Special Education in Trinidad and Tobago: Educational Vision and Change

Childhood Education, 2006 by Pedro, Joan, Conrad, Dennis

How the Change Came About

Change occurs on a national level because of socio-political forces or community-based leadership. Changes never occur without an advocate (Fullan & Stiegelbauer, 1991), and Conrad (the second author) can be considered the visionary who dared to develop an internationally accredited teacher education program, by the community and for the community. Conrad had completed his M.Ed, at the University of Sheffield, where he had proposed informally the notion of a distance education initiative to a very responsive dissertation adviser. Being simultaneously both the president of TASETT, which had a mission of teacher and parent advocacy, and the chair of the TUTTA special education committee, Conrad was able to introduce his ideas to the leadership of these associations. His involvement with the Special Education Advisory Committee of the state's education ministry also allowed him access to the opinions and concerns of leaders within the area. Essentially, Conrad recognized the need for teacher preparation and development in a dynamic, cross-categorical special education program. Here was a chance at reform in one area of education that was underdeveloped, and so Conrad pushed his ideas wherever he could. He went on to involve the first author and other educators, who were part of a dynamic special school and faculty with a long tradition of pioneering, teamwork, and leadership, and who were willing to take the risk.

Changes Occur Because We Borrow Ideas From One Another

Many challenges will arise during the implementation of any pilot program, and this project had its fair share of growing pains. There should be relevance, readiness, and resources at the start of any implementation, but Fullan and Stiegelbauer (1991) point out that it is not always possible to sort out these three elements in advance. A group of committed educators developed the course content, using many examples from university programs in the United States and the United Kingdom. Discussions with the University of Sheffield director of the program held prior to, and early in, the project focused on how we could develop the course to meet the needs of the local teachers and students. This project would not have survived were it not for the commitment and support of the pioneers. However, we took on professional as well as administrative duties, and this dual leadership proved to be overwhelming at times, leading to many quick fixes and rushed decisions that did not always work.

We were also very mindful that the varying stakeholders have their differing agendas, and were adamant that we would avoid anything in policy or practice that might suggest neo-colonialism. These actions went a long way toward affirming our trust in working in a truly collaborative relationship with a foreign university. It was important to consider that the external validating agency might be insensitive-even hostile-to openness and equity among the stakeholders engaged in collaborative practice with the partner body.