Transferring Professional Learning to Schools in a Caribbean Setting: Context and Culture Matter

There is
little if any research internationally, regionally, or locally on the factors
that facilitate or inhibit the educator in transitioning from an untrained,
experienced practitioner to a trained practitioner, particularly concerning the
sustainability of their practice. This
book fills that gap as it explores school contexts and cultures that educators
encounter post-teacher professional preparation and provides an understanding
of how to engineer an enabling environment for sustainable practice. The effectiveness of teacher
professional preparation programmes cannot be assessed in isolation from the education
culture and context to which teachers return.

Transferring Professional Learning
addresses the factors that facilitate and inhibit participants from sustainably
implementing what they have learnt on a professional preparation programme.
The series of cases presented in the book connect readers with real-life
stories of individuals whose experiences provide opportunities for reflection
on their own practice and pathways for growth individually and collectively. A
unique feature of the book is the discussion sections at the end of each
chapter, which, in essence, allow the reader to personalize and contextualize
the knowledge gained in each chapter, thereby providing a richer and deeper
hermeneutic experience. Thus, the structure of the book invokes meta-cognition.
The book draws attention to the critical role of context and culture in
sustaining the practices to which participants were introduced on the
programme, but even more so, it forces an interrogation of educators
identities and personal philosophies. Through meaningful narratives, it
gives voice to the experiences of graduates working in various school
environments and cultural settings.