COMPARTIR
Second KIX LAC Colloquium “Educating in Times of Crisis and Emergency” in Central America and the Caribbean
June 28, 2022
The second KIX LAC Colloquium, organized by SUMMA and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States – OECS – with the support of IDRC and the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies –INEE-, once again generated a conversation around the different knowledge and tools developed by the countries during the recent crises.
In the welcoming remarks, Florencio Ceballos, senior program specialist at the International Development Research Centre -IDRC-, thanked the organizers and speakers and remarked that “educating in times of crisis is essential, especially in the Caribbean region, which has suffered multiple crises: climate, migration, politics, health and, of course, the one generated by COVID-19, which not only left enormous learning losses but also deepened a crisis that already existed, namely the weakness of national education systems”.
The first panel “The challenge of research for strengthening educational actions focused on contexts of crisis and emergency” opened with a keynote presentation by Dr. Joel Warrican, Director of the School of Education at the University of the West Indies, on “Research in the Caribbean: how to combat the biases of Western frameworks”, who remarked that the way in which research is conducted, the results and interpretations do not reflect the truth of the situation of education in the Eastern Caribbean, which is itself a crisis, “It is important to know the context of the Caribbean, where we have a history of people colonized, enslaved and indoctrinated by Western culture. The education we were introduced to came from the stratification system of the upper classes, where everyone else is marginalized, which is why the certification that says you are prepared for the world of work or college reaches only 25% of students, who are the ones who meet the minimum standard requirements to achieve enrollment.”
Concluding his presentation, Warrican invited the audience to value the importance of context, giving as an example students who are evaluated in English but in their homes Creole is spoken, achieving lower levels of academic performance. He also shared the case of students from Trinidad, a country that is close to Venezuela and receives many migrants from this country, who do not speak English and are evaluated in this language. All these considerations should be taken into account and not only based on Western research standards. “In the Caribbean we have a British education system with a tendency to rate things from the outside. We want to remove the biases because those types of research rate students, teachers and agencies and we don’t seem to have a voice. We hope that research can be conducted in the Caribbean not just using Western frameworks because those don’t consider our traditions, they have to ask the locals and listen to their responses, understanding the history, the culture and the ambivalences we have as a region.”
Next, Sonja Anderson, Data and Evidence Coordinator, and Nathalie Bienfait, INEE FLC Communication Assistant, presented “INEE and the Learning Agenda: Networking and Research Support”, where they shared the work carried out with Latin American countries from the organization.
Concluding the first panel, Raúl Chacón, director of KIX LAC and Dr. Maciel Morales Aceitón, researcher at KIX LAC, spoke about “Teachers’ Perspectives on the Pandemic: Practices, Challenges and Learning”, who assured that there are many opportunities for further analysis and research at the local, national and regional levels, to generate evidence, mobilize experiences and develop strategies to recover the learning lost during the last few years.
They also pointed out that “it is evident that efforts should be focused on combating the lack of motivation and the risk of exclusion, and developing more strategies to improve the well-being of students, teachers and managers; generating greater investment and training; strengthening teacher support systems and highlighting the need to strengthen public education systems, especially for the most disadvantaged populations.
The second panel “Territorial Experiences of Educational Research in Emergency and Crisis Situations,” moderated by Judy-Ann Auld, director of the Victoria School for Special Education, and representative for Grenada in KIX LAC, featured presentations by:
Dr. Verna knight, coordinator of the University of the West Indies Bachelor of Education Program: “In School but Struggling to Succeed: Critical Barriers to Learning for All in Caribbean Schools,” concluded that “the concept of inclusive education is a recently accepted construct that refers to the process of addressing needs and increasing participation within education. The term was thought of as education for students with disabilities, but the reality is that schools have evolved at this point of inclusion towards advocating for the integration of these students, but also embracing pedagogical and school reform that responds to student diversity as opportunities for learning and not as problems to be solved. Inclusive education is about the successful participation of any learner and the reduction of barriers in order to include marginalized students.”
Dr. Charmaine Bissessar, Head of Online Educational Services at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, University of Guyana, and representative for that country in KIX LAC: “Coping Mechanisms of Two Grenadian School Teachers during the Pandemic. Methodologies and strategies in the classroom”, shared the experiences of teachers in the face of the barriers imposed by Covid-19, where teaching strategies that included games and playful teaching, got students more involved and had greater interaction. She concluded by sharing the advice they would give to other teachers: positive attitude towards change, use of modern technology, training in distance learning, and research, since in practice a lot of information is obtained that provides valuable knowledge.
Idelia Ferdinand, Senior Education Officer, Ministry of Education, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and representative for that country in KIX LAC: “Education in times of crisis and emergency – A systemic approach to education sector resilience in the multi-hazard environment of SVG”. In her presentation, Ferdinand commented on the various crises that the region and in particular the island suffered, especially from Covi-19 and the eruption of the Soufrière volcano, where she highlighted the work of the nearly 1,700 volunteers managing the shelters, many of whom were teachers who at the same time taught online classes.
The crisis caused by the volcano eruption affected 26,000 students and 1,700 educators at all educational levels, including 120 teachers who were displaced from the orange and red zones of the volcano. The economic impact on the sector was 14.6 million in damages and losses, and although devices were given to students to be able to continue with classes, access to internet or electricity was not available.
Ferdinand concluded her presentation by reaffirming the need to build strong partnerships for sector resilience, ensure children’s rights during crises and learn from these latest experiences as they provide the opportunity to plan before something happens and you are in an emergency.
The last presentation was given by Dr. Lefranc Joseph, from Haiti State University: “The crisis and digital transformation in education in Haiti: Opportunities and challenges”, who reaffirmed that “The crisis is a structural part of the educational system in Haiti. Between 78 and 81% of schools are private, they were created to respond to the educational demand but do not meet the real need”.
Regarding the challenges generated by the pandemic, he remarked that Covid-19 gave schools the opportunity to move towards digital education, since only 37% of the establishments continued to operate, “when we compare the tools used for the crisis and maintain educational continuity in schools, we see that WhatsApp was the most used tool, followed by proprietary platforms and finally other streaming platforms such as Zoom or Moodle. The digital transformation comes as an answer to face the crisis. it is not the most effective way to educate, but it was what allowed us to continue with the classes”.
Dr. Maciel Morales Aceitón, highlighted the importance of doing research in the region, reflecting on the particular and structural challenges of the territory, and the importance of creating spaces such as these that allow the dissemination of the various research that has been done and is being done, under these logics she presented a preview of the first issue of the Journal of Research in Education KIX LAC, which will be launched in the coming days.
Raúl Chacón thanked the speakers and attendees for their commitment to the education sector and emphasized the importance of evidence, research and field work with teachers and students in order to achieve an effective diagnosis of the problems, and thus be able to seek more effective tools and strategies, especially in times of crisis.