The evidence seems to suggest that (i) little attention has been paid to re-structuring the practical-teaching component in the Eastern Caribbean programmes over the past forty years; (ii) the duration of the exercise is apparently being reduced rather than being increased in line with current trends; and (iii) neither the notion of the co-operating teacher nor of a more developmental role for the University of the West Indies seems to be formally integrated into the practical teaching exercise.

Through the ages, storytellers have known that well-told ‘complicated stories’ are, first and foremost, a source of entertainment for people of all ages. However, research suggests that, even as we are entertained by fiction, we benefit from listening to or reading fiction in other ways as well. Fiction illuminates ‘imagined-worlds,’ and socially constructed perspectives of identity and culture as it guides readers into critiquing portrayals of self and others, minimizing the caricaturing of the ‘Other’ (Clifford & Kalyanpur, 2011).

The external assessment of Year Three Practicum is an important component of the assessment process to certify teachers completing the teacher education programme in Jamaica. Students are required to complete nine credit hours* (16 weeks) of practicum, distributed over the three years of intramural study at the teacher education institution. The period of practice in the first and second years is assessed internally, with the third year externally examined (Joint Board of Teacher Education 2003).

Since the 20th celebration of the Earth Summit, which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, many journals, disciplines, and people are reflecting on the progress towards sustainable development in the last two decades. Although there has been progress on many fronts, the threats to global sustainability are large and growing.

The new government of Trinidad and Tobago has expressed 'multiculturalism' as a policy thrust, and a way of framing the country's plural population. This article suggests that the education of teachers will be a key to arriving at a society in which the different cultural strands can find expression. But the development of such a curriculum can be problematic, requiring a conceptual framework that shows sensitivity to the country's postcolonial status, including the histories that must be taken into account in locating the different peoples.

Knowledge about how Jamaican teachers understand the concept of teacher professionalism is limited. In this qualitative study, 52 final-year student teachers participated in semi-structured interviews and concept mapping exercises designed to explore how they understand teacher professionalism. The analysis revealed that they view professional teachers as those who embody outstanding personal and professional attributes; recognize the complexity and contextual challenges of teaching; and respond to these by connecting the realities of their classrooms with what they have learnt in college.

Rethinking Teacher Education and Teacher Development-this themed issue of the Caribbean Journal of Education has its genesis in research evidence that confirms the impact of teacher quality on students' learning. Some researchers have even argued that it is the determining factor. Given its importance, we are impelled to attend to factors that influence teacher quality, such as teacher professionalism, accountability, and standards.

Central to the educative process is the transaction which takes place between the learner and the teacher. The main concern, therefore, of teacher education programmes is to improve the quality of future transactions by help­ing teachers (in-service and in-training) to understand the learner, the dynamics of learning, and their own roles in the transaction. The case study presented in this article is based on the premise that student-teachers will contlnue to grope in the dark until they have developed the necessary understandings and insights.

This paper examines the possibility that teachers in the present teacher-education system are being prepared as "gate-keepers" and for "system-maintenance" rather than as promoters and developers of the full potential of students for change processes. It discusses the probable effects of the gate-keeping and system maintenance function when the society is assumed to be unihierarchical. 

This paper attempts to trace the major developments in teacher-education which have taken place in many Third World countries, especially in ex-British colonial territories, but focuses more on some current dilemmas in education and teacher-education which these countries face.