Social Learning and Collaborative Professional Learning among Caribbean Teachers: Implications for Praxis

Abstract

Teacher professional development continues to be the sine qua non of an effective and sustainable education system. This study examined the views of 14 Caribbean teachers on teacher professional development and how it is conducted at schools in St. Eustatius (6), Grenada (3), Trinidad (2), Bahamas (1), Barbados (1), and British Virgin Islands (1) to determine what is currently being implemented in their respective islands and what they would like to see implemented in their specific contexts. This qualitative, phenomenological study couched in the interpretivist paradigm showed that there are similarities and differences in how teacher professional development is conducted in each island. All participants shared that teacher professional activities geared towards team building, cooperative learning activities and developmental activities enhance students’ learning whilst others felt that professional development should cater to understanding how to interact with students (Bahamian and Trinidadian). Moreover, this convenient sample of Caribbean teachers exemplified that teacher professional development is top-down with some room for changes. It is recommended that teachers form face-to-face Professional Learning Communities or utilize the existing social media in the form of Teachers’ Facebook page as a means of sharing informal PD in places where this is not done.