This article reports on a study that used transformational leadership theory and teacher leader model standards to conduct a qualitative process evaluation of a Bachelor of Education programme at a Caribbean university. The study sought to discover existing institutional structures that promoted and those that inhibited the development of teacher leaders. Further, it addressed the question of the ways in which teacher preparation programmes could better facilitate the development of transformational teacher leaders.

This paper presents a two-phased, job-embedded, teacher professional development model (TPD) which employs action research and on-the-job professional support. The model is a response to evaluative research evidence which shows that in spite of their pre-service and in- service training, primary teachers’ traditional perspectives of science education persisted as a barrier to effective implementation of primary science curricula reform. The TPD differs from the Cascade model which is widely used in teacher training. That model transmits teacher learning.

Brazil is said to be one of the most successful racist systems in the world, founded on the exploitation of people, economy, and goods. Hidden behind this success is the notion of “racial democracy,” the ideology that Brazil has harmonious race relations (Guimarães, 2007). Colonization and slavery laid the foundation for what would be a fruitful system of oppression, keeping the elite wealthy and making it seemingly impossible for those who are poor and Black to achieve social mobility.

In an effort to capture some of the outstanding thinking that occurred during the 2017 UWI Schools of Education Biennial meeting, the Journal of Education and Development in the Caribbean invited conference presenters to submit to a special issue of JEDIC related to the theme of Envisioning Future Education: Cross-Disciplinary Synergy, Imperatives and Perspectives. We, Drs. Frank Tuitt, Raquel Wright-Mair, Kayon Morgan and PhD candidate Amanda Thomas were invited to serve as guest editors.

In an ostensibly ‘English only’ language policy in a dominant Creole speaking linguistic situation, teachers and students involuntarily shift from the official linguistic expectations of the school. This paper is a preliminary venture to discover the social and pedagogical factors causing the shift. The results of a language atitudes survey carried out by random stratified sampling of primary schools in Guyana are presented.

The paucity of trained and qualified teachers and poor mathematical attainment at the primary school level in Guyana triggered the introduction of the cost-effective Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) Mathematics Programmes. This study examined teachers’ classroom practice, and explored teachers’ and pupils’ reactions to IRI in grade two mathematics classrooms. Eighteen schools, nine urban and nine rural schools, were involved in this study.

Increasingly, a number of information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives have been deployed at all levels of the education system in Jamaica in an effort to enhance and support the development of Jamaican students. An assessment of the impact of these initiatives is key in defining the way forward for the role of ICTs in education. In this paper, we explore insights from early observations from the planning and implementation of a One-Laptop-per-Child (OLPC) project at the early childhood and primary levels in two Jamaican schools.

Research worldwide has proven that play is an essential element of developmentally appropriate, high-quality, early childhood education programmes. Play provides benefits for cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and moral development for children from all socioeconomic, cultural, and linguistic  backgrounds. Play is at its best when consciously facilitated by skilled teachers and parents who understand what can be learned from observing children  at play and how play contributes to children’s mastery of concepts and skills.

The education system in Jamaica is characterized by differences in the achievements of male and female students. As a follow-up to previous studies conducted in urban Jamaica, this study sought to determine if differences can be observed in the educational achievement at the pre-school level in selected Caribbean countries by examining the competencies of male and female students in Guyana, Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  Using a mixed methodology, the study also sought to identify factors which impede and facilitate transition to primary school.