ODL and In-Service Teacher Education: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

PCF5 Theme: Children & Youth // In 2002 the Ministry of Education and Culture (Jamaica) entered into a partnership with the University of the West Indies on a project to upgrade the teachers in the newly upgraded high schools. The objective was to take participants from the Diploma in Education (Trained Teachers) to a Bachelor of Education through a programme composed of ten courses in a content area and ten education courses. The programme offers opportunities to explore the blended approach as a part of the process of transformation of education and to assess the extent to which such an approach can truly help in the development of and delivery of education opportunities. // This paper examines the delivery of the History content component of the University of the West Indies/Ministry of Education Bachelor of Education Secondary Distance Programme. It discusses the many opportunities for developing expertise in course development and writing, subject coordinating and in course delivery. It instances the challenges in administration, programme structure within an educational institution that is essentially arranged for face-to-face delivery. It suggests the issues to be addressed in moving a distance education experiment within a traditional institution to an established open education component of the institution’s core programmes. // PID 711