The aim of this study was to ascertain the root causes of absenteeism among children of the rural poor in one hundred Jamaican primary schools in which absenteeism was most problematic. The research utilized a mixed methods approach and involved transforming qualitative data into quantitative data and generating descriptive statistics. Focus group interviews were utilized to collect data from school and community members and involved 165 children, ranging in age from 7 to 12.

This study presents the perceptions of three beginning teachers about their experiences as they implement the Revised Primary Curriculum at grades one to three in Jamaican classrooms. The study documents the beginning teachers’ views on their ability to interpret and enact the curriculum using knowledge from their teacher training programmes.

The mediocre performance of students in the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) examinations, particularly in mathematics, raises the question whether private/public tutoring – more popularly termed in Jamaica, extra lessons – can improve academic performance in secondary education. The 2009 Jamaican Survey on Living Conditions revealed that extra lessons are the third highest expense in household education expenditures, after transportation and lunches.

The problem of underperforming schools has been a feature of the educational landscape of Jamaica for decades. The scientific literature on school leadership is consistent in the view that the quality of leadership is one of the two most critical factors in determining the performance of a school. This study seeks to explore what specific elements of leadership were responsible for the turnaround that two non-traditional high schools in Jamaica have experienced. The study found six themes in the strategies which were used by the principals to realize turnaround in their schools. 

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) involves the enhancement of knowledge, development of skills, clarification of values and attitudes, and promotion of behaviour for the sustainability of the Earth’s social, economic, and natural systems. Ultimately, ESD is about values, with respect for self, others, and the natural world centralized to ensure equity within and between generations and care for the natural world upon which humankind depends.

The research sought to determine the relationship between adolescent aggression, parenting style and family union. The sample consisted of 200 students attending technical high, newly upgraded high and traditional high schools within an urban inner city community located in the Kingston Metropolitan Region. The participants responded to a questionnaire that addressed their behaviour, behaviour directed towards them, their relationship with their parents, their parents show of affection towards them, the parenting style of their parents and the family structure in which they lived.

Renewed international interest in Writing across the Curriculum (WAC) is testimony to a growing acknowledgement that writing plays an important role in all areas of the curriculum. However, not enough atention has been paid to the workplace where the writing skills of students find final application.

Renewed international interest in Writing across the Curriculum (WAC) is testimony to a growing acknowledgement that writing plays an important role in all areas of the curriculum. However, not enough atention has been paid to the workplace where the writing skills of students find final application. This paper describes research that explores the role and status of writing in the workplace in a developing country.

There are misconceptions in some quarters that tools used by medical doctors are solely mechanical, and that if students who pursue studies in Medical Sciences obtain mastery in the process of elimination and apply this to their multiple-choice examinations they are likely to succeed. However, these are limited views of such professionals and students. In order to be successful, practising and prospective medical doctors, like their counterparts in different fields, utilize other tools in their professional, academic and private endeavours. One such tool is writing.

The philosophical issues relating to liberation as social and political ideal are logical, epistemological, metaphysical, existential and ethical. The question, “what is liberation?” is a logical question because it raises the issue of meaning and the type of reasoning that is unique to liberation discourse.