School readiness at the nexus between poverty and education: The insights of two Jamaican teachers

In this article, the role of poverty as a barrier to children’s readiness for school is discussed. Using two Jamaican early childhood teachers to illuminate the findings, this piece sought to gain insight into teachers’ perspectives about supporting children, who come from impoverished circumstances, to be ready for primary school. Thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews revealed two dominant themes; Better preparation to meet children’s developmental needs Unrealistic expectations- curriculum expectations perpetuate knowledge gap These findings draw attention to some of the challenges teachers face in meeting the needs of children who live in poverty. These challenges have implications for the provision of equitable early childhood opportunities for children from diverse socio-economic backgrounds

Using cross-cultural conversations to contextualize understandings of play: a multinational study

The following study examines two researchers’ perspectives on play in the lives of children from diverse cultural contexts. Two questions guided this study: (1) how do researchers conceptualize children’s play and (2) what shapes their understanding of play. In order to answer these questions, a critical discourse was established between two researchers who had each completed ethnographic studies of play in the UK and Jamaica. The initial research studies comprised of observations, semi-structured interviews, field notes and collection of artefacts relating to play. Through discourse, new understandings were unearthed by examining the different contexts of play. The aim of this study is to contextualize our understanding of play and to expand our notions of play beyond researcher positionalities. This discursive method allows concepts of play to be grounded, but not restricted by national contexts through juxtaposition with multinational policies, programmes and practices

Through the teacher's eyes, literacy development in the early childhood years : a qualitative research project from an ethnographic perspective.

The purpose of this study was to follow the development of literacy acquisition in a group of early childhood students and to understand how a socio-cultural understanding of literacy affects my understanding of home / school literacy practices. Conducted on a small island in the Commonwealth Caribbean, my primary aim was to understand what happens to children in order for them to learn to read and write, and to follow their linear progress of this over the course of an academic year. Additionally I also wanted to understand the role of homes, families and communities in this process and to examine how my practices as a teacher impacted on this. Using qualitative methodology from an ethnographic perspective, this dissertation explored the varying factors that have implications on literacy acquisition. The study was based on my observations as a kindergarten teacher, along with the perspectives of my co-constructors (parents and student participants). Six students and their parents/ guardians were used as case studies to illuminate the findings, I was able to use interviews, artefacts collected and my observations of them over the course of a year both in their primary learning environment, the home, and at school. Four questions guided this research process; 1. What literacy skills are my students expected to master in kindergarten? 2. What is my role as the teacher in facilitating literacy acquisition, what experiences do I provide for my students in the classroom and how do I use the home and family literacy practices to enhance the instructional process? Through the teacher's eyes, literacy development in the early childhood years: a qualitative research project from an ethnographic perspective. 3. At the end of kindergarten what are the literacy skills my students possess? How does this compare to the skills they possessed when they began kindergarten? How do home/ family literacy experiences facilitate this development? 4. How does a socio-cultural understanding of literacy affect my understanding of home/school literacy practices? My research findings highlight that literacy serves a unique purpose to families. Children's experiences with literacies reflect their cultural identities and the value they place on its role in everyday family experiences and practices. These family literacy experiences are unique, varied and rich and serve as the model and the impetus for children as they aim to develop foundational literacy skills. A cross- case analysis of my co-constructors revealed five main themes that emerged from the findings; literacy as a socially and culturally constructed, dominant parent influences, globalisation as a need for change and perceptions on the purposes of literacy. Though the findings of this study are not generalisable, the findings have implications for practice and policies in the Paradise Cays. I conclude that literacy instruction be culturally responsible and relevant to the needs of children. Additionally, I also posit that pedagogical practices employed take into account the family experiences of children and use them as a means to enhance the learning experience

Promoting A Positive Racial Identity in Young African Caribbean Children: An Anti-colonial Approach

Most empirical contributions on children and race, and the theories derived from this body of work, have focused on American or Canadian children. Some scholars have begun to explore children’s attitudes about race in international contexts, but few have investigated racial identity and attitudes among African Caribbean children in the English-speaking Caribbean context. In this article, we first review international scholarship on children and race, as well as research involving Caribbean children and race. Next, we use an anti-colonial perspective to explore specific pedagogical strategies that can support positive racial identities among young African Caribbean children in the region

Mapping the Contours of Caribbean Early Childhood Education

Regional scholars in the Caribbean context have long advocated for quality early childhood education. The majority of their contributions however, focus primarily on curriculum, policy, and to a lesser extent, teaching practices. In this article, we broaden the scope of extant literature by conceptualizing a model for Caribbean early childhood education, one which draws on and supports an anti-colonial and decolonizing perspective. Specifically, we interrogate the enduring legacy of colonialism on teaching and learning practices—and illustrate how these manifest in contemporary schooling processes. Equally significant, we examine and critique underlying epistemologies that frame current regional approaches, and offer an alternative framework that accents cultural knowledges in curriculum, pedagogy and teacher education. In response, we foreground childhood decolonization as integral to the development of positive racial and cultural identity, and in such vein, offer curricula, pedagogical and institutional (i.e., teacher education) suggestions consonant with an anti-colonial and decolonizing approach to early childhood education in the English-speaking Caribbean

Getting it Right From the Start: A Retrospective and Current Examination of Infant-Toddler Care in Jamaica

Despite acknowledging that early childhood spans from birth to eight years, in Jamaica, similar to many other developing countries, predominant interest in early childhood care and education has typically been centred on the education children three to six years receive rather than the care of infants and toddlers. With the current thrust towards improving access to childcare in Jamaica it warrants an examination of the sector and the issues affecting infants/toddlers and the persons who care for them. Guided by the findings of the ground breaking 1993 UNICEF funded report which evaluated the state of nursery care in Jamaica, this conceptual study examines strides that have been made in infant and toddler care. With the goal to juxtapose the state of nursery care then and now, four key issues which have implications for the sustained development of Jamaica’s infant and toddler programming; funding of the sector, professional development of nursery staff, parent education and improving child outcomes, were examined. This examination of the state of nursery care is done with the view to consider possible solutions to some of the challenges by considering the ways other economically similar neighbouring countries have tackled them

Unpacking the mechanisms shaping perceptions of quality in early childhood education research and practice as illuminated by cross-cultural conversations between practitioners from Britain and Jamaica

Globally, attempts to develop standards and improve educational outcomes have largely been the impetus behind early childhood education reform efforts. Notwithstanding the difficulty in achieving this, decisions driving such efforts have predominantly revolved around providing ‘quality’ and have been in response to questions surrounding; What can we do better? What does it look like? and What do we do next? These questions are important for both researchers and practitioners because, as Schweisfurth (2014, p.260) notes, the global quality imperative has often been ‘addressed obliquely and couched in terms of its outcomes rather than its processes’, shifting the focus of research towards evidence-based practice that uses cause and effect models and quantitative impact measurement (Stewart-Brown et al., 2011; NICE, 2014; Nesta, 2018)

Mapping the Contours of Caribbean Early Childhood Education

Regional scholars in the Caribbean context have long advocated for quality early childhood education. The majority of their contributions however, focus primarily on curriculum, policy, and to a lesser extent, teaching practices. In this article, we broaden the scope of extant literature by conceptualizing a model for Caribbean early childhood education, one which draws on and supports an anti-colonial and decolonizing perspective. Specifically, we interrogate the enduring legacy of colonialism on teaching and learning practices—and illustrate how these manifest in contemporary schooling processes. Equally significant, we examine and critique underlying epistemologies that frame current regional approaches, and offer an alternative framework that accents cultural knowledges in curriculum, pedagogy and teacher education. In response, we foreground childhood decolonization as integral to the development of positive racial and cultural identity, and in such vein, offer curricula, pedagogical and institutional (i.e., teacher education) suggestions consonant with an anti-colonial and decolonizing approach to early childhood education in the English-speaking Caribbean

Authentic family learning: reconceptualising intergenerational education initiatives, in Jamaica and England, through cross-cultural conversation

This paper shares a set of cross-cultural conversations (Kinkead-Clark and Hardacre, 2016) between two family learning practitioner-researchers, one from Jamaica and one from England. Concern that global education policies reflect and reproduce a social investment perspective, positioning family learning as a way to generate productive citizens, drives this paper. Using Hardacre’s (2017) Authentic Family Learning as a conceptual framework we re-examine our ongoing work with families. An analysis of these cross-cultural conversations reveals that along with valuing the existing agency and identity of participants there is also a need to balance the role of power enacted by practitioners; ultimately reconceptualising power as a positive force that does not require inversion, minimisation or removal

Through the teacher's eyes, literacy development in the early childhood years : a qualitative research project from an ethnographic perspective

The purpose of this study was to follow the development of literacy acquisition in a group of early childhood students and to understand how a socio-cultural understanding of literacy affects my understanding of home / school literacy practices. Conducted on a small island in the Commonwealth Caribbean, my primary aim was to understand what happens to children in order for them to learn to read and write, and to follow their linear progress of this over the course of an academic year. Additionally I also wanted to understand the role of homes, families and communities in this process and to examine how my practices as a teacher impacted on this. Using qualitative methodology from an ethnographic perspective, this dissertation explored the varying factors that have implications on literacy acquisition. The study was based on my observations as a kindergarten teacher, along with the perspectives of my co-constructors (parents and student participants). Six students and their parents/ guardians were used as case studies to illuminate the findings, I was able to use interviews, artefacts collected and my observations of them over the course of a year both in their primary learning environment, the home, and at school. Four questions guided this research process; 1. What literacy skills are my students expected to master in kindergarten? 2. What is my role as the teacher in facilitating literacy acquisition, what experiences do I provide for my students in the classroom and how do I use the home and family literacy practices to enhance the instructional process? Through the teacher's eyes, literacy development in the early childhood years: a qualitative research project from an ethnographic perspective. 3. At the end of kindergarten what are the literacy skills my students possess? How does this compare to the skills they possessed when they began kindergarten? How do home/ family literacy experiences facilitate this development? 4. How does a socio-cultural understanding of literacy affect my understanding of home/school literacy practices? My research findings highlight that literacy serves a unique purpose to families. Children's experiences with literacies reflect their cultural identities and the value they place on its role in everyday family experiences and practices. These family literacy experiences are unique, varied and rich and serve as the model and the impetus for children as they aim to develop foundational literacy skills. A cross- case analysis of my co-constructors revealed five main themes that emerged from the findings; literacy as a socially and culturally constructed, dominant parent influences, globalisation as a need for change and perceptions on the purposes of literacy. Though the findings of this study are not generalisable, the findings have implications for practice and policies in the Paradise Cays. I conclude that literacy instruction be culturally responsible and relevant to the needs of children. Additionally, I also posit that pedagogical practices employed take into account the family experiences of children and use them as a means to enhance the learning experience.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo