Charmaine Bonello

Within the global context of concern about ‘boys’ underachievement’, this article highlights sections of my doctoral study where I investigated the reading and writing experiences of five- to six-year-old boys in three Maltese state schools. The purpose of this enquiry was not to solve the widely discussed phenomenon of ‘boys’ underachievement’ but rather to create new understandings related to the concepts of ‘boys’ underachievement’, ‘early literacy learning’ and ‘school readiness’ in a Maltese context through a mixed methods phenomenological research investigation. Young boys’ voices, several stakeholders’ perspectives and the lived experience of three groups of five- to six-year-old boys during schooled reading and writing practices were investigated through an online questionnaire, classroom observations, individual interviews, and focus groups. This article presents the core findings which suggest that the three main concepts explored were inclined to biased and constricted worldviews that resulted in the majority of the young boys experiencing undesirable reading and writing practices. Subsequently, the overall conclusion implies the risk of a ‘paradigm paralysis’ in the fields of gender, literacy, and early years education in the local context, and offers new conceptualisations towards an educational response.

The world is currently experiencing the unimaginable impact of a pandemic. From one day to the other, academics at the University of Malta were forced to shift to working remotely as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Maltese islands. This paper uncovers the lived shared experiences of eight female academics (authors of this paper) who, despite the perceived challenges, considered it also as an opportunity to explore how to conduct research together through online collaboration. This paper thus presents a qualitative study grounded in a narrative inquiry of this collective experience. The collaborative work is informed by: social learning theories influenced by Vygostky; elements from feminist thinking; and literature on collaborative research, online collaboration and academic identity. Our recorded views, as participant-researchers and part of the narrative inquiry, focus on the birth and growth of what we now refer to as the ‘Early Childhood and Primary Education (ECPE) research team’. A thematic analysis of the accounts on our experiences have led to the development of a six-tier framework, the ‘SKRIPT’ framework, for collaborative work in academia. The progressive six concepts identified refer to trust, philosophy, identity, relationships, knowledge and skills. They underpin the inception and course of our online collaborative research experience. The shared stories from which the framework emerged, aim to inspire and encourage other academics to be part of research teams and share their ‘SKRIPT’ of collaborative experiences within online spaces and beyond. Implications for future research are discussed.