Citizenship Education in the Caribbean : Between policy and practice (2002-2003)

Despite considerable demographic, economic, political, linguistic and cultural diversity among the countries of the Caribbean, the region's territories have much in common due to their similar history and present reality as predominantly small developing states grappling with the impacts of globalization. Numerous social challenges in the sub-region have led to a growing awareness among politicians, community leaders and educators of the importance of strengthening civic values, in the pursuit of sustainable development, and social cohesion. New concerns are being expressed at national and regional levels about the need to re-define and promote the concept of citizenship within the Caribbean context, and the role that formal education should play in the process of citizen formation.

 

Context for citizenship education in the Caribbean

 

Notions of participative citizenship in Caribbean societies have been determined by their past of colonialism and slave plantation economies, and domination by Western powers. Today large sections of the region's populations remain excluded from genuinely democratic processes due to a legacy of factors including economic vulnerability, high levels of poverty, and severe social inequalities and authoritarian regimes in some countries. Furthermore, as in other regions of the world, rapid changes in contemporary Caribbean societies have had a major impact on traditional lifestyles and values, leading to various new social challenges. The impact of globalisation further threatens economic stability and growth, while cultural identity is challenged by the impact of foreign lifestyles, habits and values transmitted through the media, high levels of migration, reliance on imported goods and increasing dependence on the tourist industry. Materialistic and individualistic attitudes increasingly prevail and many young people, especially males, seem to be adrift, with rates of youth-related crime and violence significantly increased.

 

Citizenship education in the school curriculum

 

In the countries of the sub-region, education for citizenship is increasingly considered to be an essential part of ongoing curriculum reform and development, as evidenced in policy documents, curriculum plans and syllabi. Considerable efforts are being made to design citizenship education programmes either as separate curricular subjects or as an integrated part of other subject areas. However, citizenship education as it is presently taught in the region is felt to be inadequate for the complex social needs of young people. While a number of new and exciting initiatives are underway in this area of curriculum development, there remain fundamental problems with the way school-based citizenship education is both conceptualised and implemented. The country reports and discussions at the Sub-regional Seminar on Curriculum Development for Learning to Live Together (Cuba 2001) indicated a number of inadequacies in curricular design and delivery. One major area of weakness was observed to be the preparation of teachers as educators for citizenship.

 

Focus on teacher education

 

The effectiveness of school based citizenship education programmes is dependent on appropriate and adequate preparation of teachers. The complex multi- and inter-disciplinary nature of citizenship education demands polyvalent, committed, well-informed and confident professionals as citizenship educators. Teachers need to be both knowledgeable about the diverse range of issues which this broad curricular area covers, and trained in using teaching methods and approaches which create a classroom culture where students are given real-life opportunities to practise citizenship skills as part of daily learning activities.

Evidence to date suggests that existing teacher education programmes in the Caribbean sub-region are not adequately suited to the needs of teachers, neither in terms of existing citizenship education programmes nor of societal challenges which demand constant adjustment and adaptation of school curricula.

 

Activities

 

The first phase of the project in 2002 consisted of the commissioning of two stocktaking reviews on links between curricular policy and practice in citizenship education with a focus on teacher preparation. One review examined the situation in the Commonwealth Caribbean, the other focused on Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The results of these studies served as key input to a workshop held in Jamaica in November 2003 which aimed at the improvement of teacher education as part of curriculum development and adaptation for citizenship education. The chief outcome of the workshop was an outline for a Caribbean Teacher Education Framework for Citizenship.