Barbados

Welch, Pedro L.

doi:10.5040/9781472593467.ch-004

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…. Quality Education for All" (Welch 2014) and even before that Prime Minister Michael Manley described Jamaica as a "society that has set itself the objective of social justice based upon equality" and bewailed the fact that its class divisions were incompatible with social justice (Manley, 1974). UNESCO (1994) contends that regular schools with an inclusive orientation "are the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, creating welcoming communities, building an inclusive society and achieving education for all" (UNESCO, 1994, p. ix).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As noted earlier in the chapter, Barbados, HDI ranking places it well above regional and world averages. Indeed, from as early as the 1990s the United Nations declared Barbados the number one among developing countries (Welch, 2014). If the outcome of EduTech 2000 reveals such problematic resource issues in Barbados, it is hardly unexpected that inadequacy of resources should impact programs in the Commonwealth Caribbean countries with weaker economies.…”

Section: Teacher (In)effectivenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Social Inclusion in Education in the Commonwealth Caribbean

Jennings

2020

Handbook on Promoting Social Justice in Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Commonwealth Caribbean comprises mostly small island states which have a common history of colonial dependency as slave plantation economies in the British Empire. While they all are signatories to "Education for All" and are committed to inclusion and goals of equality of opportunity, equity and the improvement of quality, traditional attitudes that encourage exclusion of certain students in the education system persist as hangovers from the colonial experience. The theoretical premise adopted in this chapter is an interpretation of inclusion as a process which necessitates the presence, participation and achievement of all students. It is also argued that inclusion intersects with other concepts such as access, equity, quality and social justice. Drawing on a variety of sources including Ministry of Education documents, doctoral theses and published research, this chapter examines five interventions introduced into Commonwealth Caribbean (CC) education systems to address such exclusionary practices as the marginalization of students on the basis of social class, gender, and their geographical location. These interventions are the Grade 10-11 program and the Reform of Secondary Education (Jamaica); Edutech 2000 (Barbados); The Hinterland Teacher Training program (Guyana); and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (15 CC countries). Challenges to the achievement of social inclusion are discussed. These include conflicts of interest between the users of the intervention and the developers, socially differentiated curricula which results in poorer quality curricula being offered to the lower social class and a lack of understanding of inclusion by key actors. Amongst these are teachers whose attitudes and treatment of students in their classrooms results in their marginalization and exclusion from studying certain subjects. The chapter ends by highlighting some drivers for social inclusion, such as the desire for upward social mobility through education and inhibitors such as limited financial resources which necessitate a dependency on external aid. Another inhibitor is decision-making which is uninformed by research data. Given that the achievement of expected outcomes of some of the interventions was negatively impacted by a reliance on speed and hasty transactions the author emphasizes the importance of adequate time being given to interventions in education and particularly to those with the goal of inclusion, given that the latter is a process and takes time.

show abstract

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Teacher (In)effectivenessmentioning

confidence: 99%