Where is Jamaica’s civics education curriculum?
Published:Friday | December 13, 2024 | 4:45 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
The recurring incidents of school violence and the recent sexual assault case involving students raise the question about the use and impact of civics. Two years ago, this curriculum was relaunched for implementation, according to a 2022 Gleaner article titled ‘Civics returns to the classrooms’.
The article highlighted that the curriculum was designed to focus on “health, family life, and soft-touch programmes geared towards making the nation’s youth more compassionate and mild-mannered while making wise decisions”. However, several teachers who I spoke with had the following to say:
“No, I am not aware of it.”
“I am not aware of it, and I don’t think the teachers have been implementing it.”
“I spoke to a colleague, and she said she has heard of it [the civics curriculum], and she used it when she was teaching religious education and civics. However, she says she was the only one using it at that time. It seems the school has stopped using it, as she no longer knows where the curriculum is.”
One wonders if the curriculum was merely reintroduced and not mandated. The Ministry of Education typically trains teachers in implementing a new or revised curriculum, but there haven’t been any reports about such engagements. This raises the questions: Have these sessions have been held but not publicised? Is the curriculum only being piloted or used in select schools?
There should be public communication about the curriculum’s roll-out. Additionally, teachers should be supported in conducting multi-method action studies to evaluate the impact of the curriculum.
An additional curriculum can be overwhelming for students and teachers. If the civics curriculum has not been widely implemented because of time and resource constraints, the Ministry of Education could propose that teachers integrate civics in all core subjects instead of facilitating targeted soft skills through a standalone programme.
Research has consistently suggested that, when social and emotional skills are integrated across the curriculum and supported schoolwide, students are more likely to develop and demonstrate prosocial behaviours. A 2015 meta-analysis by Meghan McCormick indicated that integrated social-emotional learning programmes, much like a civics curriculum, are correlated with increased academic gains.
English teachers, for example, could artfully promote empathy, kindness, sound decision-making, and self-regulation, during their study of diverse texts (poems, stories, expository articles). West Indian novels like The Young Warriors and My Father, Sun-Sun Johnson, offer excellent literature for such social grooming.
Maths educators, as well, can engage students with ethical, number-based dilemmas. For instance, students could decide on how to fairly use or allocate disaster relief funds and hospital resources. Similarly, science and geography teachers could teach environmental studies. All efforts would help to foster a stronger sense of stewardship and civility among our students.
SHAWNA KAY
WILLIAMS-PINNOCK