Journal Of Education Development In The Caribbean

This book brings together leading scholars of Caribbean education from around the world. Schooling continues to hold a special place both as a means to achieve social mobility and as a mechanism for supporting the economy of Caribbean nations. In this book, the Caribbean includes the Greater and Lesser Antilles. The Greater Antilles is made up of the five larger islands (and six countries) of the northern Caribbean, including the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, and Jamaica. The Lesser Antilles includes the Windward and Leeward Islands which are inclusive of Barbados, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago along with several other islands. Each chapter provides a unique perspective on the various social and cultural issues that define Caribbean education and schooling. The Handbook on Caribbean Education fills a void in the literature and documents the important research being done throughout the Caribbean. Creating a space where Caribbean voices are a part of “international” discussions about 21st century global matters and concerns is an important contribution of this work.

"Higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean has expanded dramatically in the past 15 years, as the average gross enrollment rate has more than doubled, and many new institutions and programs have been opened. Although higher education access has become more equitable, and higher education supply has become more varied, many of the 'new' students in the system are, on average, less academically ready than are their more advantaged counterparts. Furthermore, only half of higher education students, on average, complete their degree, and labor market returns to higher education vary greatly across institutions and programs. Thus, higher education is at a crossroads today. Given the region's urgency to raise productivity in a low-growth, fiscally constrained environment, going past this crossroads requires the formation of skilled human capital fast and efficiently. 'At a Crossroads: Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean' contributes to the discussion by studying quality, variety, and equity of higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean. The book presents comprehensive evidence on the recent higher education expansion and evolution of higher education labor market returns. Using novel data and state-of-the-art methods, it studies demand and supply drivers of the recent expansion. It investigates the behavior of institutions and students and explores the unintended consequences of large-scale higher education policies. Framing the analysis are the singular characteristics of the higher education market and the market segmentation induced by the variety of students and institutions in the system. At this crossroads, a role emerges for incentives, information, accountability, and choice."

This book offers an international perspective of philosophical, conceptual and praxis-oriented issues that impinge on achieving education for all students. It sheds light on the historical, systemic, structural, organizational, and attitudinal barriers that continue to be antithetical to the philosophy and practice of inclusive education within the Caribbean. The first section of the book examines how globalized views of inclusion informed by philosophical ideas from the North have influenced and continue to influence the equity in education agenda in the region. The second section considers how exclusion and marginalization still occur across selected Caribbean islands. It provides both quantitative and qualitative data about the nature and experience of exclusion in selected Caribbean islands, the UK and USA. The third section tackles the practical realities of transforming education systems in the Caribbean for inclusion. In particular, it identifies teacher practices as the main site of interrogation that needs to be tackled if inclusion is to be successful. The fourth and final section examines the contribution of principals and exemplars to the development and advocacy for inclusive education. It discusses how educational leadership is understood, as well as the role of school principals in making inclusion a reality in schools, the challenges experienced and the qualities of education leaders.

Caribbean Discourse in Inclusive Education is an edited book series that aims to give voice to Caribbean scholars, practitioners, and other professionals working in diverse classrooms. The book series is intended to provide an ongoing forum for Caribbean researchers, practitioners, and academics, including those of the Diaspora, to critically examine issues that influence the education of children within inclusive settings. The book series is visionary, timely, authoritative and presents pioneering work in the area of inclusive education in the Caribbean, as part of the broader South?South dialogue. It is essential reading for students in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, scholars, teachers, researchers and policy makers at the regional and international level. The first book in this series entitled Historical and Contemporary Issues will trace the history and examine the Caribbean’s trajectory towards the development of inclusive education in the 21st Century. The main premise of the book is that inclusion remains an ideologically sound goal, which remains elusive in the Caribbean. It will also provide a wider platform to discuss other factors that influence the development of inclusive education such as school climate, culture and ethos, LGBT issues, teacher training and professional development, pedagogy, pupil perspective, curriculum, policy and legislation.

This book explores narratives from teacher educators working in university settings in the Caribbean. In the field of teacher education, there has been insufficient focus on teacher educators—those who design and implement teacher education. Using case studies and student voices, this book provides new insights into the work, lives, and identity formation of these practitioners. In doing so, it fills a gap in the literature on teacher educators’ professional practice by bringing to the fore elements of that practice that are usually invisible or taken for granted by administrators, employers, policy makers, and indeed, the practitioners themselves.