anniversary of the description of the first fossil ofAustralopithecus africanus, commonly known as the Taung Child, which was unearthed during blasting at the Buxton-Norlim Limeworks (referred to as the BNL) 15 km SE of the town of Taung, South Africa. Subsequently, this site has been recognized as a UNESCOWorld Heritage site on the basis of its importance to southern African palaeoanthropology. Some other sites such as Equus Cave and Black Earth Cave have also been investigated; but the latter not since the 1940s. These sites indicate that the complex of palaeontological and archaeological localities at the BNL preserve a time sequence spanning the Pliocene to the Holocene. The relationship of these various sites and how they fit into the sequence of formation of tufa, landscapes and caves at the limeworks have also not been investigated or discussed in detail since Peabody’s efforts in the 1940s. In this contribution we mark the 90th anniversary of the discovery and description of the Taung Child by providing a critical review of previous work at Taung based on our recent preliminary work at the site. This includes a reassessment of the Taung Child Type Site, as well as renewed excavations at Equus Cave and the lesser-known locality and little-investigated Black Earth Cave. Preliminary results suggest that much of our previous understandings of the BNL’s formational history and site formation processes need to be reassessed. Only through detailed analysis on the BNLas a whole can we understand this complex depositional environment.Australian Research Council Future Fellowship grant FT120100399 Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) National Geographic grants (8774-10 and 3212)JNC2016https://www.wits.ac.za/esi/palaeontologia-africana

EFOMP project on the role of biomedical physics in the education of healthcare professionals

The policy statements describing the role of the medical physicist (and engineer) published by organizations representing medical physics (and engineering) in Europe include the responsibility of providing a contribution to the education of healthcare professionals (physicians and paramedical professions). As a consequence, medical physicists and engineers provide educational services in most Faculties of Medicine / Health Science in Europe. In 2005, the EFOMP council took the decision to set up a Special Interest Group to develop the role of the medical physics educator in such faculties and to work with other healthcare professional groups to produce updated European curricula for them. The effort of the group would provide a base for the progress of the role, its relevance to contemporary healthcare professional education and provide input for future EFOMP policy documents regarding this important aspect of the role of the medical physicist. The present communication will present the group, summarise its latest research and indicate future research directions.peer-reviewe

Patient-reported outcomes in the aging population of adults with congenital heart disease: results from APPROACH-IS.

The congenital heart disease (CHD) population now comprises an increasing number of older persons in their 6th decade of life and beyond. We cross-sectionally evaluated patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in persons with CHD aged 60 years or older, and contrasted these with PROs of younger patients aged 40-59 years and 18-39 years. Adjusted for demographic and medical characteristics, patients ≥60 years had a lower Physical Component Summary, higher Mental Component Summary, and lower anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety) scores than patients in the two younger categories. For satisfaction with life, older persons had a higher score than patients aged 40-59 years. Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02150603