This paper presents aspects of the acquisition of the determiner systems of Jamaican Creole (JC) and Jamaican English (JE) used by Jamaican children from Creole-speaking communities in their first year of basic school. It shows that mixing within the Determiner Phrase of the native language—JC, with the second language—JE, is highly systematic, and suggests ways in which the language and literacy teacher may capitalize on this.

Jamaican Creole (JC) and Standard Jamaican English (SJE) are the two dominant languages in Jamaica but they do not function equally in certain contexts. In public formal domains, the use of JC is limited since most information from the state is disseminated to the public in English. When JC is used in such contexts traditionally reserved for English, linguistic gatekeepers such as teachers and service representatives (SRs), use corrective gate-keeping practices to repair the speech of their interlocutors.

The articles which form part of this special issue of the Caribbean Journal of Education are the proceedings of a Staff Research Day of the Department of Language, Linguistics and Philosophy at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, held in the summer of 2015. At this event, members of all three sections of the Department presented the findings of research which they were conducting at the time.

In the face of transformation driven by technological advancement, global and natural economic uncertainties, and social change, thoughtful leaders of institutions of higher learning have long recognized that being great today isn’t necessarily good enough for tomorrow. To ensure a university or college legacy, school leadership must collaborate with its faculty, students, families, alumni, Board of Directors and the communities in which they are located to look clearly at the core elements that define that school.

Many perpetrators of violence in Jamaica are children and youth. In 2005, of 824 incidents of major crime, 10 per cent were committed by children aged 12–15, and 90 per cent were committed by children 16–20 (Constabulary Communication Network, 2005). These data suggest that latency age and mid-adolescent boys 15-19 are at risk for violence and are a seriously underserved population.

In this personal reflection, I am going to discuss the main commitments required for teaching in schools in under-resourced communities. In these contexts, teachers must be dedicated to help bring about change in the lives of their students, both academically and socially. Being an educator is one of the noblest of professions; as a matter of fact I boldly say it is the noblest profession. Teachers seek to find a job in a school in a community where they feel comfortable, safe and secure, with the necessary resources to get their job done.

Extensive research in the 1990s revealed that children who succeed in school and in life tend to have four crucial emotional needs met. Furthermore, they also have a particular mindset that helps them succeed. Children who are in trouble and fall through the cracks tend to lack these necessities. In this discussion I suggest that parents are uniquely positioned to meet children’s emotional needs and to influence their mindsets, and thus their school achievement. This explains parents’ impact on school achievement.

This paper describes the process undertaken to assess the cultural resonance and dissonance of INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament in preparation for adapting the intervention for dissemination in Jamaica. INSIGHTS is an evidence-based intervention that enhances the social emotional development of young children and the behaviour management skills of their teachers and parents. To obtain stakeholders perspectives regarding an adaptation, 32 Jamaican educators atended a two-day INSIGHTS workshop conducted by the developer of the intervention.

This action research attempted to investigate the effect of integrating on students’ mathematics performance and environmental knowledge, atitudes and behaviour, and environmental education in mathematics classes. It involved two sample secondary schools and one sample primary school in under-resourced communities in Jamaica. A sample of four classes was conveniently selected. The action involved integration of environmental education in six mathematics lessons.

This paper addresses the role of technical vocational education and training (TVET) in economic development for both national and regional development. Also addressed are the key features of TVET for economic development as a tool for all people, and the benefits of TVET. It is argued that TVET can play a critical role in economic growth and sustainability.