The Intersection of Gender, Culture and Education: Jamaica: The Next 50 Years!

The inaugural professorial lecture by Carmel Roofe, Director of the School of Education at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies was held on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. Professor Roofe, is a leading Caribbean figure in Curriculum Studies and Curriculum Implementation Leadership. To date, she has authored four books and her scholarly work has appeared in over 50 academic journals and publications. In 2008, Carmel Roofe earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum Development from the University of the West Indies. Titled: Beyond Policy: Centring Curriculum Implementation Leadership , Professor Roofe began by exploring a number of definitions for curriculum. Among them is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s definition which speaks to the duality of curriculum as either one of social inclusivity or social exclusivity. UNESCO defines curriculum not merely as a list of subjects, but as a "social and political contract" that reflects a...

“Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.”- Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. There is a growing sense of disrespect and discomfort within the realm of gender relations. Gender relations refer to the social, cultural, and economic interactions and power dynamics between people based on their gender identity. In other words, gender relations describe how men and women relate to one another in society, and how those relationships are shaped by norms, roles, language, and access to resources. Unfortunately, the society has normalized this misandry. The ‘man up’ phraseology is problematic. The phrase becomes more of a problem when used by women to describe men. Our culture has been rather permissive in facilitating a specific class of women to use the phraseology, “man up” to describe the male of the specie. Such categories of women are usually those in positions of power and authority. These verbal attacks on men have been ongoing without impunity...

Politics is frequently viewed as a gender-specific vocation and practice grounded in patriarchy. Political masculinity addresses ways in which masculine norms, values and identities are entrenched in political discourse and leadership styles. Globally, the participation of women in representational politics has had a scattered approach. Yet, women remain the bedrock of political parties. Women in politics or those who might be considering entering politics have the added burden of balancing their families along with their careers. Representational politics is not a 9 to 5 job. On the other hand, men are permitted to be absent from their families or to play a surrogate role given the adherence to historical stereotypical gender roles. In this regard, masculinity has remained hidden from critical enquiry. In recent times there has been a resurgence of populism and nationalism across the globe. Right-wing populism in particular has always been misogynist and sexist. Right-wing populism o...

An estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability. This represents 16% of the world’s population, or 1 in 6 of us. In the Caribbean, there are over 1 million persons living with some form of disability this amounts to more than the population of certain countries in the sub-region. Across the Caribbean, persons with disabilities face discrimination and exclusion. Social exclusion is caused by underlying systemic barriers that limit the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in social, economic and political life. Persons with disabilities have lower outcomes in education, employment and health compared to other population groups. Persons with disabilities have twice the risk of developing conditions such as depression, asthma, diabetes, stroke, obesity or poor oral health. Each year the global community observes International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 03. The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issue...

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) states that the Caribbean has the highest incidence rate of reported AIDS cases in the Americas. With between 350,000 and 590,000 Caribbean people living with HIV/AIDS, the region has an adult HIV prevalence rate between 1.9% and 3.1%, second only to Africa (7.5% and 8.5%). Of that number, 83 per cent know their status and 68 per cent of them are on treatment. However, only 57 per cent of people living with HIV are virally suppressed and thus have a reduced risk of transmitting the virus to their sexual partners. As a region the Caribbean is facing a generalized epidemic. HIV/AIDS is well entrenched here, with a national prevalence of at least 1% in 12 countries, all of them in the Caribbean Basin. The most recent national estimates showed HIV prevalence among pregnant women reaching or exceeding 2% in eight countries: the Bahamas, Belize, The Dominican Republic, Haiti, St. Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Over thirty thousand p...