Additional information
about the papers and speakers 

Rhoda ARRINDELL (PhD candidate, Puerto Rico & USM Head of Language Division)

Language, Identity, and the Decreolization Process--A reflection on the role of language in the literature and culture of St. Martin

Max BELAISE (University of Martinique, Martinique, France)

Educating in an identity ethic context: a study of the French West Indies case

Biographical details: Max Belaise, born in 1960 in Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe), has completed his Ph.D. candidacy in Philosophy in the Philosophy Department of the Université Marne La Vallée (France), and Theology and in History of Philosophy (Sorbonne). He is a graduate in Pharmacology, theology, and in medical anthropology (France). He is currently teaching ethics at the Institute of Technology and at the Faculty of letters, at the Université des Antilles-Guyane (Martinique, France), after having exercised the pastoral ministry in France and in the French West Indies. His primary research interests are centred on ethics, medicine, religion and civilization in the French West Indies.

Gracelyn CASSELL (UWI, Montserrat)

The American University of the Caribbean:  Montserrat’s Loss, St. Maarten’s Gain

Biographical details: B.A. Library Studies (UWI), M.A. Archives (Lond), and M Sc Computer Assisted Management Information Systems (UWI) worked in the Montserrat Public Library from 1982 to 1997 and in the Main Library at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica from 1997 to 2005. In August 2005, she returned to Montserrat to take up the post of Resident Tutor and Head of the University of the West Indies School of Continuing Studies.

Dr. Maria CIJNTJE–VAN ENCKEVORT (USM, St Martin, Netherlands Antilles)

Decolonizing the educational system on St. Martin, or how to teach globalization under the flamboyant tree

Biographical details: Dr. Cijntje-Van Enckevort was born in The Netherlands. She studied in The Netherlands, Canada, and Jamaica (UWI, Mona), and has been working in education on (Dutch) St. Martin for the past 25 years. She has published various textbooks on history and social studies for secondary education. Her main interests are in the areas of history, philosophy and Caribbean Studies. She is the current Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of St. Martin. Website: https://consultants2006.tripod.com/maria_van_enckevort.

Marguerite E. CUMMINS-WILLIAMS (PhD candidate UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados)

The General Agreement on Trade in Services and Education in the Caribbean: Three Case Studies

Dr. June GEORGE (UWI, St Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago)

What science? The question of relevance of school science curricula for developing countries

Milton A. GEORGE (VUB and PhD candidate KULEUVEN, Belgium, and USM guest instructor, St. Martin, Netherlands Antilles)

Telling the story of St Maarten primary Education between 1954—2000. Oral history: a reliable source or a collection of biased accounts?

Biographical details: Milton A. George was born in Suriname. He studied in The Netherlands, the UK, and Belgium. He holds a university teaching degree, a diploma in teaching English as a Foreign Language, and MAs in Religious Studies, Theology, Canon Law, and Educational Studies, respectively. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. He is conducting a research project about the history of primary education in St Maarten, The Netherlands Antilles, and doing an MA in Linguistics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. Website: http://www.geocities.com/milgeorge/official.html

Dr. Francio GUADELOUPE (Head of the Research and Publication Dept., USM, St. Martin, Netherlands Antilles)

What the Tamarind Tree Whispers: notes on a pedagogy of tragedy

Biographical details: The recurring themes in the work of the Aruban-born social anthropologist Dr. Francio Guadeloupe are the creativity and pragmatism that the
Caribbean working poor exhibit under conditions of duress, and the
non-hierarchical potential of transculturation as a philosophy and praxis
in founding a universality rich with particulars. This ties in with his
biography as Dr. Guadeloupe roots and routes connect the French, Dutch,
English, and Spanish Caribbean, and he lived nearly half of his life in
the Netherlands. Dr. Guadeloupe has lectured at the anthropology and
sociology department of the University of Amsterdam, where he received his
PhD. Currently Dr. Guadeloupe holds the position of director of Research
and Publications at the University of Saint Martin (The Netherlands
Antilles).

Webpage: http://www.diasporainternational.org/pdf/healing_of.pdf

Prof. Dr. Yegin HABTES (UVI, US Virgin Islands, USA)

Changing Times – Creating Inclusive Schools

Dr. D. Jn. Pierre KENTRY (St Lucia - Sheffield University, UK)

Lifelong Learning in St Lucia in the Age of Globalisation, Knowledge and Information

Jeannette J. LOVERN (UVI, St Croix, US Virgin Islands, USA)

Does Block Scheduling Decrease Instructional Time? A Look at St. Croix’s Five Public Secondary Schools using Four Block Schedule Types

Dr. Rene MONTEIL (UTT, Trinidad & Tobago)

The University of Trinidad and Tobago: a model for stimulating national and regional development

Biographical details: Dr. Monteil is a national of Trinidad and Tobago. He holds B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of London and an M.A in Law from the City University, London.  He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemists in 1981 and was called to the Bar at Middle Temple, London in 1987 and to the Bar in Trinidad and Tobago in 2001. After his Ph.D. in 1976, he began an academic career as a Research Fellow on the synthesis of tetracycline antibiotics with Nobel Laureate, Professor Sir D. H. R. Barton at Imperial College and, later, with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.  Subsequently, he lectured at the University of the West Indies in Chemistry at Mona, Jamaica and in the Petroleum Engineering unit at St Augustine in Trinidad. As a lawyer, he specialised in intellectual property at the English Bar in London before practising as an advisory lawyer in UK Energy and Policy at the then Department of Energy. In industry, he has held senior positions in both upstream and downstream areas of the oil and gas industry and has been intimately involved in commercial negotiations for all LNG projects in Trinidad and Tobago as well as for the establishment of a plastics industry based on ethylene and propylene. He is a member of various Boards including the Board of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (“UTT”).  As the Executive Director of UTT, he is very involved in developing strategic alliances for the University in general and one of its research Institutes - the Natural Gas Institute of the Americas, in particular.

Nicole N. PARRIS (UWI, St Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago)

Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking and its Implementation at the UWI

Drs Rob PAULUSSEN (OU, The Netherlands & BAZN Academy for Public Administration)

The concept of good governance as a practical guide in education for public administration

Prof. Dr. Christian POSTHOFF (UWI, St Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago)

Computer Science as one Foundation of (Higher) Education

Dr. Marilyn ROBB (UWI, Trinidad & Tobago)

Social and Emotional Learning: Is it the missing piece in our schools?

Biographical details: Marilyn Robb is an Educational Consultant attached to the Caribbean Institute for Research and Professional Education, Ltd (CIRPEL). She has an M. Ed from Towson State University, Maryland USA, an M. Phil from the University of the West Indies and a Ph.D. from the University of the West Indies. She is the Programme Administrator and a tutor for the University of Sheffield Caribbean Programmes in Education. She also lectures in the Department of Education at the University of the West Indies, St.Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. One of her major consultancies was the “Changing the Culture of the Classroom” project which she designed and implemented in several Caribbean countries for UNESCO. Marilyn has also conducted workshops on Social and Emotional Learning and Educational Change in North America, Australia and several countries in Europe. The Institute- CIRPEL: Caribbean Institute for Research and Professional Education, Ltd., an independent learning organisation in operation for the past ten years, offers services in the sphere of education. They are the agents for the University of Sheffield, School of Education Caribbean Programmes. The consultancy services offered by CIRPEL include support for distance learners, staff and professional development and collaborative research. Webpage: www.cirpel.org.

Emmanuel ROYSTON (Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, St Lucia)

The Integration of Information & Communication Technology in Education in St. Lucia: Evaluating Teacher Training in ICT Use

Biographical details: Emmanuel Royston is a 34 year old who has taught for all of his working life in almost all sectors in education – Secondary Education, Adult Education and Tertiary Education.  I have a keen interest in technology use in classroom and the ramifications of technology use for the role of the teacher. He attended the University of the West Indies, between 1993-1996, where I completed a BA in English and then went on to pursue an MPhil in the same field, but eventually took some time off to reconsider his options. It was at this point that his interest in teaching was rekindled: teaching presented new possibilities, the most crucial being adult learning and the use of technology.  Consequently, he pursued a Masters in Education degree at the University of Sheffield, in which he specialised in Adult Learning and ICT in education. At present, he is continuing his dream of rationalising how technology can best be used in the classroom by helping teachers think about the process of technology implementation and its consequences in education.

Prof. Dr. Peter SNOW (Christopher Newport University, USA)

Understanding Linguistic Diversity in Caribbean Classrooms: Ethnographic Methods for Teachers

Biographical details: Peter Snow received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles and is now an Assistant Professor of Linguistics in the Department of English at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, USA. He has conducted ethnographic fieldwork and worked as an elementary school teacher and teacher-trainer on the Panamanian island of Bastimentos in the Western Caribbean Sea since 1993. His articles on language contact and Caribbean Creole language varieties have appeared in the Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, the International Journal of the Sociology of Language, and ­ most recently ­ in the book Politeness and Face in Caribbean Creoles edited by Susanne Muhleisen and Bettina Migge.