Failing Schools: Or, is it a failed philosophy of Education?
Research Article
Keywords:
Academic performance, educational paradigm, Jamaica, under-achievement, philosophy of educationAbstract
The English-Speaking nations in the Caribbean’s educational system were designed from the British colonial educational philosophy. It covers an educational philosophy that dates back centuries to when metaphysics and idealism were the dominant paradigms. The British had instituted the grammar educational system in which the teacher was the sole repository of knowledge and the students were mere vessels. This was because the dominant philosophy that frames the educational system was metaphysics in which there was an absolute reality or absolute truth. The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (1991) found that in 1991 65.0% of Jamaicans have at most primary level education, with 94.5% having at most secondary level education. One decade later (2001), the Statistical Institute of Jamaica published that 70% of children in primary and all-age schools were literate. To summarize the contemporary educational dilemma in Jamaica, a national probability cross-sectional study carried out by a group of Caribbean scholars in 2007 found that 32.9% of Jamaicans had at most primary level education and 81.6% with at most secondary education. Like the general citizenry, the Jamaican Ministry of Education (2013) has joined in the call for the immediate improvement in the academic performance of students in Jamaica, particularly in the area of mathematics because of the substandard performance of pupils. In an article written by Gleaner reporter Graham (2012), he stated that Holy Trinity High School in Kingston had an uphill task to bring the below-par students who entered its gates to the level where they should have been when they left. Teachers at the secondary schools had to be teaching lower-level primary school work because some of the students who entered its grade seven were "not smarter than a seven-year-old". The Principal added that a quarter of the children who entered grade seven at Holy Trinity High School last September were reading at the grade-three level. The reality is, the Jamaican educational system has failed its citizenry and there is no denying that the present-past educational philosophy is ineffective and there must be a fundamental philosophical change with immediacy.
References
References
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3. Beller M, Naomi G. 1991 International Assessment of Educational Progress in Mathematics and Sciences: The gender difference perspective. Journal of Educational Psychology 1996; 88(2): 365-377.
4. Bishop S. The Impact of Parent and Community Involvement Programmes 2006. http://www2.ed.gov/ pubs/SER/Parent Comm/chap4.html.
5. Bliss I. Social Class Differences in the conception of the use of Toys. London: Macquibben Kee 2004; 45-47.
6. Boxill I, Lewis B, Russell R et al. The political cultureof democracy in Jamaica, 2006: Americas Barometer.Kingston: The University of the West Indies, Mona 2007.
7. Bourne P.A. Mathematics performance in Jamaica. International Journal of History and Scientific Research,2019; 1(4): 8-31.
8. Bryan C. Jamaica urged to embrace mathematics.Kingston: Jamaica Information Service 2017. Retrieved from https://jis.gov.jm/jamaicans-urged-embracemathematics/.
9. Council B. Our work in education. Retrieved from https://caribbean.britishcouncil.org/programmes/
education, accessed on May 9, 2017.
10. Buddo CJ. Exploring the experience and views of some grade 11 students in their learning of mathematics. Retrieved on February 4, 2014 form UWI Library 2002.
11. Christian MK. Morrison FJ, Bryant FB et al. Predicting kindergarten academic skills: Interactions among childcare, maternal education and family literacy environments. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 1998; 13: 485-505.
12. Clark J, Fulton R. Elementary Mathematics Performance- Based Assessment Retrieved from www 2003. cudenver.edu/NR/rdonlyres/evszdz3xg52qbadx7yeukh itqqtud7eudmg44nbfzqor3vxsxf7ur5qaysibessgqj7pn5, accessed May 9, 2017.
13. Coates CO. (ud). Educational developments in the British West Indies: A historical overview. Part 4:
Higher education, lifelong learning and social inclusion. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/
ED567093.pdf, accessed on May 9, 2017.
14. Cunningham A. NEI Report: More schools failing. Kingston: The Gleaner 2014. Retrieved from http://
jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20140821/ nei-report-more-schools-failing, accessed May 9, 2017.
15. Curtain-Phillips M. Math attack: How to reduce math anxiety in the classroom at work, and in everyday personal use. Kearney, NE: Morris Publishing 1999.
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17. Denton K, Reaney L, West J. Home educational activities, literacy resources and kindergartners’
reading knowledge and skills. Presentation at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child
Development. Minneapolis, USA 2001.
18. Dickinson DK, Tabors PO. Fostering language and literacy in classrooms and homes. Young Children,
2002; 57(2): 10-18.
19. Elley W.B. The IEA study of reading literacy: Achievement and instruction in thirty-two school systems. UK: Pergamon Press, Oxford.
20. Finn CE. Things are falling apart. Education Next, 2006; 6(1):27-32. Retrieved from http://educationnext.org/ files/ednext20061_27.pdf/, accessed on May 9, 2017.
21. Fredriksson U. Reading skills among students of immigrant origin in Stockholm (dissertation). Stockholm: Stockholm University, Institute of International Education 2002.
22. Graham N. (2012, September 2). Holy Trinity…Teaching against the odds. Retrieved from http://jamaicagleaner. com/gleaner/20120902/lead/lead4.html, accessed on May 9, 2017.
23. Hara SR, Burke DJ. Parent involvement: The key to improved student achievement. School Community Journal 1998; 8(2): 9-19.
24. Harris T, Hodges R. The literacy dictionary. Newark, DE: International Reading Association 1995; 207.
25. Henry M. Education performance and failing schools. Kingston: The Gleaner. Retrieved from http://jamaicagleaner. com/gleaner/20110911/focus/focus1.html on May 9, 2017.11 Bourne PA et al.
J. Adv. Res. Servi. Mgmt. 2019; 2(2)
26. Hill NE, Craft SA. Parent-school involvement and school performance: Mediated pathways among
socioeconomically comparable African American and Euro-American families. Journal of Educational
Psychology 2003; 95(1): 74.
27. Hunte. The development of higher education in the West Indies special emphasis on Barbados. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Washington State University, WA 1976.
28. Ignacio NG, Nieto B, Barona EG. The Affective Domain in Mathematics Learning. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education 2006; 1(1): 16-31.
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accessed on January 23, 2017.
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18234470, accessed May 11, 2017.
31. Kennedy A, Ridgway A, Surman L. Boundary Crossing: Negotiating Understandings of Early Literacy and Numeracy Pathways. Australian Journal of Early Childhood 2006; 31(4): 15-22.
32. Knight GR. Philosophy and Education: An introduction in Christian perspective (4 ed.). Michigan: Andrews University Press 2006.
33. Lehmann R. Reading literacy among immigrant students in the United States and the Former West Germany. M. Binkley, K. Rust, T. Williams (Eds.), Reading literacy in the international perspectives. Washington DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Department of Statistics 1996.
34. Lesaux NK. Reading and reading the instruction for children from low-income and nonEnglish-speaking households. The Future of Children 2012; 22(2): 73-88.
35. Lietz P. Learning and writing difficulties at the tertiary level: Their impact on first year results. Studies in Educational Evaluation 1996; 22(1): 41-57.
36. Lyon R. Overview of reading and literacy initiatives.Reading research anthology: the why? of reading
instruction. California: Arena Press, Consortium on reading excellence (CORE) 1999.
37. Mahanta S, Islam M. Attitude of Secondary Students towards Mathematics and its Relationship to
Achievement in Mathematics. International Journal of Computer Technology and Applications 3(2):713-715.
38. Marcon RA. Positive relationships between parent school involvement and public school inner-city preschoolers’ development and academic performance. School Psychology Review 1999; 28:395-412.
39. Ministry of Education. Caribbean secondary education certificate (CSEC) examination 2013. Analysis of the public schools’ performance. CSEC report.
40. Ministry of Education (MoE). Grade four literacy test results for public schools by region. Kingston: MoE 2019.
41. Ministry of Education, Jamaica. (ud) Mathematics: Overall Aims of the Whole curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.jm/sites/default/files/Lower2ndmathematics. pdf, accessed on January 23, 2017.
42. Narine. Exploring the experience and views of some grade 11 students in their learning of mathematics. Unpublished, 2013.
43. O’Dea JA, Mugridge AC. Nutritional quality of breakfast and physical activity independently predict the literacy and numeracy scores of children after adjusting for socioeconomic status. Health Education Research 2012; 27(6): 975-985.
44. Peters B. Tertiary education development in small states: Constraints and future prospects. Caribbean Quarterly 2001; 47(2&3): 44-57.
45. Polya G. How to Solve It. Princeton University Press 1945.
46. Porkess R. The Future of Statistics in Schools and Colleges. London 2012.
47. Postlethwaite TN, Ross KN. Effective Schools in Reading: Implications for Educational Planners. The Hague: IEA 1992.
48. Powell LA, Bourne P, Waller L. Probing Jamaica’s Political Culture, volume 1: Main Trends in July-August 2006 Leadership and Governance Survey. Kingston, Jamaica: Centre for Leadership and Governance, Department of Government, University of the West Indies, Mona 2007.
49. RAND Reading Study Group. Reading for understanding: Toward a research and development program in reading comprehension. Santa Monica, CA: Office of Education Research and Improvement 2002.
50. Reid R. Reid Examines Jamaica’s Poor CSEC results. Kingston: The Gleaner 2011. Retrieved from http:// jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110223/news/news1. html, accessed on May 9, 2017.
51. Risko VJ, Walker-Dalhouse D. Tapping students’ cultural funds of knowledge to address the achievement gap. Reading Teacher 2007; 61(1): 98-100.
52. Roxborough-Wright P. Grade 4 literacy test said not effective. Kingston: Jamaica Observer 2002.
53. Royal Society. Preparing for the transfer from school and college science and mathematics education to UK STEM higher education. London, 2011.
54. Samms-Vaughan ME. An analysis of Jamaican Children outside the traditional school system. Report prepared for the Inter-American Development Bank 2004.
55. Schoenfeld AH. Learning to think mathematically: problem solving, metacognition and sense-making in mathematics. In D.Grouws (ed) Handbook for Research 12 Bourne PA et al. J. Adv. Res. Servi. Mgmt. 2019; 2(2) on Mathematics Teaching and Learning New York: MacMillan 1992; 334-370.
56. Seaga E. GSAT in trouble. Kingston: The Gleaner 2012.
57. Seaga E. Seaga wants primary school tests review. Kingston: The Gleaner 2011.
58. Snow CE, Burns MS, Griffin P. Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington DC: National Academy Press 1998.
59. Snow CE, Burns MS, Griffin P. Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press 1998.
60. Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). Pocketbook of statistics, Jamaica, 1999. Kingston: STATIN.
61. Stevenson DL, Baker DP. The family-school relation and the child’s school performance. Child Development 1987; 58: 1348-1357.
62. Taube K, Mejding J. A nine country study: what were the differences between the low- and high-performing students in the IEA Reading Literacy Study? USA, Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Education 1987.
63. Wagner DA. Literacy in a global perspective. Lundberg, I., Hoien, T. Literacy in a world of change: Perspectives on reading and reading disability. Norway, Stavanger: Centre for Reading Research 1991.
64. Waldfogel J. The Role of Out-of-School Factors in the Literacy Problem. The Future Children 2012; 22(2): 39-54.
65. Williams L. Sunday Gleaner http://www.jamaicao -bserver.com/new/109624-Hard -Work---parent---
support --success --say --teachers-of-top-GSAT – Math stu#xzzz2ERJRdoou 2006.
1. Adams S. The Impact of Parent and Community Involvement Programmes 2006. http://www2.ed.gov/ pubs/SER/Parent omm/chap4.html.
2. Bacchus KM. Education as and for legitimacy:Developments in West Indian Education between 1846 and 1895. Ontario, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press 1994.
3. Beller M, Naomi G. 1991 International Assessment of Educational Progress in Mathematics and Sciences: The gender difference perspective. Journal of Educational Psychology 1996; 88(2): 365-377.
4. Bishop S. The Impact of Parent and Community Involvement Programmes 2006. http://www2.ed.gov/ pubs/SER/Parent Comm/chap4.html.
5. Bliss I. Social Class Differences in the conception of the use of Toys. London: Macquibben Kee 2004; 45-47.
6. Boxill I, Lewis B, Russell R et al. The political cultureof democracy in Jamaica, 2006: Americas Barometer.Kingston: The University of the West Indies, Mona 2007.
7. Bourne P.A. Mathematics performance in Jamaica. International Journal of History and Scientific Research,2019; 1(4): 8-31.
8. Bryan C. Jamaica urged to embrace mathematics.Kingston: Jamaica Information Service 2017. Retrieved from https://jis.gov.jm/jamaicans-urged-embracemathematics/.
9. Council B. Our work in education. Retrieved from https://caribbean.britishcouncil.org/programmes/
education, accessed on May 9, 2017.
10. Buddo CJ. Exploring the experience and views of some grade 11 students in their learning of mathematics. Retrieved on February 4, 2014 form UWI Library 2002.
11. Christian MK. Morrison FJ, Bryant FB et al. Predicting kindergarten academic skills: Interactions among childcare, maternal education and family literacy environments. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 1998; 13: 485-505.
12. Clark J, Fulton R. Elementary Mathematics Performance- Based Assessment Retrieved from www 2003. cudenver.edu/NR/rdonlyres/evszdz3xg52qbadx7yeukh itqqtud7eudmg44nbfzqor3vxsxf7ur5qaysibessgqj7pn5, accessed May 9, 2017.
13. Coates CO. (ud). Educational developments in the British West Indies: A historical overview. Part 4:
Higher education, lifelong learning and social inclusion. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/
ED567093.pdf, accessed on May 9, 2017.
14. Cunningham A. NEI Report: More schools failing. Kingston: The Gleaner 2014. Retrieved from http://
jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20140821/ nei-report-more-schools-failing, accessed May 9, 2017.
15. Curtain-Phillips M. Math attack: How to reduce math anxiety in the classroom at work, and in everyday personal use. Kearney, NE: Morris Publishing 1999.
16. Davis R. Task Force on Educational Reform JAMAICA A TRANSFORMED EDUCATION SYSTEM 2004 REPORT. Retrieved from http://jis.gov.jm/estp/docs/Reports/ JA%20Education%20Reform%20TaskForce%202004.pdf, accessed on May 9, 2017.
17. Denton K, Reaney L, West J. Home educational activities, literacy resources and kindergartners’
reading knowledge and skills. Presentation at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child
Development. Minneapolis, USA 2001.
18. Dickinson DK, Tabors PO. Fostering language and literacy in classrooms and homes. Young Children,
2002; 57(2): 10-18.
19. Elley W.B. The IEA study of reading literacy: Achievement and instruction in thirty-two school systems. UK: Pergamon Press, Oxford.
20. Finn CE. Things are falling apart. Education Next, 2006; 6(1):27-32. Retrieved from http://educationnext.org/ files/ednext20061_27.pdf/, accessed on May 9, 2017.
21. Fredriksson U. Reading skills among students of immigrant origin in Stockholm (dissertation). Stockholm: Stockholm University, Institute of International Education 2002.
22. Graham N. (2012, September 2). Holy Trinity…Teaching against the odds. Retrieved from http://jamaicagleaner. com/gleaner/20120902/lead/lead4.html, accessed on May 9, 2017.
23. Hara SR, Burke DJ. Parent involvement: The key to improved student achievement. School Community Journal 1998; 8(2): 9-19.
24. Harris T, Hodges R. The literacy dictionary. Newark, DE: International Reading Association 1995; 207.
25. Henry M. Education performance and failing schools. Kingston: The Gleaner. Retrieved from http://jamaicagleaner. com/gleaner/20110911/focus/focus1.html on May 9, 2017.11 Bourne PA et al.
J. Adv. Res. Servi. Mgmt. 2019; 2(2)
26. Hill NE, Craft SA. Parent-school involvement and school performance: Mediated pathways among
socioeconomically comparable African American and Euro-American families. Journal of Educational
Psychology 2003; 95(1): 74.
27. Hunte. The development of higher education in the West Indies special emphasis on Barbados. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Washington State University, WA 1976.
28. Ignacio NG, Nieto B, Barona EG. The Affective Domain in Mathematics Learning. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education 2006; 1(1): 16-31.
29. Observer J. Ministry unveils new math policy 2012. Retrieved from http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/ news/Ministry-unveils-new-math-policy_12589339,
accessed on January 23, 2017.
30. Observer J. Thwaites confident of achieving literacy goals 2015. Retrieved from http//m.jamaicaobserver. com/.../Thwaites-confident-of-achieving-literacygoals_
18234470, accessed May 11, 2017.
31. Kennedy A, Ridgway A, Surman L. Boundary Crossing: Negotiating Understandings of Early Literacy and Numeracy Pathways. Australian Journal of Early Childhood 2006; 31(4): 15-22.
32. Knight GR. Philosophy and Education: An introduction in Christian perspective (4 ed.). Michigan: Andrews University Press 2006.
33. Lehmann R. Reading literacy among immigrant students in the United States and the Former West Germany. M. Binkley, K. Rust, T. Williams (Eds.), Reading literacy in the international perspectives. Washington DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Department of Statistics 1996.
34. Lesaux NK. Reading and reading the instruction for children from low-income and nonEnglish-speaking households. The Future of Children 2012; 22(2): 73-88.
35. Lietz P. Learning and writing difficulties at the tertiary level: Their impact on first year results. Studies in Educational Evaluation 1996; 22(1): 41-57.
36. Lyon R. Overview of reading and literacy initiatives.Reading research anthology: the why? of reading
instruction. California: Arena Press, Consortium on reading excellence (CORE) 1999.
37. Mahanta S, Islam M. Attitude of Secondary Students towards Mathematics and its Relationship to
Achievement in Mathematics. International Journal of Computer Technology and Applications 3(2):713-715.
38. Marcon RA. Positive relationships between parent school involvement and public school inner-city preschoolers’ development and academic performance. School Psychology Review 1999; 28:395-412.
39. Ministry of Education. Caribbean secondary education certificate (CSEC) examination 2013. Analysis of the public schools’ performance. CSEC report.
40. Ministry of Education (MoE). Grade four literacy test results for public schools by region. Kingston: MoE 2019.
41. Ministry of Education, Jamaica. (ud) Mathematics: Overall Aims of the Whole curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.jm/sites/default/files/Lower2ndmathematics. pdf, accessed on January 23, 2017.
42. Narine. Exploring the experience and views of some grade 11 students in their learning of mathematics. Unpublished, 2013.
43. O’Dea JA, Mugridge AC. Nutritional quality of breakfast and physical activity independently predict the literacy and numeracy scores of children after adjusting for socioeconomic status. Health Education Research 2012; 27(6): 975-985.
44. Peters B. Tertiary education development in small states: Constraints and future prospects. Caribbean Quarterly 2001; 47(2&3): 44-57.
45. Polya G. How to Solve It. Princeton University Press 1945.
46. Porkess R. The Future of Statistics in Schools and Colleges. London 2012.
47. Postlethwaite TN, Ross KN. Effective Schools in Reading: Implications for Educational Planners. The Hague: IEA 1992.
48. Powell LA, Bourne P, Waller L. Probing Jamaica’s Political Culture, volume 1: Main Trends in July-August 2006 Leadership and Governance Survey. Kingston, Jamaica: Centre for Leadership and Governance, Department of Government, University of the West Indies, Mona 2007.
49. RAND Reading Study Group. Reading for understanding: Toward a research and development program in reading comprehension. Santa Monica, CA: Office of Education Research and Improvement 2002.
50. Reid R. Reid Examines Jamaica’s Poor CSEC results. Kingston: The Gleaner 2011. Retrieved from http:// jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110223/news/news1. html, accessed on May 9, 2017.
51. Risko VJ, Walker-Dalhouse D. Tapping students’ cultural funds of knowledge to address the achievement gap. Reading Teacher 2007; 61(1): 98-100.
52. Roxborough-Wright P. Grade 4 literacy test said not effective. Kingston: Jamaica Observer 2002.
53. Royal Society. Preparing for the transfer from school and college science and mathematics education to UK STEM higher education. London, 2011.
54. Samms-Vaughan ME. An analysis of Jamaican Children outside the traditional school system. Report prepared for the Inter-American Development Bank 2004.
55. Schoenfeld AH. Learning to think mathematically: problem solving, metacognition and sense-making in mathematics. In D.Grouws (ed) Handbook for Research 12 Bourne PA et al. J. Adv. Res. Servi. Mgmt. 2019; 2(2) on Mathematics Teaching and Learning New York: MacMillan 1992; 334-370.
56. Seaga E. GSAT in trouble. Kingston: The Gleaner 2012.
57. Seaga E. Seaga wants primary school tests review. Kingston: The Gleaner 2011.
58. Snow CE, Burns MS, Griffin P. Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington DC: National Academy Press 1998.
59. Snow CE, Burns MS, Griffin P. Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press 1998.
60. Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). Pocketbook of statistics, Jamaica, 1999. Kingston: STATIN.
61. Stevenson DL, Baker DP. The family-school relation and the child’s school performance. Child Development 1987; 58: 1348-1357.
62. Taube K, Mejding J. A nine country study: what were the differences between the low- and high-performing students in the IEA Reading Literacy Study? USA, Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Education 1987.
63. Wagner DA. Literacy in a global perspective. Lundberg, I., Hoien, T. Literacy in a world of change: Perspectives on reading and reading disability. Norway, Stavanger: Centre for Reading Research 1991.
64. Waldfogel J. The Role of Out-of-School Factors in the Literacy Problem. The Future Children 2012; 22(2): 39-54.
65. Williams L. Sunday Gleaner http://www.jamaicao -bserver.com/new/109624-Hard -Work---parent---
support --success --say --teachers-of-top-GSAT – Math stu#xzzz2ERJRdoou 2006.
Published
2020-05-01
How to Cite
Bourne, P. A., Sharpe, C. L., Walker, M. D., & Edwards, R. (2020). Failing Schools: Or, is it a failed philosophy of Education? Research Article. Journal of Advanced Research in Service Management, 2(2), 1-12. Retrieved from https://adrjournalshouse.com/index.php/Journal-ServiceManagement/article/view/735
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