Strengthening Initial Teacher Education in the Eastern Caribbean
Collaboration between the University of the West Indies (UWI) and SUMMA
Signing of MoU between Dr. Javier González, Director of SUMMA; and Dr. Joel Warrican, Director of the School of Education (UWI), Cave Hill Campus – Bridgetown, Barbados – May 2022
Objectives
Under the Leadership of University of West Indies, the project seeks to:
a) Support and provide assistance to make better use of international evidence and best practices in the process of reforming the University’s initial teacher education (ITE) programs.
b) Develop an international model of initial teacher education ITE review that can be applied in other training institutions in the global south.
Initial stages
As the first step, SUMMA carried out a Benchmark and Needs Assessment consisting of identifying the characteristics and needs of the School of Education (SOE). During this process, international references were studied to serve as input for the decision-making process in the orientation of the curricular reform by two complementary studies and their subsequent products:
1. A needs assessment to identify the characteristics and needs of the School of Education (SOE) teacher education programmes.
2. A benchmark of international references of teacher education strategies to serve as input for the decision- making process in the orientation of the curricular reform.
Needs Assessment
Conduct a needs’ assessment of UWI’s initial teacher education programs (ADE and BA) with the main objective of identifying their strengths and weaknesses, as well as the demands and needs of the context.
Methodology
- Review of existing surveys and other data collection instruments.
- Use of professional/teacher education standards/frameworks as a guide.
Research techniques and target population were considered -Information gathering through interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, from the following stakeholders
UWI Professors
Deans and college authorities
School principals
ADE and BAEd Graduates
Key officials of the ministries of education
International Benchmark
Benchmarking some of the best teacher education strategies from part of the best teacher education systems in the world.
Advisory board and partnerships
Advisory board
Two meetings were held in June and December 2022, with the participation of leading specialists to provide feedback and guide the development of the initiative.
Joel Warrican
(UWI)
Verna Knight
(Coordinadora de la revisión)
Coreen Leacock
(UWI /ECJBTE)
Rafael Carrasco
(SUMMA)
Javier Gonzalez
(SUMMA)
Desire Collins
(T.A. Marryshow Community College)
Sisera Simon
(OECS)
Amy Foux
(EEF)
Alex Quigley
(EEF)
Rebeca Anijovich
(U. San Andrés)
Development of the curriculum proposal
Partnership of different organisations and experts for the development of the curriculum proposal
Leading partners and general coordination:
SUMMA
- Dr. Javier González – Director de SUMMA
- Mr. Raúl Chacón – Director de KIX LAC / SUMMA.
UWI
- Professor Joel Warrican – Director of the School of Education, University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus
- Dr. Verna Knight – Lecturer & Coordinator for the Bachelor’s in Education Programme UWI School of Education, Cave Hill Campus
- Dr. Coreen Leacock – Senior Lecturer, UWI School of Education, Cave Hill Campus & Project Coordinator, RISE Caribbean
OECS
- Mrs. Sisera Simon – Head of the Education Development Management Unit.
- Ms. Lisa Sargusingh-Terrance – Education Development Management specialist
- Celeste Burton – Education Development Management specialist.
Co-researchers from SUMMA and UWI
- Dr. Juan de Dios Oyazrún
- Dr. Ivana Zacarías
- Dr. Rocío Fernández
Universidad Diego Portales
- Dra. Paula Louzano
- Dr. Cristian Cox, Ruth Arce
Instituto Singularidades Brazil
- Barbara Born
Principal external investigators and co-investigators
- Dr. Karin Roa Tampe (Universidad de los Andes)
- María Ligia Astorga (Universidad de los Andes)
- Prof. Zemira Mevarech (Bar Ilan University – Israel)
- Dr. Ornit Spektor-Levy (Bar Ilan University – Israel)
- Dr. Carmen Montecinos (Universidad Católica Valparaíso)
- Dr. Valentina Haas (Universidad Católica Valparaíso)
Multiple workshops to develop the new curriculum ADE (Associate Degree’s in Education)
As part of the University of the West Indies teacher training reform project, several workshops were held with the purpose of aligning reinforcements in teacher development in the Eastern Caribbean. Among others:
- Key Criteria and Guidelines for High quality Teacher Education and Domains of TE curriculum
- Competency Profile. What should prospective teachers be able to demonstrate to support student learning?
- Curriculum Design 1: Pedagogical content knowledge in key domains (Language, Maths, History and Social Sciences, Sciences); Knowledge of learners.
- Curriculum design, 2: Clinical Practice domain
- Proposed Curriculum for General Primary Education.
Events and related notes
Dissemination in conferences and webinars
21 de August de 2025
Closing the Capacity-Building Cycle for the Implementation of the Associate Degree in Primary Education, led by SUMMA – KIX LAC and the University of the West Indies
15 de July de 2023
Progress made in collaborative project between SUMMA and the University of the West Indies for Effective Teacher Training in the Eastern Caribbean
27 de March de 2023
3rd KIX LAC Regional Meeting: More than 60 key players in the educational field from Latin America and the Caribbean met for three days to discuss strategies and work on the main challenges of public education in the region
27 de May de 2022
Project between SUMMA and the University of the West Indies featured in Nature magazine for its contribution to evidence-based education
16 de May de 2022
SUMMA and the University of the West Indies (UWI) sign agreement to improve initial teacher training in the Eastern Caribbean
25 de March de 2022
Effective pedagogical practices in teacher training programs webinar
Reports delivered
The following reports were generated during this process:
