SUMMA and the University of the West Indies (UWI) sign agreement to improve initial teacher training in the Eastern Caribbean

In the city of Bridgetown (Barbados), a meeting was held to sign a collaboration agreement between SUMMA, MoU and the University of the West Indies -UWI-, to implement the project to update the initial teacher training program in the Caribbean, with the financial support of IDRC-Canada. The above, in the context of the work that SUMMA carries out together with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States – OECS in the area, through its KIX Latin America and the Caribbean Center – KIX LAC.

The agreement emphasizes responding to the demands of the 21st century in terms of skills, knowledge and dispositions of particular relevance to the Caribbean region, such as the use of technology, resilience, the relationship with the environment, inclusion and the specific characteristics of Caribbean classrooms and the culture of their students and teachers, incorporating useful feedback to students, collaborative learning and the development of metacognition.

UWI, with the support of SUMMA-KIX LAC and OECS, is leading the teacher education project and will seek to 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 programs; it also envisions the development of an international model for reviewing initial teacher education that can be applied in other training institutions in the global south.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Javier González, Director of SUMMA; Raúl Chacón, Director of KIX LAC; Professor Joel Warrican, Director of the School of Education, University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus; Dr. Coreen Leacock, Senior Lecturer, UWI School of Education, Cave Hill Campus & Project Coordinator, RISE Caribbean; Dr. Verna Knight, Lecturer & Coordinator for the Bachelor’s in Education Programme, UWI School of Education, Cave Hill Campus; Judy-Ann Auld, Research Assistant, RISE Caribbean; Ms. Anthazia Kadir, postgraduate student at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus; Ms. Lisa Sargusingh-Terrance, Education Development Management specialist, OECS; Ms. Sonia Rees, Information Management Officer, OECS; Dr. Maciel Morales Aceitón, Researcher, KIX LAC; and Ms. Mar Botero, Knowledge Mobilization and Community Management Coordinator, KIX LAC.