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

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality”- Warrren Bennis Leadership is not easy. It is often said, uneasy lies the head which wears the crown. After years of poor and ineffective school leadership The National College for Educational Leadership (NCEL) was established in 2011 to develop excellence in educational leadership and school management. The lack of accountability and transparency at the level of principalship at both the primary and secondary levels is quite appalling and urgently needs attention. Undoubtedly, there are some principals and schools which are doing exceptional well in meeting the needs of their students. The focus and conversation however, should shift to those who are not despite the support and encouragement from stakeholders. In most instances principals across the educational landscape are more than qualified for their positions, however, holding the requisite qualification and the ability to effectively manage a school are worlds apart....

“Ideas govern the world, or throw it into chaos”- Auguste Comte The global tide of populism sweeping across much of Europe and to a lesser extent the North American continent continues to reverberate throughout much of the capitals of Europe. The centrist and relatively newcomer to French politics, Emmanuel Macron, and the far-right and rather polarizing politician Marine Le Pen have both have made it through to the run-off election to choose the next president of France. Le Pen is controversial for many reasons. Le Pen’s core principles are steeped in an anti-globalization, anti-immigration and anti-European Union mould and have found favour among a significant percentage of the French electorate. It can be argued that many French citizens are disillusioned by the traditional political parties and are quite fearful of the future. The on-going political instability in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Syria, which has subsequently led to a refugee crisis, have provided much fuel to the...

“I can’t remember the last time I was happy. I have never been happy for 24 hours straight, ever in my life”. These are the words of ‘Paul’, a forty year old university graduate who has been battling depression for most of his adult life. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 300 million people living with depression, an increase of more than 18 per cent between 2005 and 2015. The WHO states that depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease. Depression is just one of the many common mental disorders that affect a significant percentage of the Jamaican population. Data shows that 1 in every 4 Jamaicans will experience some form of mental disorder throughout his/her lifetime. Depression can begin just about any age and can have serious implications for the depressed person as well as for his/her family. Nonetheless there is a distinction to be made between the daily emotional challe...

Jamaica over the years despite a move towards secularism still maintains a strong Judeo-Christian culture in which Jamaicans of all walks of life attend church at least twice per year, Easter and Christmas Sundays. Easter is often a time of personal reflection, as well as, spiritual rebirth and bears great significance for Christians worldwide. Today, being Easter Sunday, many Jamaican attended church of various denominations. The sermon today was preached by Pastor Roy Notice. The theme was: The Irresistible Message of the Empty Grave. According to Pastor Notice, there are four critical messages of the Empty Tomb which we must consider and remember at all times. In the first instance, the empty tomb conquers our doubts and fears as Christians and reinforces in us that death will not have the final say. Jesus Christ overcame the grave and the empty tomb and by his resurrection we too have that hope that those of us who die in Christ will also triumph over death and the grave. Secon...

Undoubtedly, the fast pace of technological changes have made the digital age in which we live, work and raise families increasingly challenging to cope with. As societies progress we are witnessing more and more jobs becoming obsolete and void of job satisfaction, resulting in scores of workers finding themselves in the unemployment line. It is therefore very critical that as a society we place more emphasis on career counselling in our schools, especially at the secondary level in order to better prepare our students for the ever changing work force. Many of our students are unaware of the negative implications of automation can have on society. Artificial intelligence or (AI) is an area of computer science that emphasizes the creation of intelligent machines that work and reacts like humans. Some of the activities computers with artificial intelligence are designed for include: speech recognition, learning and problem solving. We cannot speak on the issue of artificial intelligence ...

Most of us will agree that customer service in the society leaves much to be desired. However, not many of us have made the connection between emotional intelligence (EQ) and the quality of customer experience or lack thereof that we receive on a daily basis. Dr. Robert K Cooper defines emotional intelligence as the ability to sense, understand, and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions as a source of human energy, information, connection and influence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, use, understand and manage one’s emotions in a positive way to relieve stress, communicate effectively with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict. Interestingly, emotional intelligence differs from how we view other intellectual abilities, in that emotional intelligence is a learned not an acquired skills set. Unfortunately, there is no course of study called emotional intelligence therefore there must be a way or ways found to empower and engender a culture which...

Carnival at the University of the West Indies, (UWI), Mona Campus, has grown in popularity since the festival was first introduced to Jamaica in the early 1950’s by students from across the Caribbean. Traditionally, carnival is celebrated the week before Ash Wednesday which is the beginning of the Lenten Season. Interestingly, the space UWI Carnival occupies does not only provide entertainment and fun for the revelers in general, many agree that the spirit of carnival has given a voice to those on the fringes of society, especially in a context of homophobia and transphobia culture in the wider society. It can be argued that carnival brings together a wide cross section of the Jamaican society who otherwise would not have necessarily cross paths. While it is true that those who are immensely engaged in the merry- making tend to be from the middle class, there is no denying the fact that there is a convergence of social classes, especially for the Last Lap, which customarily takes place...