Throughout the English-speaking Caribbean compulsory public education is viewed as "good" and a "given”. This paper suggests that the concept is, in fact, problematic. Argument is produced to support such a philosophical position.

Introduction 

This case study and critique focuses on the implications of reflective practice for the professional development of Caribbean educators. The main assumptions and principles of the democratizing potential of reflective practice are outlined and some critiques briefly reviewed. An overview of international and regional commentary on teacher professional development programmes is followed by a short description of an action research project which utilized the reflective approach to the professional development of multiculturalism and the teaching of history.

Introduction 

Introduction and Purpose 

In the Commonwealth Caribbean, on average, girls start schooling Learlier, attend school more regularly, repeat fewer grades, are less likely to drop out and therefore stay in school longer, and achieve higher standards of educational performance than boys. In the adult population more women are literate than men. Girls are more highly represented in those sections of the secondary and tertiary levels of the education system which enhance the prospects of upward social mobility. In a real sense girls and women constitute the first sex in Caribbean education.

In democracy "Athenian style" the sovereign authority lay with the people. This paper argues that genuine educational democratization may need such a framework. The arguments are presented in three parts. Part I examines the traditional conceptualization and its inherent weaknesses. Part 2 focuses on factors which I think should influence any reconceptualization. Part 3 outlines some principles of educational democratization to meet the goals of relevance for the 21st century: better value for money; internal consistency; and diffuse, open, and planned decision making.

In the Caribbean, as distinct from many other developing regions of the Iworld, the reform ferment of the 1990s in education has been characterized, first, by the focus on enhancing quality and equity rather than on access per se, and second, by the markedly more participatory nature of the reform initiative. This issue of Caribbean Journal of Education examines these important attributes, focusing on the conceptual issues in the democratization of education in the region.

The complex nature of classroom life requires the teacher to take on a multiplicity of roles, among them that of curriculum planner. This unique professional role requires the teacher not only to select curriculum content and materials to be used in the classroom, but select and use appropriate strategies to help students learn. Skills in planning for effective instruction must therefore form a part of the teacher's repertoire.