Jamaican Teachers Jamaican Schools

Nowhere is teachers’ lives and work more challenging than in Jamaican schools. Teachers in Jamaica are regularly faced with limited resources and challenging students. Teacher pay has been historically low and current conditions continue a long tradition of providing minimal compensation for teachers’ work. Recent school reform efforts has been successful in producing a teaching force that is better educated than ever before, and yet, teachers are seldom given the autonomy in decision-making and/or respect that accompanies the work of comparable professions. Coupled with these issues, teachers regularly face hunger, poverty, behavioral issues and a lack of parental support as part and parcel of their experience in 21st century schools. If teachers are perceived as having low professional status, it is not surprising that they are often blamed for the shortcomings of Jamaican schools. The citizens of Jamaica are firmly committed to the notion that “every child can learn, every child must learn;” however, the reality is that while all children can learn, many children do not learn in this country where the allocation of resources favors the rich and disowns the poor. Public schools in Jamaica vary tremendously across the fourteen parishes. Geography and social class regularly determine both the context and circumstances of teachers’ work, and yet, discussions of teachers seldom acknowledge the differences. There is a place for a more in-depth examination of teachers’ work and teachers’ lives in Jamaica where a consideration of the emergence of teacher leadership and higher professional status can intersect with a vision of new roles and responsibilities for teachers. While many of the reports on Jamaican education consider the role of administrative leaders, there is an absence of any discussion of the role of teacher leaders is school reform. It is interesting that a country can advocate for higher levels of teacher preparation and an upgrading of the professional status of teachers, and yet, ignore the potential power of teachers as major actors directing efforts to reform the schools. Teachers acting as leaders, in a profession dominated by women, would challenge the status quo and usurp preconceived notions regarding the work of teachers. In this book, 21st century descriptions of teachers’ lives and work will accompany a consideration of how the transformation of the teaching profession could positively impact both schools and classrooms across the island.

Nowhere is teachers' lives and work more challenging than in Jamaican schools. Teachers in Jamaica are regularly faced with limited resources and challenging students. Teacher pay has been historically low and current conditions continue a long tradition of providing minimal compensation for teachers' work. Recent school reform efforts has been successful in producing a teaching force that is better educated than ever before, and yet, teachers are seldom given the autonomy in decision-making and/or respect that accompanies the work of comparable professions. Coupled with these issues, teachers regularly face hunger, poverty, behavioral issues and a lack of parental support as part and parcel of their experience in 21st century schools. If teachers are perceived as having low professional status, it is not surprising that they are often blamed for the shortcomings of Jamaican schools. The citizens of Jamaica are firmly committed to the notion that "every child can learn, every child must learn;" however, the reality is that while all children can learn, many children do not learn in this country where the allocation of resources favors the rich and disowns the poor. Public schools in Jamaica vary tremendously across the fourteen parishes. Geography and social class regularly determine both the context and circumstances of teachers' work, and yet, discussions of teachers seldom acknowledge the differences. There is a place for a more in-depth examination of teachers' work and teachers' lives in Jamaica where a consideration of the emergence of teacher leadership and higher professional status can intersect with a vision of new roles and responsibilities for teachers. While many of the reports on Jamaican education consider the role of administrative leaders, there is an absence of any discussion of the role of teacher leaders is school reform. It is interesting that a country can advocate for higher levels of teacher preparation and an upgrading of the professional status of teachers, and yet, ignore the potential power of teachers as major actors directing efforts to reform the schools. Teachers acting as leaders, in a profession dominated by women, would challenge the status quo and usurp preconceived notions regarding the work of teachers. In this book, 21st century descriptions of teachers' lives and work will accompany a consideration of how the transformation of the teaching profession could positively impact both schools and classrooms across the island.

Students and teachers of education in the Caribbean have long relied on ethnographic research from North America to enrich their understanding of life in schools and classrooms. Based on actual experiences from the perspectives of both students and teachers, this collection of ethnographic research articles provides the first up-close view of Jamaican schools and classrooms. Hyacinth Evans and her research team used careful, well-executed interviews and participant observation methods. The result is an insightful view of the ways society's tensions are played out in educational settings, the ways personalities are shaped and identities formed in face-to-face interactions, and the ways circumstances and experiences in the Jamaican setting affect teaching and learning. The articles examine - Student-teacher interaction - Teacher authority - how it is maintained, nurtured, or eroded - The social construction of student interest and attention versus disruptiveness and apathy - Consequences of streaming children in perceived ability groups - Standard Jamaican English (SJE) methods and their effectiveness in teaching Creole-speaking students - Teaching and learning in schools where mater

This book offers first-person narratives of teachers’ curriculum encounters. The reflections of teachers are presented using Pinar’s Method of Currere as a tool for undertaking deep analysis of teachers’ curriculum encounters. The Method of Currere allows teachers to embody curriculum in all its forms, allowing for reflection on encounters in the formal, informal, hidden curriculum and beyond. The book aims to provide readers with a broad understanding of curriculum as the lived experience encapsulating the educational, personal, and professional life of the teacher. In this way teachers are able to trace and make sense of the development of their knowledge and make changes that lead to the continuous offering of quality education. The book will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners involved in curriculum studies, teacher education/training, teaching, and general education.

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Psychology - Social Psychology, grade: 2:1, University of Derby, course: Bachelors (hons) Psychology, language: English, abstract: This qualitative interpretive phenomenological study uses semi-structured interviews from 5 Jamaican teachers to investigate their experiences of control in the classroom. Since 2005 the Ministry of Education in Jamaica prohibited the use of corporal punishment (CP) in early childhood settings but there is research to show that children are still receiving physical punishment and teachers have been reported to still be using CP in schools. Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis across all 5 participants revealed a strong influence of cultural norms that encourages the use of CP, a lack of support from the Jamaican Teachers Association and the Ministry of Education, ineffective teacher training courses and lack of support from the community causing these teachers to still rely on CP, for want of a better solutions. In light of these findings, this study hopes to provide insight for education policy makers to provide effective classroom management modules at Teacher Training College, introduction of school intervention programmes, parenting programmes and to better support its teachers to eliminate the use of CP across Jamaica, not just in schools alone.

This study explores the hypotheses that stress is: 1. Common to every teacher in one school or another 2. Teachers in the United Kingdom now perceive greater stress than teachers in Jamaica 3. Teachers experience stress for different reasons 4. The occurrence of stress has a negative effect on teaching A comparative study was undertaken of the degree of stress in Jamaica and the UK. This was attempted through the descriptive methodology of questionnaires.

Master's Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Pedagogy - School System, Educational and School Politics, grade: 72.00, Roehampton University London (Laureate), course: Master of Arts in Inclusive and Special Education, language: English, abstract: This study should bring awareness to the Ministry of Education and Teacher Training Colleges that traditional lecture style training without relevant practicum may be preventing the facilitation of inclusion. Despite Jamaica's Ministry of Education having established an inclusive education policy in 2008, the majority of children with special needs are kept at home. With very little inclusion in schools and segregation of students with special needs (SWSN), teachers in Jamaica have not experienced inclusion and do not feel adequately equipped to facilitate it. Literature shows that teachers with experience only in traditional classrooms, and no exposure to diverse students are likely to be resistant to, or unable to, implement inclusion. Teachers also tend to implement inclusive teaching methods and adopt better attitudes after hands-on experience, modelling with a co-teacher. Five teachers participated in a 2-week training condition, each teacher was provided with an inclusive classroom and an experienced inclusive teacher (mentor). The first week the teacher is assisting the mentor, the second week the mentor assists the teacher with lesson planning and teaching. Teachers were given 2 self-rating questionnaires before and after training to measure whether their attitudes and self-efficacy improved and whether a direct measure of attitude and self-efficacy towards inclusion could be predicted after training. Another questionnaire was given 2 weeks after training that measured the potential success of training through implementation. Using paired sample t-tests for both attitude and self-efficacy scores it was found that all 5 teachers could be predicted to show an increase in both attitude and self-efficacy scores after training. It was also found using independent sample means tests that teachers without any previous experience teaching SWSN gained a larger difference in attitudes compared to teachers who already had experience however there was no difference in gains in self-efficacy.