The Bahamian Educational System: A Case Study in Americanization

Comparative Education Review

Volumn 46, Issue 2, 2002, Pages

  Urwick, James ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0141432221     PISSN: 00104086     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/340475     Document Type: Article

References (115)

1. On purported transfers from the United States to Britain, see David Phillips, "Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be? The Problems of Cross-National Attraction in Education," Comparative Education 25 (October 1989): 267-73 ; Anthony G. Green, "Magnet Schools, Choice and the Politics of Policy Borrowing," in Something Borrowed, Something Blue? A Study of the Thatcher Government's Appropriation of American Education and Training Policy, ed. D. Finegold, L. McFarland, and W. Richardson (Wallingford, U.K.: Triangle, 1993); David Halpin and Barry Troyna, "The Politics of Education Policy Borrowing," Comparative Education 31 (October 1995): 303-10.
2. On purported transfers from the United States to Britain, see David Phillips, "Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be? The Problems of Cross-National Attraction in Education," Comparative Education 25 (October 1989): 267-73 ; Anthony G. Green, "Magnet Schools, Choice and the Politics of Policy Borrowing," in Something Borrowed, Something Blue? A Study of the Thatcher Government's Appropriation of American Education and Training Policy, ed. D. Finegold, L. McFarland, and W. Richardson (Wallingford, U.K.: Triangle, 1993); David Halpin and Barry Troyna, "The Politics of Education Policy Borrowing," Comparative Education 31 (October 1995): 303-10.
3. On purported transfers from the United States to Britain, see David Phillips, "Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be? The Problems of Cross-National Attraction in Education," Comparative Education 25 (October 1989): 267-73 ; Anthony G. Green, "Magnet Schools, Choice and the Politics of Policy Borrowing," in Something Borrowed, Something Blue? A Study of the Thatcher Government's Appropriation of American Education and Training Policy, ed. D. Finegold, L. McFarland, and W. Richardson (Wallingford, U.K.: Triangle, 1993); David Halpin and Barry Troyna, "The Politics of Education Policy Borrowing," Comparative Education 31 (October 1995): 303-10.
4. For example, Martin Carnoy, Education as Cultural Imperialism (New York: McKay, 1974); Philip G. Altbach, "The Distribution of Knowledge in the Third World: A Case Study in Neocolonialism," in Education and the Colonial Experience, ed. Philip G. Altbach and Gail P. Kelly (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 1984); Frances Stuart, "Globalisation and Education," International Journal of Educational Development 16 (October 1996): 327-33; Martin Carnoy, "Globalization and Educational Reform," in Globalization and Education, ed. Nelly P. Stromquist and Karen Monkman (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000).
5. For example, Martin Carnoy, Education as Cultural Imperialism (New York: McKay, 1974); Philip G. Altbach, "The Distribution of Knowledge in the Third World: A Case Study in Neocolonialism," in Education and the Colonial Experience, ed. Philip G. Altbach and Gail P. Kelly (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 1984); Frances Stuart, "Globalisation and Education," International Journal of Educational Development 16 (October 1996): 327-33; Martin Carnoy, "Globalization and Educational Reform," in Globalization and Education, ed. Nelly P. Stromquist and Karen Monkman (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000).
6. For example, Martin Carnoy, Education as Cultural Imperialism (New York: McKay, 1974); Philip G. Altbach, "The Distribution of Knowledge in the Third World: A Case Study in Neocolonialism," in Education and the Colonial Experience, ed. Philip G. Altbach and Gail P. Kelly (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 1984); Frances Stuart, "Globalisation and Education," International Journal of Educational Development 16 (October 1996): 327-33; Martin Carnoy, "Globalization and Educational Reform," in Globalization and Education, ed. Nelly P. Stromquist and Karen Monkman (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000).
7. For example, Martin Carnoy, Education as Cultural Imperialism (New York: McKay, 1974); Philip G. Altbach, "The Distribution of Knowledge in the Third World: A Case Study in Neocolonialism," in Education and the Colonial Experience, ed. Philip G. Altbach and Gail P. Kelly (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 1984); Frances Stuart, "Globalisation and Education," International Journal of Educational Development 16 (October 1996): 327-33; Martin Carnoy, "Globalization and Educational Reform," in Globalization and Education, ed. Nelly P. Stromquist and Karen Monkman (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000).
8. Gita Steiner-Khamsi and Hubert O. Quist, "The Politics of Educational Borrowing: Reopening the Case of Achimota in British Ghana," Comparative Education Review 44 (August 2000): 272-99.
9. These transfers are described in Erwin H. Epstein, "The Perils of Paternalism: The Imposition of Education on Cuba by the United States," in Comparative Perspectives on the Role of Education in De- mocratisation, pt. 1, ed. Noel McGinn and Erwin H. Epstein (New York: Peter Lang, 1999); Leon D. Pamphile, "America's Policy-Making in Haitian Education, 1915-1934," Journal of Negro Education 54, no. 1 (1985): 99-108; Bruce J. Calder, The Impact of Intervention: The Dominican Republic during the U.S. Occupation of 1916-1924 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984).
10. These transfers are described in Erwin H. Epstein, "The Perils of Paternalism: The Imposition of Education on Cuba by the United States," in Comparative Perspectives on the Role of Education in De mocratisation, pt. 1, ed. Noel McGinn and Erwin H. Epstein (New York: Peter Lang, 1999); Leon D. Pamphile, "America's Policy-Making in Haitian Education, 1915-1934," Journal of Negro Education 54, no. 1 (1985): 99-108; Bruce J. Calder, The Impact of Intervention: The Dominican Republic during the U.S. Occupation of 1916-1924 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984).
11. These transfers are described in Erwin H. Epstein, "The Perils of Paternalism: The Imposition of Education on Cuba by the United States," in Comparative Perspectives on the Role of Education in De mocratisation, pt. 1, ed. Noel McGinn and Erwin H. Epstein (New York: Peter Lang, 1999); Leon D. Pamphile, "America's Policy-Making in Haitian Education, 1915-1934," Journal of Negro Education 54, no. 1 (1985): 99-108; Bruce J. Calder, The Impact of Intervention: The Dominican Republic during the U.S. Occupation of 1916-1924 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984).
12. On the "pejorative temper" of nationalism and the Mexican case, see Erwin H. Epstein and Catherine A. Riordan, "Bicultural Preparation and National Identity: A Study of Medical Students at a Mexican University," Mexican Stadies 5 (Summer 1989): 239-63.
13. I b i d.
14. Paul Albury, The Story of the Bahamas (London: Macmillan, 1975), p. 112.
15. On Pentecostal religious influences from the United States in the late nineteenth century, see Michael Craton and Gail Saunders, Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1999), pp. 113-14.
16. For a critique of such approaches, see John Tomlinson, Cultural Imperialism: A. Critical Introduction (London: Pinter, 1991), pp. 90-98.
17. For general accounts of education in the Bahamas during the colonial era, see J. M. Maksik, "Educational Development in the Bahamas: Bahamian Perspectives" (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 1976); R. Turner, "A Study of Education in the Bahamas" (M.A. thesis, Colorado State University, 1968); A. D. Peggs, "A History of Bahamian Education" (M.A. thesis, University of Durham, 1947).
18. For general accounts of education in the Bahamas during the colonial era, see J. M. Maksik, "Educational Development in the Bahamas: Bahamian Perspectives" (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 1976); R. Turner, "A Study of Education in the Bahamas" (M.A. thesis, Colorado State University, 1968); A. D. Peggs, "A History of Bahamian Education" (M.A. thesis, University of Durham, 1947).
19. For general accounts of education in the Bahamas during the colonial era, see J. M. Maksik, "Educational Development in the Bahamas: Bahamian Perspectives" (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 1976); R. Turner, "A Study of Education in the Bahamas" (M.A. thesis, Colorado State University, 1968); A. D. Peggs, "A History of Bahamian Education" (M.A. thesis, University of Durham, 1947).
20. John Trainor, "Public Education in the Bahamas," in Modern Bahamian Society, ed. Dean W. Collinwood and Steve Dodge (Parkersburg, Iowa: Caribbean Books, 1989); Keva Bethel, "Educational Reform in the Bahamas," in Educational Reform in the Commonwealth Caribbean, ed. Errol Miller (Washington, D.C.: Organization of American States, 1999).
21. John Trainor, "Public Education in the Bahamas," in Modern Bahamian Society, ed. Dean W. Collinwood and Steve Dodge (Parkersburg, Iowa: Caribbean Books, 1989); Keva Bethel, "Educational Reform in the Bahamas," in Educational Reform in the Commonwealth Caribbean, ed. Errol Miller (Washington, D.C.: Organization of American States, 1999).
22. Errol Miller, "Education Reform in the Commonwealth Caribbean: An Assessment," in Miller, ed., p. 309.
23. Carl Campbell, Endless Education: Main Currents in the Education System of Modern Trinidad and Tobago, 1939-1986 (Mona, Jamaica: The Press, University of the West Indies, 1997).
24. Government of the Bahamas, Board of Education, cited in Keva Bethel, p. 78.
25. Keva Bethel, p. 91; Ministry of Education and Culture, Annual Report, 1971-75 (Nassau: Ministry of Education and Culture), p. 215. The report is not really annual but covers the 5-year period.
26. Keva Bethel, p. 91; Ministry of Education and Culture, Annual Report, 1971-75 (Nassau: Ministry of Education and Culture), p. 215. The report is not really annual but covers the 5-year period.
27. Livingston Coakley, interview by author, Nassau, March 31, 1999. He considers, with hindsight, that scholarships were awarded rather too liberally.
28. Keva Bethel, pp. 113-15. On the development of the Bahamas Benedictine University College as an American offshore initiative, see Joan Vanderpool, "International Academic Relations and Small Nation States: A Case Study of Selected British, American and Canadian Initiatives in Bahamian Higher Education" (Ph.D. thesis, University of Toronto, 1999).
29. Keva Bethel, pp. 113-15. On the development of the Bahamas Benedictine University College as an American offshore initiative, see Joan Vanderpool, "International Academic Relations and Small Nation States: A Case Study of Selected British, American and Canadian Initiatives in Bahamian Higher Education" (Ph.D. thesis, University of Toronto, 1999).
30. Felix Bethel, "Tourism, Public Policy and National Development in the Bahamas," in Modern Bahamian Society, ed. Dean W. Collinwood and Steve Dodge (Parkersburg, Iowa: Caribbean Books, 1989), p. 129.
31. Ramesh Ramsaran, "The Bahamas: An Assessment of Post-independence Economic Experience," in Collinwood and Dodge, eds., p. 111.
32. Bertram Knowles, interview by author, Nassau, July 23, 1999.
33. See Linda A. Davis, "The Indigenous Curriculum and the Production of Indigenous Materials: Curriculum Reform in The Bahamas," College Forum 7 (Summer 1995): 1-28.
34. The A Beka materials, published by Pensacola Christian College, are an attempt at a "teacher- proof and "evolution-proof" package.
35. It must be admitted that in many instances there is no practical alternative to an American text at this level.
36. Neil Sealey, interview by author, Nassau, January 16, 2001. Macmillan, alone among the multinationals so far, has developed an interest in small island publications.
37. Altbach (n. 2 above), p. 243.
38. See J. Sinclair, Images Incorporated: Advertising as Industry and Ideology (London: Croom Helm, 1987), pp. 166-67; Tomlinson (n. 9 above), pp. 84-94.
39. See J. Sinclair, Images Incorporated: Advertising as Industry and Ideology (London: Croom Helm, 1987), pp. 166-67; Tomlinson (n. 9 above), pp. 84-94.
40. Dean W. Collinwood, "The Bahamas in Social Transition," in Collinwood and Dodge, eds., p. 16.
41. Cyra Kemp, "Bahamians Having Varying Hopes for the New Millennium," Tribune (Nassau) (December 28, 1999), p. 5.
42. C. T. Leys, "Report of the Development of a College of the Bahamas" (University of the West Indies, 1968), cited and discussed by E. M. Eleanor Thompson, "An Examination of the Implementation of Higher Education Policy in an Independent Bahamas, 1974-1982" (Ph.D. thesis, University of Toronto, 1983), pp. 89-90.
43. C. T. Leys, "Report of the Development of a College of the Bahamas" (University of the West Indies, 1968), cited and discussed by E. M. Eleanor Thompson, "An Examination of the Implementation of Higher Education Policy in an Independent Bahamas, 1974-1982" (Ph.D. thesis, University of Toronto, 1983), pp. 89-90.
44. Ministry of Education and Culture, Focus on the Future: White Paper on Education (Nassau: Ministry of Education and Culture, 1973), pp. 10-11.
45. E. M. Eleanor Thompson, p. 100.
46. John Knowles, interview by author, Nassau, March 5, 1999.
47. On the world-wide influence of the U.S. community college model, see Rosalind Latimer Raby, "Globalization of the Community College Model: Paradox of the Global and the Local," in Globalization and Education, ed. Nelly P. Stromquist and Karen Monkman (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000). This influence notwithstanding, COB has placed emphasis on its higher education function, seen as national rather than local.
48. Keva Bethel (n. 11 above), pp. 105-9.
49. Anthony Layne, "Educational Reform in Barbados in the Post-War Period," in Miller, ed. (n. 11 above), pp. 139-41; Cynthia Thompson, "Educational Reform in Post-Independence Belize," in Miller, ed., pp. 51-59; J. Reay, "Trinidad and Tobago," in The Encyclopedia of Comparative Education and National Systems of Education, ed. T. Neville Postlethwaite (Oxford: Pergamon, 1988), pp. 667-68; Errol Miller, "Educational Reform in Independent Jamaica," in Miller, ed., p. 244.
50. Anthony Layne, "Educational Reform in Barbados in the Post-War Period," in Miller, ed. (n. 11 above), pp. 139-41; Cynthia Thompson, "Educational Reform in Post-Independence Belize," in Miller, ed., pp. 51-59; J. Reay, "Trinidad and Tobago," in The Encyclopedia of Comparative Education and National Systems of Education, ed. T. Neville Postlethwaite (Oxford: Pergamon, 1988), pp. 667-68; Errol Miller, "Educational Reform in Independent Jamaica," in Miller, ed., p. 244.
51. Anthony Layne, "Educational Reform in Barbados in the Post-War Period," in Miller, ed. (n. 11 above), pp. 139-41; Cynthia Thompson, "Educational Reform in Post-Independence Belize," in Miller, ed., pp. 51-59; J. Reay, "Trinidad and Tobago," in The Encyclopedia of Comparative Education and National Systems of Education, ed. T. Neville Postlethwaite (Oxford: Pergamon, 1988), pp. 667-68; Errol Miller, "Educational Reform in Independent Jamaica," in Miller, ed., p. 244.
52. Anthony Layne, "Educational Reform in Barbados in the Post-War Period," in Miller, ed. (n. 11 above), pp. 139-41; Cynthia Thompson, "Educational Reform in Post-Independence Belize," in Miller, ed., pp. 51-59; J. Reay, "Trinidad and Tobago," in The Encyclopedia of Comparative Education and National Systems of Education, ed. T. Neville Postlethwaite (Oxford: Pergamon, 1988), pp. 667-68; Errol Miller, "Educational Reform in Independent Jamaica," in Miller, ed., p. 244.
53. E. M. Eleanor Thompson, p. 4.
54. This is the view of Sheila Seymour (interview by author, Nassau, March 29, 1999), who has been an education lecturer both in Bahamas Teachers' College before 1975 and in COB since then.
55. Ministry of Education and Culture, Focus on the Future, pp. 6-7.
56. Ministry of Education and Culture, Annual Report, 1970-71 (Nassau: Government Printer, 1973), pp. 84-85.
57. In Trinidad the extension of the CEE to admissions to grant-aided secondary schools dates from the Concordat of 1960 between the government and religious bodies. Later Trinidad developed an important segment of secondary education labeled "comprehensive" but still retained the CEE; see Campbell (n. 13 above), pp. 99, 116-26.
58. On the same use of the CEE in Barbados, see Layne. For further comparative analysis, see James Urwick, "Pluralism versus Integration in the Provision of Schools: Alternative Policies from Three States of the Commonwealth Caribbean" (paper presented at the fortyfifth annual meeting of the Comparative and International Education Society, Washington D.C., March 14-17, 2001).
59. See Miller, "Educational Reform in Independent Jamaica."
60. The general goals of the policy are stated in Ministry of Education and Culture, Focus on the Future (n. 30 above), pp. 6-8. The dates of the separation of cycles and campuses are given in historical notes prepared by the Statistics Unit, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Nassau.
61. Compare Jamaica College, Bo School in Sierra Leone, and the provincial Government Colleges in Nigeria. Many other examples could be cited.
62. Coakley, interview (n. 16 above).
63. See, e.g., Trainor (n. 11 above), pp. 189-90.
64. In the Grade Level Assessment Test results of 1992, e.g., the mean percentile ranks at grade 6 for the complete battery, relating to norms of 1985, were 88 for the private sector and 52 for the public sector. At grade 8 the corresponding statistics were 84 and 45. See Ministry of Education, Bahamas Grade Level Assessment Test 1992 Technical Report (San Antonio: Psychological Corporation, 1992), pp. 39-40.
65. National Task Force on Education, Final Report: "Education a Preparation for Life" (Nassau: Government Printer, 1994), pp. 39-40, 48-49.
66. One senior high school has extra resources for natural sciences; another for performing arts, etc. This feature is not practicable in the Family Islands, where, owing to low population density, the public secondary schools are "central," with junior and senior cycles in the same campus.
67. Bahamian policy makers do not seem to have been much aware of the large body of research that casts doubt on the economic advantages of using public schools for vocational studies in developing countries.
68. Keith Parker, interview by author, Nassau, March 24, 1999.
69. Hadassah Hall, "Leaving behind a Legacy," Nassau Guardian (May 25, 1999), p. B1.
70. Deacon Leviticus Adderley, interview by author, Nassau, August 3, 1999; and Parker, interview.
71. Ministry of Education, Physical Education Curriculum: Secondary (Nassau: Ministry of Education, 1982).
72. Celestine Wilson, "Physical Education in the Secondary School and Its Influence on Sports Organizations in the Bahamas" (long study) (Nassau: Bahamas Teachers' College, 1974), p. 29.
73. During World War II there were U.S. bases on the islands of San Salvador, Exuma, and Eleuthera. Allied forces in Nassau were mostly British.
74. Wilson gives the figures for 1946 and 1973 (p. 29). The 1999 information is from Keith Smith, Secretary of the Bahamas Basketball Federation, personal communication with author, Nassau, 1999.
75. The earlier figures are from Wilson, p. 30; the last from Carry Corbetts, "A Review of the Delivery of Softball in the Bahamas and the Development of a Strategic Plan for the Bahamas Softball Federation" (unpublished report, Bahamas Softball Federation, 1999), p. 10.
76. The earlier figures are from Wilson, p. 30; the last from Carry Corbetts, "A Review of the Delivery of Softball in the Bahamas and the Development of a Strategic Plan for the Bahamas Softball Federation" (unpublished report, Bahamas Softball Federation, 1999), p. 10.
77. Parker, interview. The COB trained very few PE teachers until recently.
78. Ibid Hall.
79. Wilson, pp. 33-35.
80. Such are the impressions of both Parker (interview) and Adderley (interview).
81. Comparison of classes and of schools is officially mentioned as one of the aims.
82. Carol Hanna, interview by author, Nassau, May 4, 1999.
83. Interviews by author with two Bahamian educators who assisted in the initial organization of the tests, Nassau, January 25 and 26, 2000.
84. Hanna, interview.
85. In 1993 grade 9 GLATs were used instead of the BJC, but the BJC was restored thereafter in response to public criticism.
86. Information from the Ministry of Education, Nassau.
87. See n. 64 above.
88. Kingsley Black, interview by author, Nassau, January 26, 1998 ; Brensil Rolle, interview by author, Nassau, February 12, 1998. Both were BUT leaders involved in the development of plans for the career ladder during the 1980s.
89. Kingsley Black, interview by author, Nassau, January 26, 1998 ; Brensil Rolle, interview by author, Nassau, February 12, 1998. Both were BUT leaders involved in the development of plans for the career ladder during the 1980s.
90. John M. Enger, "Perceptions of Teaching as a Career by Bahamian Grade 12 Students in CollegePreparatory Programs" (unpublished report, National Teacher Education Committee, Nassau, 1982), p. 18.
91. Rolle, interview.
92. William A. Firestone and James R. Pennell, "Teacher Commitment, Working Conditions and Differential Incentive Policies," Review of Educational Research 63 (Winter 1993): 489-525.
93. Ministry of Education and Bahamas Union of Teachers, "Career Ladder and Merit Pay Compensation for Public School Teachers" (draft proposal, Ministry of Education, Nassau, 1990).
94. Ministry of Education, Draft Handbook: Career Path for Public School Teachers and Administrators (Nassau: Government Printer, 1997).
95. Lynn M. Cornett, "Lessons from 10 Years of Teacher Improvement Reforms," Educational Leadership 52 (February 1995): 26-30.
96. It is one of the reforms discussed in Maria Teresa Tatto, "Educational Reform and Slate Power in Mexico: The Paradoxes of Decentralization," Comparative Education Review 43 (August 1999): 252-82.
97. See William Rahming, Marcellus Taylor, and James Urwick, "Final Report of the Committee Studying the Introduction of the Career Path Syslem for Teachers" (Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Nassau, 2001).
98. Keva Bethel (n. 11 above), pp. 89-90.
99. Leroy Sumner and Leonora Archer, "Bahamas," in Examination Systems in Small States: Comparative Perspectives in Policies, Models and Operations, ed. Mark Bray and Lucy Steward (London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 1998), p. 101.
100. See ibid., pp. 100-105, for further details.
101. This viewpoint is well illustrated by R. Salinas and L. Paldan, "Culture in the Process of Dependent Development: Theoretical Perspectives," in National Sovereignty and International Communication, ed. Kaarle Nordenstreng and Herbert I. Schiller (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1979).
102. Carnoy, "Globalization and Educational Reform" (n. 2 above), pp. 56-57.
103. This is also illustrated by the recent refusal of the Bahamian government to participate in a Caribbean supreme court, which is intended to replace the Privy Council as the final court of appeal.
104. Ali A. Mazrui, "Towards Diagnosing and Treating Cultural Dependency: The Case of the African University," International Journal of Educational Development 12 (April 1992): 95-111.
105. See Steiner-Khamsi and Quist (n, 3 above) on externalized referencing and Halpin and Troyna (n, 1 above) on legitimization.
106. This is almost as misleading as the borrowing of the "magnet school" label in the United Kingdom. See Green (n. 1 above).
107. See n. 1 above.
108. Mazrui, p. 105; Steiner-Khamsi and Quist use the term "recontextualization" (p. 275).
109. Mazrui, p. 105; Steiner-Khamsi and Quist use the term "recontextualization" (p. 275).
110. Ministry of Education and Culture, Focus on the Future (n. 30 above); Ministry of Education, Draft Handbook (n. 74 above).
111. Ministry of Education and Culture, Focus on the Future (n. 30 above); Ministry of Education, Draft Handbook (n. 74 above).
112. Harry Judge, "Images and Reflections: The USA," Comparative Education 25 (October 1989): 333-37.
113. H. Houghton, Report on Education in the Bahamas (London: Colonial Office, 1958), pp. 3-4.
114. On this, see also Trainor (n. 11 above), p. 191.
115. Michael Agelasto, "Educational Transfer of Sorts: The American Credit System with Chinese Characteristics" (paper presented at the conference "Educational Knowledge and School Curricula: Comparative Sociological Perspectives," Jerusalem, December 1995). Available on-line at http://www.hku.hk/educ/ michael/credit.html.