Teacher Education and Training Policies in the Commonwealth Caribbean

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  • Teacher Education and Training Policies in the Commonwealth Caribbean
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 In Teacher Training: A Contribution to Discussion on Some Country Experiences. UNESCO/OREALC Santiago, Chile: 2002. Pp 15 – 32

This Chapter defines the Commonwealth Caribbean historically, linguistically, geographically and culturally and discusses and clarifies the fact Commonwealth Caribbean practice does not fit neatly into the association of pre-service teacher education with formal teacher training and in-service teacher education with non-formal on the job training. It proceeds to briefly describe the historical pattern of teacher education in the sub-region between the 1830 and the 1950s. It also gives are a brief description of developments in teacher education in response to the transformation of national systems of education in relation to political independence development between the 1850s and 1980s. These developments in teacher education included building capacity, quantitative expansion, qualitative improvements and changes in the modes of delivery of education and training.

While these developments were impressive there was no celebration because of new imperatives that required an urgent response. These imperatives included a decline in the status of teachers, shrinking resources, the rapid rise of globalization, the spread of democracy and greater economic and cultural ties between countries in the region.

The teacher education and training policies that emerged in the Commonwealth Caribbean in the 1990s are described and discussed under four heading:

  • Upgrading the academic and professional standards of pre-service programmes
  • In-service training to support the education reform agenda
  • The integration of pre-service and in-service training
  • Upgrading teacher trainers.
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Successful Innovations in Caribbean Education.

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Successful Innovations in Caribbean Education

Successful Innovations in Caribbean Education. In, Education for the Twenty-First Century: Issues and Prospects. Editor Jacques Delors. 1998: UNESCO Paris describes innovations in the Commonwealth Caribbean and Dutch-speaking Caribbean in the second half of the 20th century. As background this Chapter places Caribbean education in historical and global contexts with respect to provision, participation, and performance.

Historical Context and Global Comparisons

A central point of the Chapter is that several Caribbean countries have schools that have operated continuously for more than 200 years, as a result, most students and parents place a high value on education and demand that education credentials can be negotiated internationally. Also, that the performance of Caribbean countries overlaps significantly with industrialized countries on basic human needs indicators despite the disparities of per capita GDP. Empirical evidence to support this argument is presented by comparisons of the ranking of education indicators of Caribbean countries and industrialized countries on the UN Development index of 1993; of Caribbean countries ranking of the 127 developing countries of the 1993 UNESCO Index tracking progress with respect to provision, participation and performance toward Education for All; and literacy rates of population of industrialized countries and Caribbean countries.

Caribbean Innovations in Education

The drivers for Caribbean innovations in education are identified as the demand of students and parents that Caribbean education credentials be internationally negotiable and participation in Caribbean education for reasons of upward social mobility and escape from persistent poverty.

The list of successfully Innovations in Caribbean Education described and discussed are:

  • School-based Management and democratization of School Boards in Jamaica
  • Early Childhood education across the Caribbean sub-region
  • The inclusion of Caribbean Content in the Curriculum
  • Innovation in First Language Education in the Dutch Caribbean
  • Comprehensive Secondary Education in St Kitts and Nevis
  • Caribbean Education Council (CXC) Common Exit Standards for High Schools
  • Regional Cooperation in Teacher Education
  • Community Colleges
  • Innovation in University Education: The University of the West Indies
  • Non-Formal Education Programs:
  1. SERVOL: Adolescent Development Programme, Trinidad and Tobago
  2. JAMAL: Adult Literacy Programme Jamaica
  3. HEART/NTA Jamaica

 

 

Editors:
Jacques Delors

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Out of School Youth

A Review of Jamaican Studies.

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This Chapter reviews 26 empirical studies, done between 1980 and 2004, focused on Out of School Youths in Jamaica. The areas covered by these studies were:

Determinants of Schooling in Jamaica and Dropout

Formal and Non-formal education programs for out of school youths

Drug Usage and Abuse

Youths and the Labor Market

Adolescent Sexuality and Fertility

Street Children and programs and projects addressing some of their needs

The author makes comments on each set of studies but takes a particular interest of the findings of studies done in vocational training as well as findings on gender patterns which are not consistent with conventional patterns and seem to operate in reverse at the top and bottom of the social hierarchy of Jamaican society. Miller claims that the gender patterns found are consistent with the analysis of Jamaican society from the perspective of the Theory of Place.

(1999) In Caribbean Adolescents and Youth: Contemporary Issues in Personality Development and Behaviour. Editor Arthur G. Richardson. Caribbean Diaspora Press Inc. Brooklyn, New York. Pp 189-229

Publisher: Caribbean Diaspora Press Inc.
Editors:
Arthur G. Richardson

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Access to Tertiary Education in the Commonwealth Caribbean in the 1990s

Access to Tertiary Education in the Commonwealth Caribbean in the 1990s: In, Higher Education in the Caribbean: Past, Present, and Future Direction: 2000. Editor, Glenford Howe. University of the West Indies Press. Kingston. Pages 117-141.

Access to Tertiary Education in the Commonwealth Caribbean in the 1990s essentially documented the status of tertiary education as it existed in the Commonwealth Caribbean following the CARICOM Prime Minister’s Conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica in 1997 which set goals for tertiary education in the sub-region that were to be achieved by 2015. As such it provides a broad baseline against which the development of tertiary education in the 21st century in the Commonwealth Caribbean can be assessed.

As background, the Chapter differentiates tertiary education from adult education; gives a brief outline of the history of schooling generally; compares the provision of tertiary education in the British West Indian colonies to those of the North American Colonies and with the provision of basic education; briefly describes the development of tertiary education in the Commonwealth Caribbean from the 1940s to the late 1990s in relation to types of tertiary institutions and in relation to the expansion of secondary education that took place beginning in the 1950s.

Using empirical data from studies and official reports, the Chapter discusses enrolment in tertiary education in the various countries of the sub-region and in the regional University of the West Indies. Some comparisons are made between levels of enrolment in tertiary education in the Commonwealth Caribbean and several Countries of Latin America.

Relying on official reports of visas granted by the United States and Canada to Commonwealth Caribbean nationals to study in tertiary institutions, the Chapter discusses access to tertiary education in those countries with policies favoring educated migrants. Comparisons are made with respect to numbers of students from different Commonwealth Caribbean countries as well as their level of success as measured by graduation.

The major portion of the Chapter is devoted to empirical data and discussion of issues related to equity and access to tertiary education in the Commonwealth Caribbean. The issues discussed are Cost and Affordability; Social Class; Race and Colour; Location and Residence and Gender.

 

 

 

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Publisher: University of the West Indies Press
Editors:
Glenford Howe

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Gender, Power and Politics

An alternate Perspective

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Gender Power and Politics: An Alternative Perspective

Gender Power and Politics: An Alternative Perspective addressed the question: why are Parliaments in Western liberal democracies, and many new nations practicing democratic governance, predominantly male after all women have had the right to vote for over 70 years and constitute at least 50 percent of electorates? The position taken is that to unravel this conundrum is it necessary to go beyond empirical data and reconceptualize gender and patriarchy and their relation to power and politics.

Accordingly, this Chapter does the following:

  • Review relevant studies done by a spectrum of scholars
  • Offer alternative definitions of both patriarchy and gender
  • Trace the ethnic origins of nation-states

Describes the transformation of patriarchy in modern societies through two main processes: a partnership between men and women of ethnic groups holding an advantage in their competition with other groups in nations and the exclusion of most men of groups that are disadvantaged from material advancement with the effect of reversing patriarchal norms in those groups.

Discusses the interaction between gender and other axes of inequality in society drawing examples from manhood suffrage in the United States in the 19th century as well as woman suffrage between Seneca Falls and 1919, and the gender composition of Soviets of the Soviet Union compared to the gender composition of elected bodies after the transformation of Russia to a market economy and multi-party politics.

Concludes with a general discussion of the question initially posed considering the alternative perspectives that were presented and argued.

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Publisher: Sage Publications
Editors:
Dan Smith, Inger Skjelsbaek

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