This educational administration course emphasizes the importance of leadership practices. Prospective school administrators are expected to develop inclusive decision making processes and continually reflect on the effectiveness of these procedures. The participants in this course will be exposed to a wide range of knowledge and skills which will enable them to function, not only as the heads of institutions, but as better classroom managers, coordinators and heads of departments.
SEMESTER
This course is designed to develop theoretical and practical applications in the knowledge, design, development, implementation, utilization, management, and evaluation of education technology and technologies for learning, thus increasing the opportunities for enhancing teaching and learning experiences and improving instructional communication strategies.
The course also focuses on the above specifically in an arts-related lesson or context. The course will cover four components:
- Instructional technologies, media and methods;
- Computers, Multimedia tools and e-learning in education;
- Integrated Communication Technologies and;
- Apps and Mobile devices in the Classroom.
This course provides the opportunity for student-teachers to examine their attitude towards research and any misconceptions about research. In addition, learners are allowed to assess their level of competence in applying the principles of research in a variety of educational con- texts with emphasis on the classroom; the intention being to influence their professional development as teacher- researchers. It requires participants to apply relevant research knowledge, skills and disposition to allow them to address in practical ways, educational problems affecting them and learners in their specialized fields. The general vision is that the participants will begin to adopt a culture of researching to guide their decisions. In light of this, the course is organized around three main themes:
1. The Field of Educational Research and the Fundamental
Principles of Educational Research
2. The Teacher as Researcher: Practical Approach to
Educational Problems
3. 3. The Teacher as Researcher Facilitator: Meeting the
learners needs as beginning researchers especially in
their acquisition of appropriate attitudes and skills for
this information driven era.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The revision of the Education curriculum
became necessary as a result of the major goals in education that were mandated
as emerging programmes from the Transformation in Education Programme
recommended in the report of The Task Force on Education in Jamaica, 2004 and
in keeping with the goals set by the Education Board of Studies of the Edna
Manley College in crafting the Bachelor of Arts degree programmes launched in
September 2010. The content and methods of this course- Theories and
Practice in Education
Practice in Education were determined by the curriculum writer based on the
general direction provided by the steering committees of the mentioned
programmes and the perceived demands and trends in regional and global
approaches to Teacher Education.
This course is structured around 3 units which allow the student teacher to think about and
develop some principles of and approaches to teaching, learning, and creating
classroom environments, and to engage in planning and teaching in different
curricular and learning environments. Additionally, the course provides
an introduction to principles of and approaches to integration, to alternative
approaches to managing classroom environments and specific approaches to
dealing with students’ behaviour.
This course offers exposure to Research Methods and procedures for conducting original research projects. Research types and formats, language and terminology, measurements and instruments are studied. Also explored are the problems of validity and reliability and the procedures and methods available for establishing these. Planning, conducting and presentation of an original research or thesis are studied through student seminars based on preliminary research in selected topics. A practical and uniform method to be followed in the writing and presentation of the research paper is introduced.
