[hr-education] Challenges for citizenship education in Trinidad and Tobago

[***Moderator's note: The message below was adapted from the id21 research
highlight 'Challenges for citizenship education in Trinidad and Tobago':  
http://www.id21.org/education/E3pe1g1.html ***]

Dear colleagues,

What is citizenship education? Can it help citizens of multi-ethnic
societies to live together in peace and harmony? How can member states of
the Commonwealth strengthen joint understanding of 'Commonwealth values'
and enable citizens to meet the challenges of democratic participation?
How can teachers be enthused to teach citizenship education effectively?

A recent Commonwealth Secretariat report, "Citizenship education in small
states: Trinidad and Tobago" (Author: Patricia Ellis, ISBN 0-85092-730-7,
2002) assesses the state of citizenship education in Trinidad and Tobago.  
It shows that education policies have liberal aims but turning these into
action is difficult. The author warns that the failure of the education
system to meet the needs of different groups in this diverse Caribbean
nation affects their ability to be productive citizens of a united
country.

While there is a degree of harmony in this twin-island state, politics is
split along racial lines. A predominantly African and a predominantly
Asian party currently hold an equal number of parliamentary seats.
Political tensions, the growth of unemployment (particularly among youth)
and high levels of inequality in this oil-based economy are heightening
fears of future instability. As society becomes more materialistic,
corruption, crime and lack of discipline in schools are all on the rise.

The exam performance of Africans in the nation is well below average and
that of whites significantly higher than those of Indo-Trinidadians and
young people of mixed descent. Corporal punishment may have been
abolished, but school structures remain conservatively geared to cognitive
learning. Interest in subjects relating to human emotions, moral values
and character development is low among both teachers and students.

Among the innovative participatory approaches described are:

*interactive methods engaging learners in problem-solving, anger management 
and conflict resolution
*use of Trinidadian oral tradition - particularly Annancy stories - to help 
children learn appropriate behaviour
*mock trials to introduce youth to the law, its values and processes: 
follow up group discussions bring together delinquent children and teachers 
to discuss social issues
*soap opera formats and posters to highlight the rights and 
responsibilities of parents, students, teachers and other community members.

Researchers mapped out all the government, UN, NGO and faith-based
providers of citizenship education programmes and provided the first
comprehensive forum for sharing information and developing a national
action plan. The report highlights concerns about lack of coherence,
co-ordination and systematic evaluation.

To address these, and to maintain the momentum generated by the study, the
Commonwealth Secretariat urges the need to:

*provide greater support to teachers to help them teach citizenship 
education and to themselves model good citizenship practices
*ensure that the national curriculum lays greater stress on development of 
a national identity, rather than promoting ethnicity
*improved sharing of best practice and materials between state and civil 
society citizenship education providers
*ensure that gender is addressed in citizenship education: teachers must 
first examine their own gender biases
*address the currently low level of political participation by teaching 
citizens about the constitution and the responsibility of individuals to 
help promote good governance
*sensitise policy-makers and community leaders to deficiencies in 
citizenship education and provide them with opportunities to develop 
philosophies and ways of getting core universal/Commonwealth values into 
all institutions.


"Citizenship education in small states: Trinidad and Tobago", Commonwealth 
Secretariat, by P. Ellis, ISBN 0-85092-730-7, 2002. Further information 
about the book can be found at: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/pubs.html


Rupert Jones-Parry
Publications Unit
The Commonwealth Secretariat
Marlborough House
Pall Mall
London SW1Y 5HX
UK
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7747 6342
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7839 9081
Email: r.jones-parry@commonwealth.int




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