Proposed Use of the CoP by the School of Education

The School of Education would like to broaden the CoP in a number of ways.  As noted on the first day, we would like to see the CoP take on issues that go beyond basic education.  We therefore hope that issues related to Early Childhood Education, Primary Education, Secondary Education and Post-Secondary Education and Training, will be addressed.  We also hope to expand the membership of the Community to include other persons who are working in these areas as well as other persons who have an interest in these areas. We would especially like to include a broad cross-section of persons, including parents, so that our discussions can benefit, not only from professionals in the field, but also from other persons who can help to enhance our discussions.We hope to mount special EduExchanges to explore issues that are of concern to the wider Jamaican and Caribbean community where we can exchange views and to search for possible solutions to problems with which the society is grappling.  For example, issues of violence in schools at all levels, the challenges of parenting in the age of technology and smart phones, and an examination of how the school can better prepare students with the right skills and attitudes to be useful contributors to the development of our country.  These are just illustrative issues which may, or may not, be topics of discussion in future EduExchanges.  I am merely giving you a sample of the ways in which we hope to broaden the discussions in the CoP.We would also like to share with the CoP, from time to time, the research work of the School of Education and to obtain feedback on what we are finding through our research work.  More importantly, perhaps, we hope to involve the CoP in our research work.  We may, for example, wish to do a survey on how people feel about the extension of the school year to give students more time to master what they should be learning at various grade levels.  In such a research, we can benefit from the views of members of this Community.  Again, this is illustrative and not an indication that we will be pursuing research on this topic, although it does sound interesting.Rather than send a separate post asking for your feedback, I thought I should do so now.  I would like to hear  how you feel about the ways in which we propose to broaden the CoP.  Is this something that you support?  Are there other ways in which we should be working with the CoP?  I look forward to hearing from you.