The culture space in the education classroom [PowerPoint presentation]

Abstract

Comments that the school curriculum of Trinidad and Tobago is culturally irrelevant to our contemporary students have generated much interest in recent years. Following on research previously conducted with community artists, public figures interested in education, curriculum officers, and tertiary level lecturers, this study focused on the views of teachers at the school level. The paper reports on the process of (i) developing and validating an instrument to determine and understand teachers' views about the culture curriculum nexus; and (ii) using the findings to develop indigenous material for use in primary and lower secondary classrooms. A survey using a Likert-type scale and open-ended questions was distributed to teachers enrolled in various programmes at the School of Education, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Initial responses to the survey instrument indicated that teachers were in general agreement with most of the perceptions about culturally relevant curricula as expressed by stakeholders involved in the first phase of the research, for example, that cultural relevance is reflected in aims and goals, content, and methods of delivery. However, there were some divergent views which were related to whether school type should be a factor in delivering culturally relevant curricula, the need for clarification of the concepts of relevance and cultural relevance, and teacher competence to deliver culturally relevant curricula. These findings informed the development of curriculum materials