COOPERATION FOR TEACHERS AND EDUCATION IN THE PACIFIC
The Institute of Education (IOE) at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji has recently completed a desk study on “Teachers and Education in the Pacific” (TEP). The first of a multi-phase study, which is co-funded by ADB and AusAID, involves a desk study which concluded in a regional workshop that was hosted by IOE in December 2007. A total of 13 country reports were disseminated and discussed during the workshop. This article reviews the main findings of the desk study and outlines the issues discussed in the TEP workshop that are either common around the region or unique to each country, with particular focus here on possible areas for international cooperation.
A Context-sensitive Approach to Educational Aid
This paper argues that the approach to educational aid must be sensitive to underlying fundamental contextual considerations within the communities aided. In Pacific Islands countries, these relate to weak leadership and, consequently, a lack of clear national vision and plan for education. This paper discusses the Re-thinking Pacific Education Initiative, its contextsensitive approach and its areas of innovation, significance and challenge.
Teacher Education and Globalisation: Challenges for Teacher Education in the Pacific during the New Millenium
Today’s topic takes me back to a story I used to tell my students in a course on curriculum development called ‘Sabertooth Curriculum’. An article (Peddiwell 1939) talks about a tribal people who lived on a fish and meat diet through fish-grabbing with the bare hands and horse-clubbing, among other things. They had perfected the art of fish-grabbing and horse-clubbing to the point where they lived a reasonably comfortable life. The young members of the tribe were taught these important arts of survival but one day there was a sudden break in the weather pattern which altered the lives of the group.