EKOS Leads Project to Update School Curriculum in the Caribbean
The EKOS team are exceptionally pleased to have been awarded a contract with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to update secondary learning modules to include biodiversity conservation themes.
The EKOS team will be complimented by several leading Caribbean authorities in curriculum design, including Dr. Joyce Glasgow, professor emeritus within the Faculty of Education at the University of West Indies. The project team also includes Sue Staniforth, an acclaimed environmental educator who lives near Victoria, BC, but as worked internationally.
The specifics of the project are to upgrade the 8 modules of the OECS Environmental Building Blocks to include biodiversity conservation themes and to create a web-based version of the 8 modules.
The project is to run from now (May 2008) to the end of January 2009 and has a budget of EU $102, 600.
I have just returned from two weeks spent in St. Lucia, Barbados and Jamaica where I met with team members, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) and representatives of several non-government organizations, including Panos Caribbean and Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust. These meetings were exceptionally beneficial on many fronts. It was the first time that team members were able to meet with and get to know each other. The meeting with the OECS clarified several critical concerns we had about the scope and nature of the project.
At present, Dr. Maria Protz has taken on the lead role of drafting an interim report providing our assessment of the OECS’s learning modules in relation to the CXC’s curriculum requirements.She will be supported by Sue Staniforth as well as drawing upon some input from the rest of the team (Dr. Joyce Glasgow, Joan Ryan, Kenroy Johnson and myself). Work on producing the eight biodiversity modules will commence in August with a planned completion date of Sept. 30th. With the writing completed, work will then commence on producing the web versions of the modules. Expected completion date for the project is mid-Feb. 2009.
An Interim Report was submitted Aug. 1, 2008 recommending the inclusion of biodiversity themes within the geography, biology, agriculture science and integrated science curriculums. The report also noted that the existing Building Blocks, developed sometime in the mid-1990s, were not adequate for simple upgrading to high school levels; hence, new units would have to be written. This will be the focus for work throughout September and October.
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