Before embarking on the substance of my presentation, some background information on St. Kitts & Nevis may be instructive and insightful. 
St. Kitts & Nevis has a population of about 42,000 people and it is the last of OECS countries to achieve political independence. 
We have a student population in the region of 11,000 in the primary and secondary school system. More than 1/3 of our population is of school going age.

The Institute of Education Annual is a fully refereed publication of the Institute of Education on the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies and is a vehicle for the dissemination of the department's research and development. This, the fourth issue, appears after an absence of two years and commemorates the establishment of the Institute forty years ago. The title Perspectives on Education in the Caribbean has been selected because the papers discuss situations and developments in several Caribbean states.

This collaborative action research study examined the development of critical thinking when the See, Think, Wonder thinking routine was implemented in a preschool classroom. One preschool teacher undertook this research with 13 preschoolers (aged 3-4 years). The thinking routine was conducted as an in-depth group discussion during circle time. The data collection for the research included field notes, vignettes and document analysis. The results indicated that the routine promoted critical thinking skills in preschool aged children.

The issue of single-sex versus coeducational schooling has from time to time occupied the attention of educators and policy makers in various countries, including Jamaica and other countries of the Carib bean. Proponents of one type of schooling or the other cite a variety of reasons for their preference, ranging from the social, emotional, and developmental outcomes for boys and girls, to superior academic achievement in one type of school versus the other.

The Youth Development Programme of the YMCA in Kingston, Jamaica, has been successful in delivering remedial and continuing education to at-risk boys who have dropped out of the formal school system. What is particularly remarkable about this two-year programme is the very low dropout rate and very high rate of completion among boys who had dropped out of the formal school system. The clear implication is that the YMCA programme has been able to address the needs and aspirations of 12- to 14-year-old boys in ways that the schools have not.

This paper positions children's literature within the context of the Jamaican language situation and explores ways of effectively involving children's literature in an integrated curriculum.

The editor of the Jamaica Journal of Education and Teachers' Aid, in an issue published in August 1909, included the story of a certain squire who had violent objections to anyone invading his pew. On one occasion, at the conclusion of a service, he went to the vicar and complained bitterly of a stranger who had unknowingly intruded. It was a very large pew and the only occupants had been the squire and the unwelcome visitor.

This third issue of the Institute of Education Annual addresses themes related to the curriculum, the school context, and gender. The first article is an adaptation of a paper presented by Ruby King at the Forum on Education: Violence in Our Schools, sponsored by the School of Education, UWI, Mona. In examining the role of the school and society in combating violence, King begins with a historical look at violence in Jamaican society at the time when the first elementary schools were established.