Assessing the Disposition Toward Teaching Moral and Spiritual Education: A Caribbean Case Study

• In Event: 29.082 - Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: 29.082-11 - Spirituality and Education SIG Roundtable Sessions

Abstract

Although Religious Education and Moral / Values Education (infused) are stipulated subjects in the National Primary School curriculum of this diverse Caribbean nation, there is no hard data about whether the nation’s primary school teachers are comfortable teaching those subjects. Towards that end and to initiate a related longitudinal study, this group of researchers created a questionnaire to elicit beliefs and opinions from a sample of prospective primary school teachers enrolled in the four-year Bachelor of Education, teacher-preparation programme at the Caribbean nation’s local university. Qualitative analysis of the responses, (n=58), has yielded insight into the student teachers’ mind-set about teaching moral/spiritual education relative to intercultural curriculum delivery in the diverse nation where “Tolerance” is one of the national watchwords.

Authors

• Dr. Sylvia Rose-Ann Walker, University of Trinidad and Tobago

• Cecelia Reece-Peters, The University of Trinidad and Tobago

• Cecilia Hall, The University of Trinidad and Tobago