Browsing by Author "Knight, Verna"

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    Country review: Challenges and opportunities in the education system of Grenada
    (SUMMA, Laboratory for Research and Innovation in Education for Latin America and the Caribbean, 2021) Knight, Verna; Moody-Marshall, Rasheda; Marshall, Jason; Depradine, Kathy
    Latin America and the Caribbean, SUMMA and OECS have promoted a series of studies with specialists, under the common denominator “Challenges and opportunities in the education systems of the KIX LAC countries”. As a result of this research, it was proposed to develop a series of working papers aimed at updating the educational diagnosis of each country and identifying the difficulties, strengths, challenges and current priorities faced by the following countries: Dominica, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. This series of working papers focuses on six thematic areas prioritized by KIX such as: (i) early childhood education, (ii) learning assessment systems, (iii) gender equity, (iv) data systems, (v) equity and inclusion, and (vi) teaching and learning. The research papers drew on secondary sources and interviews with key local stakeholders that delve into the challenges and experiences of different education systems from various perspectives: legal and policy frameworks, governance and financing, the impact of the pandemic, curriculum and learning materials, teachers, learning environments, and the contribution of educational communities and students.
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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.