Primary Ethics teachers Nicole Caruana and Charlene Farrugia recently represented the Ethics Education Department and the Ministry for Education, Youth, Research and Innovation during an Erasmus+ training course entitled Restorative Circles in Youth Work: From Storytelling to Conflict Management, held in Krzyżowa, Poland.
The opportunity was made available through the Ethics Education Department, headed by Mr Roger Tirazona and Ms Kirby Caruana, within the Directorate for the Early Years, Languages, and the Humanities. It forms part of the Department’s ongoing commitment to strengthening ethics education through professional development, international collaboration, and innovative pedagogical practice.
Organised by the Kreisau-Initiative, the training course brought together 28 participants from across Europe to explore restorative practices, storytelling, inclusion, dialogue, and conflict resolution within youth and educational settings. Restorative practices are approaches that help individuals build, maintain, and repair relationships through respectful dialogue, shared responsibility, active listening, and reflection. Through a varied programme of workshops, reflective activities, and group discussions, participants developed skills in communication, mediation, active listening, collaboration, and community-building.
The experience was particularly relevant to ethics education, where respectful dialogue, critical reflection, and the ability to listen to different perspectives are central to classroom practice. Restorative circles offer teachers a powerful method for guiding discussions on social and ethical issues, while helping students practise empathy, responsibility, mutual respect, and constructive disagreement.
The training also placed strong emphasis on inclusion, intercultural dialogue, and the creation of supportive learning communities. These elements reflect the broader aims of Malta’s National Education Strategy 2024–2030, particularly its focus on wellbeing, equity and inclusion, and the growth and empowerment of both learners and educators. By investing in teacher development and promoting practices that nurture respectful, reflective, and inclusive classrooms, the initiative contributes directly to the national vision of a more person-centred and future-oriented education system.
Nicole Caruana and Charlene Farrugia teach Ethics across the primary schools of Żurrieq, Ħal Safi, Ħal Għaxaq, Mqabba, and Gudja. Their participation in this Erasmus+ supported training will further enrich classroom practice by bringing restorative approaches into the teaching of Ethics, supporting students not only in understanding moral concepts, but also in living them through dialogue, empathy, and responsible action. The insights gained from this experience will also contribute to the further development of the pedagogical toolkits of the wider Ethics teacher community, strengthening shared practice across the subject as a whole, through future Professional Development Sessions.
Mr. Roger Tirazona
B.Psy (Melit.), P.G.Cert PSCD (Melit.), P.G.Cert Bioethics (Melit.), M.Ed Teaching of Ethics (Melit.)
Head of Department – Ethics Education
