UNESCORegional Orientation and Capacity Building Workshop on

Global Citizenship Education for Latin America and the Caribbean Region

St. Kitts and Nevis Brief Country Perspective

Santiago de Chile1 – 3 September 2015

Normative Legal Framework

• According to the Education Act of 2005, the goals of education are: the establishment and strengthening of a comprehensive education system that is based on societal needs, provision of access to quality education for all the nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis in institutions that foster the spiritual cultural, moral, intellectual, physical, social, and economic, development of the individual and the community. • Specific objectives of the Education Act include: • To promote a national and Caribbean identity through regional

cooperation and integration. • To prepare for participation in the affairs of St. Kitts and Nevis and the

global society

Normative Framework: Global Education and the Curriculum

• The Ministry of Education Curriculum Development (CDU) is assigned the mandate to design, implement, and monitor the National Curriculum. • There are National Curriculum Guides for Language Arts, Mathematics,

Science and Technology, Social Studies, and Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) at the primary school level. HLFE is also taught at the Secondary level where instruction follows a regional framework.• HFLE is the primary mechanism within the curriculum through which

students are directly exposed to themes within global citizenship education.

Normative Framework: Teacher Training

• The minimum qualifications to teach are four CXC General Proficiency subjects one of which must be English. Secondary Teachers must specialize in the area of instruction. • A policy framework for recruitment and selection into the teaching service is

a system priority. The Ministry of Education White Paper, speaks to institutionalization of pre-service training in order to improve the quality of education provision. • What currently obtains, however, is in-service training organized at the

Ministry and school level, clinical supervision, government subsidized access to teacher training at the local Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College. Training related to global citizen education is sporadic. It is not a theme within the teacher training programme.

Good Practice: Child Friendly Schools

• Objective: the implementation and development of rights based child centered education policies, and to support schools in incorporating principles of child-centeredness, inclusiveness, positive behavior support, and democratic participation in school practices.

• Activities: Training for teachers, whole school program development, policy development

• Stakeholders: Primary schools in St. Kitts and Nevis, parents, and the communities in which the schools are based.

• Direct Beneficiaries: Students and teachers • Results achieved: 1. The development of a policy framework based on a philosophy of

positive behaviour support 2. The development of a Student Support Division within the Ministry of Education which seeks to meet the academic, behavioral, and psychosocial needs of students 3. School based program development

Good Practice: Child Friendly Schools – Specific case studies

• School: Bronte Welsh Primary School (St. Kitts)• Impetus for action: Teachers cited inattention, and poor academic

performance as cause for concern. Through engaging the children teachers found a large number of students were coming to school without eating breakfast. • Action: The school started a breakfast club program for students. The

school reached out to the community and civic partners for support to ensure sustainability.

Good Practice: Child Friendly Schools – Specific case studies

• School: Sandy Point Primary School (St. Kitts)• Number of Students Involved: Whole School Approach• Impetus for action: A 2012 school survey was conducted on the physical

environment with regards to safety, teaching/learning and resources 90% of teachers agreed that most of the classrooms were not conducive to learning.• Action: Teachers were challenged to create better learning environment

for themselves and their students, with the assistance of parents and other stakeholders. a committee was formed Sandy Point Primary School Beautification Project and fundraising activities were planned.

ORGANIZATION OF COMPETITIONS

flower garden competition by grades

Classroom competitions

Good Practice: Child Friendly Schools – Specific case studies

• School: Violet O Jeffers Nicholls (Nevis)• Number of Students Involved: 12 (Grades 4 – 6) Patrol members volunteer for service

and are selected based on the their demonstration of responsibility and discipline. • Impetus for action: Without an assigned crossing guard, school staff, parents, and

community members were worried about students’ safety traveling to and from school• Action: In response, the school with support from the community, decided to take action.

In February 2013, the school launched the first-ever Safety Patrol Service in Nevis.• Going Further: The Service has not only provided a road safety system for students, it has

offered an opportunity for students practice the six pillars of character- respect, trustworthiness, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship- promoted through the school-wide Character Education Programme.

Safety Patrol Members with a Constablefrom the Nevis Police Department

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education being escorted by patrol members across the Pedestrian Crossing at the Safety Patrol launch

Good Practice: Child Friendly Schools – Specific case studies

• School: Charlestown Primary School (Nevis)• Number of Students Involved: Whole School Approach • Impetus for action: As a tradition, the classes at Charlestown Primary School, from K – 6

were label with 1, 2, or 3. Some parents and students in the 2’s and 3’s classes felt stigmatized. It was sometimes perceived, that the students in the 1’s classes were better

• Action – The School’s decided to use a whole school approach to change that perception, over time. The objectives of the scheme were to a. remove the stigma of the number labeling, b. get all children to feel a sense of pride and belonging in a “good” class and c. by the end of primary school students understood and demonstrated virtuous character

• Going Further: Teachers had mandate to teach the meaning of their classes new label. Students were given “pop quizzes” on the meaning of the virtues and by the principal and teachers and given small tangible rewards for correct responses.

Charlestown Primary School (Nevis) Grade Renaming Scheme

• Kindergarten 1 Enthusiasm. • Kindergarten 2 Excellence. • Grade One 1 Helpful• Grade One 2 Hopeful • Grade One 3 Humility• Grade Two 1 Determination • Grade Two 2 Dedication• Grade Two 3 Diligence• Grade Three 1 Patience • Grade Three 2 Perseverance • Grade Three 3 Persistence

• Grade Four 1 Tact• Grade Four 2 Thankfulness• Grade Four 3 Tolerance. • Grade 5 1 Respect• Grade Five 2 Responsibility• Grade Five 3 Reliability • Grade Six 1 Courage• Grade Six 2 Confidence • Grade Six 3

Commitment

Challenges

• Defining global education, or with arriving at a succinct and meaningful characterization.

• The relationship between meaning and practice in global education.

• School / institutional support and implementation

Challenges: Defining Global Education

• According to the framework of influence prevailing definitions of global education would be located at the level of national culture, in that they represent a collective response by a nation's educators (proponents and practitioners) to the trend of globalization.

• Whilst individual definitions may vary, I would submit that a tacit understanding builds up among prominent educators that characterizes global education in terms of a set of non-specific goals that is embedded within the national culture; and this becomes the 'label' of global education.

• However, one of the challenges facing St. Kitts and Nevis is that educators struggle to find meaning in Global Education as an educational innovation that cannot be sufficiently understood in the context of the cultural framework within which they normally operate.

Challenges: The Relationship between meaning and practice

• Global education, like most other innovations, does not arrive in a school as a blank slate; it is often encumbered by a whole baggage of assumptions and beliefs that are part of the 'deep structure' from which educators draw.

• The development of meaning, therefore, involves not only experimentation with new ideas and practices, but also the measuring of new approaches against dominant preconceptions.

• Ultimately, teachers responded to related global education intiatives in their schools in different ways, depending upon 'the meaning the concept had for them.

• With regard to facilitating practitioners' development of meaning, some practitioners are pleasantly surprised - or disappointed - to find that global education encompasses aspects they had not presumed.

Challenges: School / Institutional Support

• To what extent the practitioners' perceptions shape the school's approach, and vice versa, is open to question. What is clear is that other factors - beyond the collective impact of practitioners' perceptions - contribute to a school's position on an institutional spectrum.

• Schools towards the holistic end, in comparison with those exhibiting compartmentalist approaches, have a more consciously planned framework for whole school development around global education

• Additionally they generally exhibit a cohesive culture, in which collegial sharing and collaboration are commonplace; and they also enjoy the support of a committed community that facilitates positive school-community relations and partnerships.

Opportunities

• 1. Health and Family Life Education Curriculum

• 2. Child Friendly Schools

• 3. Human Rights Education Curriculum

• 4. Teacher Training Programs

Opportunities: Health and Family Life Education Curriculum

• A feature of global education in St. Kitts and Nevis is the Health and Family Life Education Curriculum (HFLE) taught in schools.

• 'what we teach and how we teach are not divisible'. The importance of choosing appropriate methodologies goes far beyond the desire to enhance students' learning; rather, 'it is fundamental to the development of the intellectual attitudes and values we seek to engender'

• In HFLE students openly discuss with their peers questions of morals and values within an environment that exhibits clear moral standards, shared concern and mutual respect. Teachers use of interactive teaching and learning methodologies, including pair and group discussion, co-operative learning, experiential activities, drama, role-plays and simulation games

Opportunities: Child Friendly Schools

1. Teachers appreciate interactive in-service training related to global education.

2. Are excited by the use of active and co-operative learning strategies in the classroom

3. Remain unclear as to what Global Education is actually about.

4. Are ambivalent about whether Global Education is valuable as a subject in the curriculum citing time constraints.

Road Map

Minority PerspectivesHistoryGeographyEnvironmentIdeology

LeadershipProfessional developmentExternal supportCommunity Involvement

ValuesBeliefColleagues’InfluencesTimeResources

Institutional Culture

Individual Culture

National Culture

Global Education Framework

What we Know about teachers:

Thank you for listening