The Caribbean Journal of Education (CJE) celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. To commemorate this achievement we have produced this special CJE anniversary issue devoted to reflecting on and reviewing the major themes that have recurred over the 35 years of the Journal’s existence. We look back in order to deter mine the future development of the Journal.

The primary goal of teacher preparation programmes is to enable prospective teachers to develop the capacity and capability to support schools in the important mission of developing children and optimizing their learning outcomes. It is often assumed that the “trained” teacher will possess the skills to achieve this goal by the end of the pre-service training experience. This has been a very controversial topic in teacher education literature.

The Jamaican education system is currently on a path of transformation. As outlined in the recommendations of the Task Force on Educational Reform (2004) report, it is envisaged that by 2015 significant progress will be made in student performance and the education system as a whole. One important plank of this process is the decentralization of the education system. With decentralization being implemented in the health sector and in particular the Ministry of Health (MOH) since 1998 and Local Government since 1994, what lessons can be learned from their experiences?

The Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in Jamaica is administered to students in the year in which they are expected to conclude their primary education. It assesses students for placement in secondary schools, where they are expected to continue their education by building on the foundation that they received at the primary level.

This paper examines different models and theories of leadership with a view to discerning relevance, meaning and applicability to St. Lucia. It reviews the evolution and distinguishing features of leadership and compares selected models in order to determine their significance to the St. Lucia context of achieving quality schooling.

This paper reports on the development of an observation instrument that is designed to assess teachers of language and literacy in the Caribbean, and to provide an avenue for feedback to these teachers. The instrument contains four broad dimensions (planning, execution, classroom environment, and reflection), each with several items that are based on literature in the field, and validated by literacy professionals in the Caribbean. The items on the instrument were piloted across the region and modified before the final version was produced.

This multi-case ethnographic study examined the gender beliefs of two teachers and 12 parents and the gender identity of thirty 8- to 10- year-old boys in two primary schools in Jamaica. The study was conducted against the background of gross underachievement among Jamaican boys and the research literature pointing to gender socialization as a factor in the declining results and interest in academic studies. Through 10 weeks of observations, interviews and focus group discussions, answers were sought for the following questions: 
1. What beliefs do teachers hold about gender? 

There have been concerns among Jamaican scholars that students' role models (RMs) contribute to gender differences in academic functioning in Jamaica. The current study empirically investigated gender differences in the RMs of 269 fifth form traditional high school students in Jamaica and relations between RM choice and academic attitudes, goals and achievement. Using mixed qualitative/quantitative research methods, nine categories of RMs emerged. Consistent with international research findings, parents were by far the most frequently selected RMs.

Violence, in all its forms, is associated with hierarchies of power in human relationships which result from divisions based on social organizing structures such as gender, race and class. In most societies, violence is commonly associated with power inequality in relations of gender and with a “normalized” hegemonic masculinity in which, according to Mills (2001) “…boys’ and men’s identities are entwined with their abilities to demonstrate their power over girls and women and also over other boys and men.”

Situated within the global discourse on gender equity and justice in education systems and implications for student development, this article explores students’ perceptions of fairness within the school environments of four selected Caribbean countries: Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. Through the use of content analysis, essays completed by grade nine/fourth form students from 39 schools across the countries under investigation are analysed to determine the extent to which students feel they are fairly treated at their institutions.