Certain continuing problems of educational development in the Commonwealth Caribbean become highlighted, even if only incidentally, as a background to the contributions in this issue of the journal. 
 

The importance of the arts in education has been argued for decades. Underlying many of the arguments in favour of arts education is the belief that if education focuses exclusively and predominantly on one mode of cognition- that is the conceptual- then schools are denying children essential areas of human development. Arts educators have pointed to the value of the arts describing them as "an education of the senses" (Witkin 1974), and a means to developing aesthetic behaviours such as perceiving, reacting and valuing (Reimer 1971).

The article focuses on the practical component of a professional development programme for trained teachers built on a model that seeks to empower teachers as reflective practitioners who assume responsibility for improving their own practice. It outlines the practicum before and after restructuring and then assesses the impact of the restructured practicum on a group of Language Education (English) students.

While there has been increasing interest in the process of becoming a teacher,very little attention has been paid to the process of becoming a teacher educator. Yet teachers of teachers go through the same process as teachers and experience similar influences that shape the kind of teacher educator they become. Important aspects of the learning process for teacher educators include becoming sensitive to their role and the special responsibilities entailed.

The focus of this paper is on the importance of investing in early childhood education in Jamaica as a strategy for developing quality human capital in support of nation building. The paper highlights national and Caribbean perspectives on early childhood education and development and the experience of investing resources in ECED in the context of severe budgetary constraints and increasing social demands.

Our regular readers would have noticed that this issue of the Journal was published and printed in Jamaica. From its inception in 1997, Education and Development Services (EDS) has published the Journal in Guyana. EDS moved to Kingston, Jamaica in August 2000. It is now registered in Jamaica under the name of Education and Research Associates Ltd. Future communication about the Journal and all other publications of EDS should be addressed to Education and Research Associates Ltd at the address given on the inside of the cover page of this issue.

The University of the West Indies (UWT) is supported by 15 countries of the English-speaking Caribbean and is the only regional university. UWI delivers its programmes on the three campuses, by distance education techniques and, to a growing extent, through regional Tertiary Level Institutions (TLIs). This latter mode of delivery was encouraged by a major internal study of the university's operations that recommended that the tertiary colleges should become close partners of the university.

Unemployment is regarded as one of the most challenging economic problems facing the governments of the Commonwealth Caribbean. The available data indicate that unemployment is particularly high among the young cohorts of the labour force (15-25 years), and especially among young females. Several initiatives have been undertaken in the region to enhance the quality and usefulness of the human resource base of the respective countries - curriculum reform, vocationalization of the secondary school system, skills training programs, etc.

In this paper the 1997 results of the CXC examinations for Jamaica are analysed in an effort to determine male female patterns of participation and performance. Data were obtained and scrutinised in terms of male female differences in a two stage analysis. Firstly, differences were examined for: the overall total of thirty-six (36) subjects and then for each of the sixteen (16) academic and twenty (20) technical-vocational subjects. At the second stage, differences were examined for: coeducational and single-sex schools, and school types.

After two special issues, one on Gender in Education and Development and the other on Distance Education, this issue is a 'mixed bag' which should provide something of interest for all our readers. Two of the articles, in fact, take up themes from the special issues and explore them from a different perspective.