Browsing by Author "Ferguson, Therese"

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    Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Infusion into Curricula: Influences on Students’ Understandings of Sustainable Development and ESD
    (Brock Education, 2022) Ferguson, Therese; Roofe, Carmel; Cook, Loraine D.; Bramwell-Lalor, Sharon; Hordatt Gentles, Carol
    Formal education for sustainable development (ESD) is in large part dependent on capacitybuilding and training of teachers as they are the individuals who must both deliver ESD at the classroom level as well as utilize their own knowledge, values, and skills in support of sustainability. In this paper, teacher educators within a higher education institution in Jamaica who infused ESD in their course delivery analyze data collected from approximately 140 of their students pre- and post-intervention to ascertain whether individuals’ awareness and knowledge of sustainable development (SD) and ESD had changed because of the infusion process. Preliminary findings indicate that students’ understanding of SD broadened after the courses, with most students believing that SD involves social, economic, and environmental improvements that do not come at the expense of our natural resources. Additionally, students’ thoughts about ESD shifted, with students highlighting aspects of the interdisciplinary nature of ESD, and ESD as involving equitable, inclusive education. The findings are significant in highlighting how intentional infusion of ESD into courses can enhance students’ knowledge and awareness of SD and ESD.
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    The initial engagement and experiences of Caribbean educators with the reality of COVID-19: Exploring the educational planning implications
    (The University of the West Indies, Jamaica, 2022) Thompson, Canute; Ferguson, Therese; Knight, Verna; Bailey, Dian; Cole, Sharline; Davis, Nadine; Henry-Wilson, Maxine; Johnson, Viviene; Mccarthy-Curvin, Avalloy; Montgomery, Allison; Moore, Schontal
    COVID-19 caught the world off-guard, bringing disruption and chaos to all sectors, including education. Within Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the experiences were varied, as were the responses of educational stakeholders at all levels to the crisis of the pandemic. Stakeholders’ experiences and responses should inform educational planning and policy, and it is against that backdrop that this research was conducted. This research captures the insights from three webinars sponsored by the Caribbean Centre for Educational Planning, which focused on challenges faced by educational institutions at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of the education system. The transcripts from those webinars were used to construct this paper using a generic qualitative research design. The webinars pulled on the expertise of panellists from across the Caribbean and North America. The findings reveal that most stakeholders were unprepared for the challenges occasioned by COVID-19, which translated into further difficulties adapting to online/blended teaching/learning, psycho-social stresses, heightened economic challenges, and disruptions to examinations. In response to these challenges, among the stakeholders, training was implemented, open communication increased, technical and infrastructural resources were upgraded, health and safety protocols were enforced/reinforced, and domestic and international groups collaborated to bolster access for all students. Lessons learned included the need for collaboration, equity, access, and opportunities, and exercising the courage to radically rethink the region’s ‘educational futures’ by incorporating the shared perspectives of key stakeholders in educational planning and policy making.