Paper presented at the official launch and mini-conference of the Journal
of the Universit
y College of the Cayman Islands. (JUCCI) Thursday October 16th 2008 Good daytime ladies and gentlemen.
The requirement to recruit teachers into Initial Teacher Education and Training (ITET) is a worldwide occurrence. However, for the sea region, the challenge is made worse when looked at in light of the fact that trained sea teachers are being recruited to help in another countries and regions.
Mike Baker, the nation Broadcasting Cooperation’s (BBC) activity correspondent in his 2002 article entitled United Kingdom ‘poaching’ Jamaican teachers, pointed out that between 2001 and 2002 six hundred teachers (600) left the island to impact abroad, mostly in the United States and the United Kingdom.
During that same period, the United Kingdom government issued six thousands (6,000) impact permits to teachers from outside the European Community. The global demands for teachers including those from the Caribbean, offers the location both a challenge and an opportunity.
A challenge in that newborn teachers requirement to be attracted, recruited, educated and trained and an opportunity, in that, trained teachers who seek economic independence crapper attain it by practicing their foxiness in an economically cheerful community.
While there are many strategies for encouraging the achievement of persons into ITET, given the social, cultural, political and educational context of apiece sea state and, in portion the Cayman Islands, it is not easy to discern what will and will not work.
Therefore, the effort of the paper I have written and publicised in the Journal of the University College of the Cayman Island, is an analysis of relevant recommendations resulting from research, which sought to come the problems of pedagogue achievement not exclusive in the Cayman Islands, but also in the sea region.
In that publicised work, recommendations and results of two studies were analyzed; the 2006 Organisation of American States Sub-Region Consultant Study Report concerned with the challenges of improving the quality of pedagogue education, achievement and selection, initial activity and training, professional utilization and evaluation of teachers in countries of the Caribbean.
And, the 2001 report of the committee set up to examine the conditions relating to the achievement of Caymanians into the doctrine profession. What are limited structure of encouraging the achievement of teachers into ITET in the Cayman Islands? Some thoughts follow.
There is the requirement to:
1. Undertake innovative and strategic approaches to policy utilization in the area of ITET. Policies are necessary that would direct actions and pass innovations, thus boosting people’s trust in the impact and product of ITET.
2. Formulate policies to come the nature and kinds of academic qualifications offered and the standards at which local pedagogue activity and upbringing institutions operate.
3. Develop policies on the impact of achievement into ITET and on the promotion of doctrine and the identification of appropriate direct populations for recruitment.
4. Offer a combative and internationally recognized bachelor’s programme in education. (this is happening right today at the University College)
5. Develop a clearly articulated deciding paradigm for occupation structure and its underlying values in the Cayman Islands, connected with efforts to improve the economic status of teachers. moneyman and Williamson (1989) reveal that in Japan and Taiwan, among another countries.
where doctrine is thought of as extremely important, teachers are relatively well paid hence doctrine is viewed as a relatively well-paying job, the supply of newborn teachers is broad and there is a baritone level of attrition. The writers go on to state that additionally those countries place broad continuance on their peoples remaining in a profession or a post for the duration of an entire career.
So my point is, what is required, (in constituent to marketing strategies and advertising campaigns), is a paradigm agitate or modify in the way we think about teaching, not just for the Cayman Islands but for the sea region.
6. Enable ITET programmes to be framed in a specular model of doctrine which encourages the utilization of skills and knowledge in content areas, professional studies, and applicatory teaching, grounded in the real world of the school and classroom.
This model of doctrine presently guides the pedagogue activity and upbringing department here at the University College of the Cayman Islands.
