This paper reports on a project aimed at improving the impact of teacher education by improving the quality of teaching in Jamaican teachers colleges. The project is a collaborative one between the Institute of Education and lecturers in one teachers college. The paper begins by locating this research in research on teaching at the college/university and primary and secondary levels, and provides some background to collaborative action research. It then describes the background and purpose of the project and the activities engaged in during the first year.

The paper uses a historical perspective to discuss issues that have influenced and continue to shape teacher education in Jamaica. In addition, practical and philosophical characteristics of the current programme are highlighted. In examining the existing system and charting new pathways, the importance of the teacher in a formative context is highlighted as a core component in reconceptualizing the programme of the School of Education.

We all like to think we can make a difference.

This paper discusses selected issues which an effective education system should address. These issues are anchored in two central questions. These are: 

Perceptions of life experiences and academic performance among adult students at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, were examined. The following research questions guided the investigation: What life experiences did adult students have? How did they perceive these experiences? Was there a difference in the perceptions of life experiences of students who received grades of A and B and those who received grades of C and below? The sample consisted of 158 adult students enrolled in two foundation courses at UWI, Mona.

In 1996 the University of the West Indies (UWI) began to implement the recommendations of a major internal study of its structures, among which was the development of a system of quality assurance. The Office of the Board for Undergraduate Studies (OBUS) has the responsibility for developing and implementing this system on behalf of the Board for Undergraduate Studies (BUS).

This study compared the performance of grades 7 and 8 students exposed to the Jamaican Reform of Secondary Education (ROSE) Programme with the performance of their nonROSE peers on three tasks. Students were selected from all-age, comprehensive, and traditional high schools. Also sampled were 53 ROSE science teachers and 5 science teacher trainers. Five instruments-a science achievement test, an attitude to science questionnaire, the Cooper-Smith Self-Esteem Scale (1967), a science teacher questionnaire, and a science teacher trainer questionnaire---were used.

Education, like any other process, experiences pressures at various times that require shifts in one or more aspects of the process. In Jamaica, dissatisfaction on the part of educators and stakeholder groups with the product from the primary level of the education system has resulted in pressure on the system to change. The major areas of concern are the rigid discipline-based approach to the curriculum as well as the highly didactic pedagogical strategies used to deliver the curriculum.

The publication of this issue of the Caribbean Journal of Education,  Rethinking Pathways to Excellence, during the University of the West Indies 50th year is timely and significant, for the notion of “rethinking pathways” is clearly in synchrony with the theme of the 50th anniversary, Charting Pathways to the Future.