Browsing by Author "Jules, Vena"

Now showing 1 - 19 of 19
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    Academic achievement, pupil participation, and integration of group work skills in secondary school classrooms in the Caribbean
    (School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2006) Kutnick, Peter; Layne, Anthony; Jules, Vena; Layne, Bereneice Clarissa
    This study sought to implement and evaluate a group work pedagogic method intended to encourage classroom participation and learning. It was especially concerned with teachers initiating and implementing within-class activities to enhance the performance of the lowest attaining students among both sexes. The 12 teachers identified to participate in the study were selected from those undertaking the inservice training in the postgraduate Diploma in Education (Dip.Ed.) programme at the Cave Hill, Barbados and St. Augustine, Trinidad campuses of The University of the West Indies (UWI). Data were collected from nearly 300 students in January and July of the 2003-2004 academic year. It was found that: 1) virtually all students improved their academic performance through the two terms of group work in their classrooms. This was especially evident among the lowest achieving students (particularly boys); 2) students showed generally improving attitudes towards working in groups and achievement in school over the two terms (especially among low achievers); and 3) teachers' attitudes and understanding of a "good pupil" changed over the course of study--moving away from simple individual skills (good knowledge, good concentration, etc.) to the recognition of the importance of social inclusion and relational skills
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    A comparison of the readability levels of language arts, science and social studies texts in use by students in Standard 5 and Form 1 classes
    (Faculty of Education, The University of the West Indies, 1987-10) George, June; Jules, Vena; Morris, Jeanette
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    Continuing education for geography teachers: A case study of Trinidad and Tobago
    (International Geographical Union Commission on Geographical Education, 1988) Jules, Vena; Biilmann, Ove
    Within the context of the education system of Trinidad and Tobago, and the history of geography content and teaching, this paper examines the continuing training of primary and secondary teachers of geography in the country. Provision for primary school teacher training includes: 1) on-the-job inservice education used to boost academic qualifications for pupil teachers and to instill a minimum of teaching proficiency; 2) off-the-job full-time inservice training at a teachers' training college, used to train primary school teachers in professional skills; and 3) occasional seminars, workshops, or courses. For teachers at the secondary level, there are: 1) a one-year inservice teacher education programme at the Faculty of Education, The University of the West Indies (UWI); and 2) specialist workshops, seminars, and conferences
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    Cooperative learning and work-mate preferences in classrooms in secondary schools
    (Winter 1990) Jules, Vena;
    This paper describes cooperative learning in three high school classrooms showing that the cooperative learning strategy may be a potent instrument in work-mate preference stability and change. The examples also demonstrate the value of this strategy for maximizing intergroup interaction for the promotion of learning experiences
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    Cooperative learning: Student perceptions of the changing structure of learning
    (Spring 1992) Jules, Vena;
    This article presents secondary school students' perceptions of cooperative learning (CL) in an attempt to understand how and why CL benefits students affectively and cognitively. After describing the structure of learning and schooling, the article discusses how CL promotes positive interdependence, social skills, work skills, and individual accountability
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    Gender and School Achievement in the Caribbean
    (Department for International Development, 1997-11) Kutnick, Peter; Jules, Vena; Layne, Anthony
    This project explored the reasons why females stay-on in schools and gained comparatively better achievement scores in Trinidad, Barbados, and St. Vincent. The four research questions which underlay the studies related to: 1) the variance of within-class achievement scores by sex, especially between students of equal ability (as noted by results of the primary School Leaving examination and the Common Entrance Examination (CEE); 2) whether differential levels of achievement remained over time, especially over the years of secondary schooling; 3) whether there were differential learning strategies that characterised girls and boys in school, and whether these strategies were related to the status of their secondary school; and 4) whether the quantitative results obtained from an earlier Trinidad study could be substantiated elsewhere, especially in Barbados and St. Vincent. Data were collected through quantitative surveys to assess success and generalizability of results from one island to another, and qualitative case studies to provide insights into classroom process, interaction, and structure in the promotion of success at the level where it affected children. The quantitative surveys showed that the average within-class attainment and CEE scores attained by girls was consistently higher that those attained by boys across the three countries. The drop-off in male participation in schooling, especially during the transition to and during secondary schooling, was confirmed in Barbados and St. Vincent. Sex of the children was only one significant factor in the explanation of attainment in school. Factors such as occupation of parents, whether the child lived with both parents, attendance at preschool, and the type of school attended, each contributed more of the variance in attainment than the sex of the child. Within schools, the case studies showed practices that allowed for the inclusion or exclusion of certain children (especially low attainers, a number of whom were male). The culture found in prestige schools overcame sex.
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    How teachers in the Caribbean feel about the field studies (report on a survey)
    (Jan. 1985) Jules, Vena;
    This study sought to determine: 1) how the geography teachers of Trinidad and Tobago felt about the individual Field Study, 2) the teaching and field study experiences of these teachers, and 3) the assistance they needed. It was found that the majority of teachers thought that the concept of the field study was a good one, but that it should be optional for both Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) proficiency levels. The majority of teachers also indicated the need for help, especially in the areas of skills and techniques
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    In the context of Trinidad and Tobago, How do we identify schools that are succeeding or failing amidst exceptionally challenging circumstances?
    (School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) De Lisle, Jerome; Smith, Peter; Lewis, Yvonne; Keller, Carol; Mc David, Patricia; Jules, Vena; Lochan, Samuel; Hackett, Raymond S.; Pierre, Phaedra N.; Seunarinesingh, Krishna
    The understanding that some schools face uniquely challenging circumstances represents a groundswell of new research in school improvement and education reform policy. Traditional school improvement theory does not account for variations in school contexts, and some have questioned the applicability of current practice to all schools, especially those in disadvantaged contexts. This leads directly to the core question of this paper: In the context of Trinidad and Tobago, how do we identify schools facing challenge? Answering this question will allow us to address the edifice of inequity strangling schooling outcomes in Latin America and the Caribbean. A critical task is the development of a database of schools with characteristics related to performance and context. This paper describes the protocol and initial data from such a project. Data came from the 2005 and 2006 primary school national achievement tests. A simple measure of school performance, called the Academic Performance Index, was developed, based on the distribution of students in each performance level defined in the national achievement tests. Additional indices were obtained, including disadvantage status and school size. From the database, a short list of high- and low-achieving schools in challenging circumstances was developed
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    Interaction dynamics of cooperative learning groups in Trinidad's secondary schools
    (Winter 1991) Jules, Vena;
    This study investigated adolescents' changes in choice of workmates before and after cooperative learning to identify relationships between these changes and existing friendship and clique patterns, socio-economic status, race, and achievement perceptions. The pattern that emerged showed that, although actual choices changed, principle upon which choices were made did not. Males selected others using achievement as criterion; females used socio-economic status
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    Race and gender as factors of students' survival to the Fifth Form in Trinidad and Tobago
    (Institute of Social and Economic Research, UWI, 1991) Jules, Vena; Ryan, Selwyn
    This study raises questions of student survival both at the level of the individual and the race group. The specific questions addressed were: 1) Who, in terms of race, gender and education region, survived the guaranteed five years; 2) What is the survival rate of students from Fourth to Fifth Form? 3) How do those who survive the Fifth Form perceive school? and 4) How are they helped with school work outside of school? A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 2,198 students, of whom 1,744 completed it. Results of the data analysis showed that overall 1) students of all major race groupings survive the guaranteed five years equally well, and that 2) while students may have entered secondary school with varying perceptions of it, once there, there is no significant difference in their perceptions and expectations of secondary schooling that can be related to race. Significant variations were found in other categories--school locality or education region, occupation of parents, and sex of student
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    Students' affective reactions to their early secondary schooling experiences in Trinidad and Tobago
    (Office of the UNESCO Representative in the Caribbean, 1999) Jules, Vena
    A longitudinal study was conducted with a 10 percent representative sample of one entry year cohort of first cycle secondary schools students in Trinidad and Tobago. This sample consisted of 2,125 students in 64 classroom groups from every school type and education district. Towards the end of each school year, students were asked whether or not they liked coming to school and why, what classroom events evoked interest, which ones feelings of being unsure, and how they responded to each case. Three classroom groups were also observed and students and school personnel interviewed. Results indicated that most students liked coming to school even though the number so responding decreased each year. Students’ reasoned responses regarding their affective reaction fell into the following categories for each of the three years (1, 2 and 3), with the respective frequency of response indicated in parentheses: 1) interaction with other students (19.6 percent, 21.4 percent, 24 percent); interaction with teachers (20.9 percent, 6.8 percent, 3.9 percent); 3) the specific school (34.7 percent, 37 percent, 31.1 percent, 4) the programme offered (38.7 percent, 32.4 percent, 34.9 percent); 5) beliefs about purposes of schooling that had a career or future oriented focus (22.8 percent, 33.8 percent, 30.9 percent); and 6) a need to please others (1.3 percent, 1.5 percent, 1.4 percent). Experience in school evoked a range of feelings and emotions. Among the more positive was a feeling of belonging, which was most prevalent among girls. The more negative emotions were fear, shame, and a variety of others deriving from school-based hurts. More males than females spoke of events filled with fear and shame.
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    Survivors of the experience: The first three years of secondary schooling in Trinidad and Tobago
    (Office of the UNESCO Reprensentative in the Caribbean, 1999) Jules, Vena
    A longitudinal study was designed to trace student survival to the end of the first cycle (third year) of secondary school through a randomly selected representative sample. The sample comprised 2, 125 students and 64 classroom groups—10 percent of the students of one year entry. Data gathering by questionnaire, interviews, and small-scale observation was done during the last five weeks of each school year. Results revealed that dropouts was greatest at the end of Year 2 (2.8 percent) and, in that year, was highest among students starting school with Common Entrance (CEE) marks, students from low income homes, males, students of remote schools, students in Muslim Board managed schools and students of African descent, and was related to situations where problems were more personal. Dropout in Year 3 was highest among girls, students who considered themselves White, and related to situations where the problem was within the school environment. Dropout of boys from boys’ schools, children of mixed descent, and children from father-only and grandparent or guardian-headed household continued unabated throughout all three years.
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    The place of field studies in geography
    (Jan. 1985) Jules, Vena;
    This paper puts forward the case for the inclusion of the Field Study component in the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) geography syllabus
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    The status and development of geography in the schools and colleges of Trinidad and Tobago
    (Institute of Social and Economic Research, UWI, 1990) Jules, Vena; Morrissey, Mike
    This article reviews the status and development of geography education in primary and secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago. It looks at the initiatives of teachers who played a significant role in curriculum development and reform. Two major post-independence curriculum reforms are discussed: 1) a change from geography to social studies at the primary, junior secondary, and teachers' college levels; and 2) a switch from an externally oriented and examined geography syllabus to one oriented to the needs of the Caribbean people and examined regionally
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    Towards improving students' processing skills and the effectiveness of geography teaching
    Jules, Vena;
    Two exploratory studies were done using a qualitative design involving 5 geography teachers 233 students in the first phase and 4 teachers and 98 students in the second phase. These studies examined the effects on student learning in geography when teachers and students deliberately used these five mental processing skills--comparing, ordering, inferring, classifying, predicting--in classroom instruction. In all four cases studied, results on teacher-made pre- and post-tests showed a significant difference. Additionally, many students showed significant improvement on the processing skills measurable on the Cattel Culture Fair Test of "g" scale d Form A
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    When choosing might mean losing: A mixed method study of secondary school choice in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
    (School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2009) De Lisle, Jerome; Keller, Carol; Jules, Vena; Smith, Peter
    This article argues that Trinidad and Tobago has historically operated a system of open enrolment. Open access to schools by families may be rooted in the conflict between Church and State over schooling. The system is founded on the principle of the right of parents to choose schools for their children, first argued in the 18th century by the Church, and now included as a provision in the Trinidad and Tobago Republican Constitution. Choice of secondary school is operationalized by a system of rules for placement at eleven-plus. Parents are required to list their choice of schools and depending upon the candidates' score in the eleven-plus examination, test takers receive one of these choices or are assigned by the Ministry of Education. To study the system of secondary school choice in Trinidad and Tobago, information was gathered from the registration database of 11 eleven-plus examinations spanning the period 1995-2005. Student choices were analysed along with the demographic and geographic data. In the mixed method research design, data on the construction of school choice were also collected from focus groups and individual laddering interviews with both parents and children at four school sites. The integrated findings suggest that the choice-making process is complex, fluid, and dynamic, with multiple markets and different consumer types. Families made decisions in which children and even outsiders had considerable voice. Making choices involved a dual process of valorization and demonization of schools, but a tendency to reject some schools was predominant in many instances. The value placed on first choice "prestige" schools may be related to the consumer values of future economic success, safety of person, and assurance of stable personal development
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    When choosing might mean losing: The construction of secondary school choice in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
    (School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) De Lisle, Jerome; Keller, Carol; Jules, Vena; Smith, Peter
    Trinidad and Tobago has historically operated a system of open enrolment for all schools. This open access to schools by families is a feature rooted in the historical conflict between Church and State over schooling. Open enrolment is founded on the principle of the right of parents to choose schools for their children, first argued in the 18th century by the Church, and now included as a provision in the Trinidad and Tobago Republican Constitution. Choice of secondary school is embedded in the rules of operation for the placement system at eleven-plus, with parents required to list four or six choices. Depending upon the candidates' score in the examination, they receive one of their choices or are assigned by the Ministry of Education. To study the system of school choice in Trinidad and Tobago, information was collected from the registration database of 11 eleven-plus examinations spanning the period 1995-2005. Student choices were analysed along with the demographic and geographic data. In the mixed method research design, data were also collected from parents and children from four schools across the country. The data indicate that the choice-making process is complex, fluid, and dynamic, with multiple markets and different consumer types. Families made decisions with children also having a say. Choice making involved a dual process of valorization and demonization of schools, with a tendency to more often reject new sector government schools. The value placed on first choice "prestige" schools was related to consumer values of safety and security. Parents valued a school if it could shepherd their beloved offspring through life's rocky courses