The Early Childhood Commission (ECC) is an agency of the Ministry of Education and Youth in Jamaica responsible for early childhood development. It has been proposed that Early Childhood Practitioners (ECPs) should engage in more child friendly and age-appropriate teaching practices. This is especially critical as they use the Jamaica Early…

In response to the global pandemic, we adapted a Jamaican early childhood, violence prevention, parenting program (the Irie Homes Toolbox (IHT)) for virtual delivery. The resultant virtual IHT (vIHT) is a 10-week program that consists of weekly, one-hour, virtual group parenting sessions and e-summary sent via WhatsApp, three SMS messages/week,…

In Jamaica, the majority of practitioners working with infants and toddlers are largely untrained. While continuing professional development (CPD) provides practitioners with the skills to meet children's needs, the provision of CPD also serves as the means by which nursery practitioners upgrade their competencies. This study presents the findings…

This study reports on a medium-scale Jamaican study, The Early Interactions Project, which measured environmental quality in 42 childcare facilities in Jamaica using Infant and Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS-3). One of the overarching goals of the project was to quantitatively measure programme quality with the goal of providing…

Children's transition to primary school is affected by numerous factors. Many teachers, expect that children will have the academic and socioemotional competencies to negotiate and deal with new experiences they may encounter in a new learning environment. With an aim of contextualising our understanding of the transitory period from pre-primary…

Early childhood education has a role to play in constructing a sustainable society. In particular, increasing global attention has focused on how early childhood may help alleviate poverty among children and their families and promote economic growth. Part of this discourse involves the use of technology as a means to improve the quality of early…

Through observations and interviews and guided by Socio-cultural Theory, this article seeks to describe how dominant approaches to parenting shape child-caregiver interactions within childcare settings. The research question that guided this study is; how do commonly held cultural assumptions about gender, discipline and the purposes of early…

We review the development of the Jamaican home visiting intervention for children under 4 years and its evidence base. The intervention has focused on supporting mothers to promote the development of their children through interacting in a responsive way, labelling the environment and activities. The curriculum is structured and cognitively…

Limited evidence describes promoting development and reducing violence in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), a missed opportunity to protect children and promote development and human capital. This study presents a systematic literature review of integrated early childhood development plus violence prevention (ECD+VP) interventions in…

This qualitative study is grounded in phenomenology. Using 28 early childhood teachers from six Caribbean islands as research participants, the following study sought to elicit their perceptions of what it takes to be successful in the early childhood classroom and to understand how other early childhood teachers can achieve this. Thematic…

Though violence in schools is a highly topical issue, very few studies have examined the issue in early years classrooms in the Caribbean. Using Jamaica and Belize as case studies, four teachers were interviewed to ascertain how they respond to children from harsh ecological environments in which they teach. Using thematic analysis, the findings…

This qualitative study aims to contribute to the dearth of literature pertaining to the impact of globalisation on education in Jamaica. Focussing on the early childhood level, it outlines the perceptions of stakeholders regarding the trajectory of sector development and highlights how they have had to accommodate their practices. Teachers,…

Much of the policy-and practice-focused research on infant-toddler care and education has been concerned with the issue of program quality. That is, what elements constitute a quality program for infants and toddlers that ensures their ongoing developmental success? Researchers have sought to identify the structural and process indicators…

The attainment of Education for All (EFA) goals is crucial to the productivity of any country. However attaining these goals cannot be realised unless due consideration is given to the inputs and processes that must be enacted to achieve such goals. In this article, the Revised Primary Curriculum (RPC) used at grades one to three in Jamaican…

This volume in the Language Teacher Research Series (Thomas S. C. Farrell, series editor) presents research conducted by language teachers at all levels, from high school English teachers to English language teacher educators, reflecting on their practices. The countries represented in this book are Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador,…