Vol. 16 No. 1 (2009)
Articles

Collaborating to Reform Science Education in Context: Issues, Challenges, and Benefits

Susan Herbert
The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus
Bio
Joycelyn Rampersad
The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus
Bio
June George
The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus
Bio

Keywords

  • Science Education,
  • Secondary School Science,
  • University School Cooperation,
  • Reforming Science Education in Context,
  • Research Projects,
  • School of Education,
  • UWI,
  • St. Augustine,
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

Collaborating to Reform Science Education in Context: Issues, Challenges, and Benefits. (2015). Caribbean Curriculum, 16(1), 17-39. https://journals.sta.uwi.edu/ojs/index.php/cc/article/view/590

Abstract

Within recent times, the call for collaboration among stakeholders in education has been made with increasing frequency. In current thinking, community building and collaboration are posited as critical elements in school reform. The literature reveals various models for initiating collaboration. There is the model that describes the initiative for collaboration as undertaken by "researchers"/university personnel. A second model describes the perspective in which schools as organizations invite researchers to collaborate on a project. The Reforming Science Education in Context (ReSEC) project is an example of the first model. This paper reports the isssues that emerged in forging collaborative relationships among two lower secondary science teachers at a selected New Sector High School in Trinidad and three members of staff from the School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, during the period September 2005 to July 2006. It also presents the benefits and challenges associated with the process of collaboration, which aims to achieve a sschool-based agenda for education.