Associate Professor, Faculty of Education
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
1996 PhD (cum laude) (Royal Victoria University, Manchester, UK)
1990 M.A. (Ed. Psych) (McGill University, Montreal, Canada)(Dean’s Honors List)
1987 B.Ed. (Hons.) (University of Malta) (First Class)
AWARDS
1988-1990 Commonwealth Scholar at McGill University, Montreal
1993-1996 University of Malta Scholarship
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
July 2007 – May 2015 Dean, Faculty of Education
Dec 2004 – May 2011 Head of Department (Dept of Primary Education, Faculty of Education)
2007 – Associate Professor
2001 – 2007 Senior Lecturer
1996 – 2001 Lecturer: Department of Primary Education, Faculty of Education. Responsible for setting up and developing the Early Childhood Education programme within the Department of Primary Education.
1991-1996 Assistant Lecturer
1987-1988 Qualified Primary school teacher (5-6 year olds)
1982-1987 Student teacher (six month sessions in each of 5 years) KG, 5 to 8 year olds
Research interest: Early Childhood Education & Care, Early Years Policy, Language & Literacy development in early years
- Sollars, V. (2016). Parents expectations about early years services (in print), Early Years: an international journal.
- Sollars, V. (2014). The early years learning outcomes: An implementation strategy. Floriana: Ministry for Education & Employment
- Sollars, V. (2013). Early childhood education and care in Malta. The way forward. Floriana: Ministry for Education & Employment
- Ministry of Education, Employment & the Family (2011). Section 1: The Early Years. In Towards a quality framework for all. The National Curriculum Framework 2011. Consultation Document 3. The three cycles: the Early Years, the Primary years, the Secondary Years (p. 11-28). Floriana: MEEF
- Sollars, V. (2010). Social and emotional competence: Are preventive programmes necessary in early childhood education and care? The
International Journal of Emotional Education, 2(1), 49-60 - Sollars, V. (2008). Children’s Issues in Malta. In Epstein, I. & Limage, L. (eds.). The Grenwood Encyclopaedia of Children’s issues worldwide: Europe (pp. 275- 299). Westport: The Greenwood Press
- Sollars, V. & Camilleri, M. (2007). Partnership of Universities and Schools. A model of systematic professional induction of teachers. In Professional inductions of teachers in Europe and elsewhere (Milena Valenčič Zuljan & Janez Vogrinc , Eds.) (pp. 65-72). Ljubljana: Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana
- Sollars, V. (2007). Writing experiences in a second/foreign language classroom: from theory to practice. In M. Camilleri (ed.). “BLOGS: Web
journals in foreign language education”. Strasboug: Council of Europe - Sollars, V. (2007). Systems of early education/care and professionalisation in Malta. Report commissioned by the State Institute of Early Childhood Research (IFP), Munich, Germany. SEEPRO, Munich. Project funded by a research grant awarded by the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women & Youth (2006-2008)). Available at: http://www.ifp.bayern.de/imperia/md/content/stmas/ifp/commissioned_report_malta.pdf
- Camilleri Grima, A. & Sollars, V. (2006). Intercultural competence and communication: Perspectives and activities. Malta: PEG
- Aulls, M. W., & Sollars, V. (2003). The differential influences of the home environment on the reading ability of children entering grade one. Reading Improvement, 1(39), 1-15
- Sollars,V. (2003) Constructing a Curriculum for Early Childhood Education in Malta – The value of play for learning. Care Play and Learning. Curricula for Early Childhood Education. Researching Early Childhood, 5, pp 161-178. Early Childhood Research and Development Centre, Göteborg University