Jamaica’s Response to the CARICOM Mandate I: Pilot Programme in Schools
摘要
This chapter introduces the first of two strategies employed by Jamaica’s Ministry of Education in response to the CARICOM Mandate. This strategy, referred to in this research as the Primary Level Spanish Pilot Programme (PLSPP), was launched in 16 schools across Jamaica in 2004. Lecturers from Teachers’ Colleges, former student-teachers, principals, and teachers from selected schools were interviewed. Findings show that the measures implemented have been effective, as the schools studied have continued their Spanish programmes to this day. Principals suggest that similar measures can be employed to safeguard the teaching of Spanish at any primary school. They have sustained the PLSPP by increasing the visibility of Spanish as both a language and a subject on par with other subjects, maintaining a positive ideological stance towards Spanish at the primary level, protecting the position of the teacher of Spanish, encouraging teachers’ professional development, and fostering collaboration among staff.