Brown, Monica, ed. 2000. Dimensions of teaching and learning: The Caribbean experience. Kingston: Institute of Education, UWI, Mona.

This collection of articles is based on research carried out by nine Caribbean educators, whose thinking has been influenced by recent developments in education in English-speaking Caribbean countries. With limited facilities and outdated technology usually, teachers often experience significant challenges in providing an environment conducive to learning. Inadequate pedagogical skills to deal with disinterested, unmotivated, or very bright students are another reality. Informal influences affecting how Jamaican teachers teach are also factors that may inhibit adoption of recommended, but unfamiliar, teaching methods.

Within that context, the focus of the articles is on two themes: teacher preparation and delivering the curriculum subjects. The authors see the need for new and improved approaches to teaching and learning if the educational reforms are to have the desired impact. The overall conclusion is that teacher educators need to increase the effectiveness of teachers graduating from training college programmes by doing more to

· Help new students articulate and examine the preconceptions they formed before entry into the college programme

· Teach/demonstrate theory and subject content in relation to desirable practices in real-life classroom situations

· Participate in developing and implementing a planned programme to provide new graduates with systematic and sustained guidance during the induction phase of their teaching careers

Finally, the need for further research on each phase of the learning-to-teach continuum is discussed.