Challenges for citizenship education in Trinidad and Tobago

What is citizenship education? Can it help citizens of multi-ethnic societies to live together in peace and harmony? How can member states of the Commonwealth strengthen joint understanding of ‘Commonwealth values’ and enable citizens to meet the challenges of democratic participation? How can teachers be enthused to teach citizenship education effectively?

A Commonwealth Secretariat report, ‘Citizenship education in small states: Trinidad and Tobago’, assesses the state of citizenship education in Trinidad and Tobago. It shows that education policies have liberal aims but turning these into action is difficult. The author warns that the failure of the education system to meet the needs of different groups in this diverse Caribbean nation affects their ability to be productive citizens of a united country.

While there is a degree of harmony in this twin-island state, politics is split along racial lines. A predominantly African and a predominantly Asian party currently hold an equal number of parliamentary seats. Political tensions, the growth of unemployment (particularly among youth) and high levels of inequality in this oil-based economy are heightening fears of future instability. As society becomes more materialistic, corruption, crime and lack of discipline in schools are all on the rise.

The exam performance of Africans in the nation is well below average and that of whites significantly higher than those of Indo-Trinidadians and young people of mixed descent. Corporal punishment may have been abolished, but school structures remain conservatively geared to cognitive learning. Interest in subjects relating to human emotions, moral values and character development is low among both teachers and students.

Among the innovative participatory approaches described are:

• interactive methods engaging learners in problem-solving, anger management and conflict resolution
• use of Trinidadian oral tradition – particularly Annancy stories – to help children learn appropriate behaviour
• mock trials to introduce youth to the law, its values and processes: follow up group discussions bring together delinquent children and teachers to discuss social issues
• soap opera formats and posters to highlight the rights and responsibilities of parents, students, teachers and other community members.

Researchers mapped out all the government, UN, NGO and faith-based providers of citizenship education programmes and provided the first comprehensive forum for sharing information and developing a national action plan. The report highlights concerns about lack of coherence, co-ordination and systematic evaluation.

To address these, and to maintain the momentum generated by the study, the Commonwealth Secretariat urges the need to:

• provide greater support to teachers to help them teach citizenship education and to themselves model good citizenship practices
• ensure that the national curriculum lays greater stress on development of a national identity, rather than promoting ethnicity
• improved sharing of best practice and materials between state and civil society citizenship education providers
• ensure that gender is addressed in citizenship education: teachers must first examine their own gender biases
• address the currently low level of political participation by teaching citizens about the constitution and the responsibility of individuals to help promote good governance
• sensitise policy-makers and community leaders to deficiencies in citizenship education and provide them with opportunities to develop philosophies and ways of getting core universal/Commonwealth values into all institutions.

 

Source(s):
‘Citizenship education in small states: Trinidad and Tobago’, Commonwealth Secretariat, by P. Ellis, ISBN 0-85092-730-7, 2002 Full document.

Funded by: Commonwealth Secretariat

id21 Research Highlight: 9 April, 2003

Further Information:
The Publications Unit
The Commonwealth Secretariat
Marlborough House
Pall Mall
London SW1Y 5HX
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7747 6342
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7839 9081
Contact the contributor: r.jones-parry@commonwealth.int

The Commonwealth Secretariat

Other related links:
'Emergency tactics: education in crisis situations'

'Listen to kids! Involving young people in improving urban environments'

CIVNET is an online resource and service for civic education practitioners, scholars, policymakers, civic-minded journalists and non-governmental organizations promoting civic education all over the world

Take a look at the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability at the Institute of Development Studies