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.

Over the past few decades, a considerable body of work has been created by Caribbean and external academic/research institutions and government research arms (often aided by international donor agencies), towards describing and fostering a beter understanding of Caribbean child-rearing practices, family structures, and perceived social problems within families and concerning families.

In September 1995, the Caribbean Journal of Education (CJE) dedicated a special issue on Early Childhood Education in honour of the late Dudley Grant, a renowned pioneer in this field in the Caribbean. One of the journal articles (Davies 1995) provided an overview of  the issues and concerns that were current in the early childhood sector then.

This reflective essay looked at the critical friends approach to faculty development, in particular, its role in enhancing teaching skills and reflection in a Certificate in University Teaching and Learning project. The paper drew on the experiences of teaching staff, engaging in a faculty development project and used the insights from actual practice to corroborate the literature and advance the conversation on critical friends. The experience of learning throughout the faculty development project was enhanced by reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action.