Obstacles to change in teacher education in Trinidad and Tobago

Authors

  • Marilyn Steinbach Université de Sherbrooke

Abstract

This article describes part of a transition process in teacher education in Trinidad and Tobago.  After assisting the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) in the development of a four-year Bachelor of Education program that replaced the previous system of two-year in-service training at Teachers College, I describe the contested, complex process of reform in the teacher education system in Trinidad and Tobago. Three major obstacles blocking this transition process were: traditions within the society; an underlying neo-colonialist and hierarchical mentality; and, political circumstances. A neo-colonialist theoretical framework is used to analyse the obstacles to curriculum change in the context of Trinidad and Tobago.

Author Biography

  • Marilyn Steinbach, Université de Sherbrooke

    Marilyn Steinbach is an associate professor in the pedagogy department at the Faculty of Education at Sherbrooke University. She has an M.A. in second language education from McGill University and a doctorate in Comparative Education from OISE/University of Toronto. She has taught in several countries, and served as visiting professor in Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti, and Italy. Her research interests are the linguistic, academic, and social integration of immigrant students, sociolinguistic factors in second language learning, intercultural relations in schools and universities, intercultural education for future teachers, and pedagogical differentiation. She teaches second language methodology, the role of culture in second language teaching, intercultural education, and intercultural communication.

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Published

2012-12-07

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 1 (2012)

Section

General Refereed Papers

License

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