Autonomous Learning in Foreign Language Acquisition has become an imperative in student-centered environments such as The University of the West Indies. Therefore, at The UWI we have questioned traditional and positivist roles and moved towards a constructivist philosophy in which knowledge is no longer transmitted and taught, but built up by the learner upon previously acquired knowledge (Vygotsky, 1978).

Scholarship in digital media and education emphasises the potential of technologies to revolutionise learning in formal, non-formal, and informational settings. Yet, studies in informal learning largely focus on American and European contexts. This article contributes a regional perspective from the Caribbean, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Trinidad to argue the importance of the informal strategies individuals adopt to enhance learning experiences.

Inclusive, or fair and equitable education, is a widely researched and discussed topic in education. While many strides have been made to address inclusion in education, understanding the phenomenon of teachers’ experiences with the implementation of inclusive educational practices in specific contexts is an important and ongoing area of study. In this phenomenological case study, we explored the experiences of nine primary school teachers in Trinidad (only) regarding inclusive practice. Semi-structured interviews with open questions about inclusive education were used for data collection.

This paper discusses the evaluation of the teaching and learning and Spanish in non-traditional and traditional secondary schools across Jamaica, and focusses on determining the contexts, inputs, processes and product of the implementation of the Spanish curriculum in select secondary schools. The research utilised a mixed-method approach, and employed questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations.

Government policy and curriculum–based programmes usually tend to be challenging to implement and sustain on a large scale. This paper examines the implementation and evaluation of the National Curriculum Strategies for Modern Languages–Spanish at the primary level in Jamaica. This project was undertaken from January–April 2012. For this project, surveys and interviews were used to collect data from 98 students and 6 teachers in primary schools across the island.

Teacher migration from other countries to the United States has increased over the years. Jamaican teachers have been a part of the migrant teaching force for decades. In this paper, we describe the pedagogy of four first-year migrant Jamaican teachers to a rural school in the southeastern United States. Through qualitative research involving interviews and observations, the authors document dominant themes that emerged concerning these teachers’ practices and their reasons for engaging in these practices.

In Earl Lovelace’s celebrated novel, “The Dragon Can’t Dance”, the issue of male violence is explored. The novel reveals how a society’s failure to acknowledge others, to exclude some – in this case the disadvantaged folk (the working class), can lead to their feeling invisible and insignificant. As a result, the human need to be recognized and to be seen can drive the excluded to acts of violence as they assert their right to visibility. More recently, Fatima Bhutto’s best seller, “The Runaways”, explores a similar situation.

The article sought to compare the performance of online and traditional face-to-face students who were identically assessed in two graduate courses offered concurrently in the two modes. It hypothesised that there was no significant difference between the achievement levels of online and face-to-face students across years in two separate graduate courses. The study utilised an ex post facto design and used archival data on the final assessment scores of students. The findings suggest that the face-to-face students tended to perform at a higher level than the online students.

Education for All is a global pledge to ensure that quality basic education (either formal or informal) is provided for all, regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity. This paper addresses some issues about adult learning initiatives and gender and ageism through the eyes of older adult males. The paper also examines Men’s Sheds (one informal learning site) in order to highlight their possible benefits and potential to foster greater involvement of older adult males in adult learning opportunities.

Since Jamaica gained its independence, successive governments of the country have implemented various curriculum policy initiatives at both the primary and secondary levels of the education system, aimed at providing increased access and improved quality education for citizens. While many of these initiatives have led to increased access to education in the island, the issue of improved quality education continues to be a challenge.