Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Abstract
The current national plan for development describes a vision in which equal
opportunities are available to every citizen to allow achievement of potential
and enjoyment of a high quality of life. The development of a seamless, self
renewing, high-quality education system is one of the development
strategies cited. The seamlessness results from the absence of barriers to
movement across and between the different sub-sectors and the various
levels and types of education and training. The Government is soon to sign
a loan agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank to fund a
project within the Ministry of Education to support the development of this
seamless system.
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INTRODUCTION
The Inter-American Development Bank loan for the project: Support for a
Seamless Education System has been approved by the Board and the
agreement between the Bank and the Government of the Republic of
Trinidad and Tobago is soon to be signed with a projected start date of July
1st 2009.
In spite of considerable achievements in national development through
education, there is public dissatisfaction with the social progress.
Newspapers attest to a deteriorating social situation with daily reports of
crime that includes gang related violence and murders, some of which
involve school-aged youth.
Conflict approaches to education refer to systematic barriers to upward
social mobility. An understanding of the systemic factors that deny citizens
equal access to the education necessary to enhance their human
capabilities and functionings (Sen in Levitt, 2005) is vital to the success of
the Seamless project and to the establishment of a Seamless Education
System, since failure to address underlying causes of barriers may lead to
superficial solutions which while generating very visible activity, will not
change the status quo. This understanding should be shared by all the
major stakeholders in the project.
Sharon Douglass Mangroo
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and
development
consistent
with
modern,
progressive,
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contempt for the working people who sustain the economy evidenced
among other things by poor schooling. The current intensification of the
globalization thrust presents the risk of re-colonization through the
influence of Multinational and Transnational agencies that directly or
indirectly impinge on the education system through their effect on its inputs,
processes and outputs.
Consensus approaches to education view it in terms of a meritocracy
where effort coupled with intelligence results in achievement (Young 1961,
in Lauder et al, 2005) which is rewarded by occupational success. The
State is assumed to be efficient and fair in its dispensation so that all
interests are equitably served. Conflict approaches to education challenge
the assumption of equity and fairness and argue that systematic
differences exist in the chances of students of different social backgrounds
to access high status jobs. Bourdieu (in Lauder et al, 2006) suggests that
school processes related to curriculum, pedagogy and assessment
privilege the children of the professional middle classes. Trinidad and
Tobago boasts of a meritocratic system of selection for secondary
schooling, yet poor school performance is often associated with certain
socioeconomic and ethnic sectors of the population. This suggests that
equitable access to education opportunities and the resulting privileges
granted by society to the educated may not be a reality. As Trinidad and
Tobago emerges from a colonial society with its inherent system of
privileges based on social background and ethnicity it is important to
examine the questions of whether the current system of education
reproduces the inequalities present in society and the extent to which it can
be a source of progressive change.
Sharon Douglass Mangroo
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Descriptor
Exceeds standards
Meets standards
Nearly meets standards
Below standards
Table 1 National Test Performance levels
Mathematic
Language
performanc
Arts
e
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Science
Social
Studies
Standard
58
One
Standard two
Standard
37
65
61
52
64
58
60
three
Standard
four
Table 2 Percentage of students performing below satisfactory level in
2008
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countries with large populations for whom English is not a first language.
The average achievement of girls was significantly higher than that of boys.
Secondary level
At the secondary level the majority of students exit the formal system at the
end of form five when they take the Caribbean Secondary Examination (CSEC) certified by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC). Since a grade
one, two or three at General Proficiency level in Mathematics and English
language are pre-requisites for the next level of education, performance in
these two subjects may be taken as indications of general achievement.
The results for the CXC C-SEC examination over the last three years show
that just about half of all candidates obtained a grade three or higher in
English language.
Year
2006
2007
2008
% with Grades 55.81
52.54
49.56
Table 3 Performance in CXC C-SEC General English Language
I-III
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Through the primary and secondary levels of the school system the results
of the various assessments of student performance indicate that
approximately half of the school population is performing at a generally
unsatisfactory level and at least thirteen per cent considered at risk in key
subject areas that contribute to individual and national development. In all
cases, with the exception of Mathematics at C-SEC level, girls outperform
boys and the number of low or underachieving boys is significantly higher
than the same category of girls. This together with the alarming revelation
by the Minister of Health that thirty per cent of children in the 10-19 year
age group have been diagnosed as depressed presents a significant
problem of national dimension to development and provides support to the
inference that systematic barriers to education exist for a large segment of
the school-aged population.
In the past quantity issues were a major preoccupation as school places
were insufficient to meet the demand. With the construction of new schools
however, attention is now being turned to the quality of education that will
enable more than physical access to the school building. Tinker et al (in
George, 2007) suggest that while socio-economic disadvantage is still a
major source of underachievement, the interaction of school factors such
as teacher-student relationships, classroom interaction, curriculum content
and assessment methods are important contributors.
This leads to an
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Since in any classroom students will normally have diverse learning needs
and styles the teacher must not only believe that every child is capable of
learning but must translate
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declare that pedagogic change may also result from joint work between
researchers and teachers.
In their final report to the Ministry of Education on Inclusive Education,
Miske Witt and Associates (2008) observed that teachers suspicion that
more students had disabilities than were actually diagnosed was an
indication of students struggle to learn and teachers struggle to teach
them. They noted that while most teachers are not grounded in research on
best practices or action research in their teaching, they want and need to
be provided with the knowledge and skills to address learning, behavioural,
and cognitive needs in the general education classroom. Ninety per cent of
the teachers surveyed reported that they have no qualifications in special
needs education and 45% could only understand somewhat what is
necessary to teach in an inclusive classroom. The Teaching Service
Employee Survey conducted in 2007 supports this as 58% of the teachers
who responded felt that they received insufficient information on training
and professional development opportunities.
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Workload
The increase, expansion and intensification of work brought about by policy
and curriculum changes may also have a negative impact on pedagogy. In
the USA Valli (2007) found that where such changes occurred in response
to a NCLB policy directive on differentiated instruction, teachers felt that
there was insufficient time available for reflective practice. The response
was increasing importance of institutional roles in shaping and subsuming
their other roles as teachers. Valli further cautions that under those
conditions, even where professional development was available, instruction
not only did not improve but may have declined in quality. In Trinidad and
Tobago with the many changes that have taken place through reforms at
both primary and secondary levels within the last ten years, over half the
teachers surveyed in 2007 have complained that the work that they do is
beyond their job descriptions, that they do not have time to carry out their
work and that there are insufficient resources to do so. One third of them
also feel that the stress of the job is affecting their job performance.
Pedagogical barriers summarised
While official policy favours transformational and transactional approaches,
the processes of teaching and learning practiced in local classrooms are
predominantly transmissive and teacher-centered and do not generally
meet the diverse learning needs of all students. Teacher expectations and
their relationships with students may be having a negative impact on the
academic performance of those who are low achieving. Many teachers do
not have the skills and competence needed to differentiate curriculum and
instruction to meet the learning needs of diverse students but in-service
professional development opportunities to address this are limited.
Sharon Douglass Mangroo
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Curriculum flexibility
To address the learning needs of all students in a diverse classroom, the
curriculum should be flexible to provide meaningful access and opportunity
for engagement to all without stigmatization or resorting to isolation for a
few. As the assessment results show there are many students in many
classrooms that have been excluded in some way from the curriculum.
They include those who are culturally or linguistically diverse, low
achievers, those whose learning styles do not match the prevailing
pedagogy, as well as those identified with disabilities and a number who
may understand some but not enough of the subject matter to achieve
competence. Orkwis and McLane (1998) advise that access to the
curriculum starts with a students ability to interact with it through learning
materials and they have identified the ways in which these materials bar full
curriculum access and engagement. Barriers to access may be physical,
sensory or cognitive which prevent or reduce students chance of achieving
competence. Learning materials used to teach curriculum content should
therefore have flexible designs to meet the diverse learning needs of
students with different abilities, cultural and linguistic backgrounds and
learning styles. The instructional and assessment methodologies must also
provide for multiple means of representation and expression matched to
the learning needs of each student.
Curriculum materials
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The systematic exclusion of some students from science subjects and the
resulting gap between the achievement of boys and girls has implications
for achievement of the goals related to the national strategy for
development.
Barriers to curriculum engagement
To facilitate engagement in the curriculum each child must be provided with
the support necessary to achieve the desired outcomes. The teacher must
be familiar with the learning needs of each student and monitor individual
progress. Interesting and intellectually challenging learning experiences
that take account of diverse interests, with appropriate scaffolding, must
include a balance of novelty and familiarity and a variety of formats and
content.
Miske Witt (2008) found that the degree of student support given by
teachers in local classrooms was inadequate. Pre-assessment of pupils is
not the norm and apart from test results, teachers do not systematically
record individual student progress. There is a general absence of
documented instructional planning and very limited accommodations to the
scope and sequence of the curriculum are made for students who may not
be fully engaged.
individual attention often limited to those students in the front rows rather
than the slower students who normally sit at the back. Where group work
was practiced, grouping patterns were ad hoc rather than planned to
improve performance. The absence of qualified support staff to assist
students with special learning needs leads to disengagement with the
curriculum and often results in disaffection with learning.
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teaching to the tests excluding content and skills that are not tested.
Broadfoot and Pollard (in Lauder, 2006) warn that failure experienced at an
early age may discourage learning, leading to a pattern that is likely to be
repeated at secondary and even tertiary levels. Christenson et al (2007)
further admonish that already struggling students are most likely to be so
affected and point to a positive relationship between high-stakes testing
and the student drop-out rate. Broadfoot and Pollard quote Madaus (1994)
to caution chillingly that far from being neutral, tests and assessments act
to transform, mould and even to create, what they supposedly measure
(Lauder, 2006. p.765).
The effect of national tests in the classroom
Northey et al (2007) report negative effects of the high-stakes tests at
primary level. These include the washback effect on the curriculum as
teachers emphasize the areas regularly tested to the neglect of non-tested
content. Unofficial practice tests featuring low level items that appear in
national newspapers are widely used by both parents and teachers and
reinforce this emphasis. The national tests have spawned a private
lessons industry that provides extra classes, often drill type, on afternoons
and weekends to those who can afford them. Privately published practice
tests are also included on the booklist of some schools, to be purchased by
parents. The significance of the consequences of the SEA examination has
the effect of making it, rather than the official curriculum, the object of
attention.
Though teachers articulate their belief that continuous assessment can
enhance student achievement, it is not widely implemented. Teachers
express fears that this practice requires a different type of teaching than
Sharon Douglass Mangroo
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achievement of the national goals for development. Extra lessons for those
who can afford it are also commonplace at this level.
Social promotion
Since 2001 the advent of universal secondary education has meant places
for all students at secondary school. The unintended consequence of this
decision is the transition of many students who are not yet ready for
secondary level. While retention of such students has not proven effective,
this social promotion has resulted in frustration for students who cannot do
the work, as well as for the teachers who are ill equipped to teach them and
sends a message to some that they can succeed without working while
their parents get a false sense of their progress (Christenson et al 2007).
Parents speak of their children passing the SEA examination by virtue of
being placed in a secondary school while in fact the child may have
achieved a low score that indicates a failure to meet the standards.
Second chances
Students who are unsuccessful in the exit examinations may attend publicly
provided evening classes or repeat the course at private schools. However
those students who do not succeed are often employed in jobs that
demand long or irregular hours and so have difficulty accessing classes.
Barriers created by assessment summarized
The negative, unintended consequences of the high-stakes tests that
dominate assessment in the education system produce major barriers to
education for many students. While physical access to schooling is
assured, the impact of the tests affects the nature of instruction, the
students self perception as a success or failure as well as his/her ability to
Sharon Douglass Mangroo
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Conclusion
Barriers to education exist in the school system through the pedagogy,
curriculum and assessment practices that largely ignore the diverse
learning needs of students. The nonexistence of overt standards for
teacher development and for teaching has resulted in a dominant
pedagogy that caters for a few and excludes many students. Reliance on
the textbook and lack of universally designed curriculum materials favours
those
with
reading
and
comprehension
competence.
High-stake
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