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This paper examines the importance of experiential learning for teachers-as-students and its impact on language instruction through personal experience of the author, a middle school Spanish teacher who participated in an International Teachers' Workshop in Belize focusing on environmental science education. The author compares the approaches of Communicative Language Teaching, Content-Based Instruction, and Experiential Learning. She provides concrete examples of classroom practice rooted in the tenets of these three learning approaches, while using environmental science concepts gleaned from her experiential learning to guide language learning. The paper concludes with reflection on current practice and implications for others' implementation of similar curricula.

This article explores the range of ways two teacher educators and preservice teachers engaged with and learned from writers and their families in town and village schools during a faculty-led study abroad experience in Belize, Central America. During this experience, the authors drew on three guiding principles: engaging in side-by-side writing communities, strengths-based responsive teaching, and honoring and valuing families. Through intentional and purposeful language, we built relationships and connections around writers' interests and strengths. We believed instructional practices that empowered writers would also be illuminating for candidates. With clear structures in place to learn from students and a focus on possibilities, writers wrote each day, candidates grew as responsive teachers, and families celebrated their children.

Within the education field, international partnerships to address career development have been successful around the world (Brown, Bim Rose, & Hughes, 2005; Nazali, 2007; Prideaux, Patton, & Creed, 2002; Repetto, 2001). Career development programming impacts the educational development for children and adolescents (Gottfredson, 1981; Gottfredson & Lapan, 1997; NCDA, 2011). School Counselors are often an untapped resource in the schools to design, implement and evaluate school-wide programs centered on career development. This article explores the benefits of career development and the creation of a career development school-wide program for the 6th grade level in Belize. This is accomplished through an international partnership between the Ministry of Education in Belize and a University in the Northeastern United States. This article explains the school counselors role as well as best practices for international partnerships when creating a full-year, school-wide career program at the middle school level in Belize.

Researchers have established the role of tertiary education (TE) in economic development (ED). Globally, TE generates significant and multiple direct, indirect and catalytic economic impacts, which result in well-established benefits pertaining to both individuals and broader economies. Last year, the government of Belize published its first comprehensive trade policy to develop a competitive economy, and it acknowledged that a shortage of skilled labour and competent human capital, among other factors, are core weaknesses towards trade development. Given the timeliness of the government's trade policy, the following research question guided this study: What can tertiary education do to strengthen alignment with economic development in Belize? The findings revealed that three significant and interrelated factors can strengthen the link between TE and ED: they are (1) program development through strategic consultations (2) building on academic strengths and resources to increase the value proposition and (3) the implementation of talent engagement strategies.

A Mayan woman principal taking a position in a historically paternalistic village in Southern Belize faces inevitable challenges due to the cultural structure of the village. In this case, the challenges go beyond cultural norms. Mrs. Po, a Mopan woman leading a school in a Kekchi village, faces challenges related to her role as a teaching principal in a multigrade school, her lack of leadership preparation, the remoteness of the village, and the language barrier, among others. The reader is encouraged to ponder the myriad of issues that impact the principal's efforts to improve the education system while working in a village where the community struggles to perceive the value of education.

Technical efficiency is the ability of a firm to produce its maximum output using a set of inputs or to minimise the use of its inputs to produce a certain level of output. When a firm is operating at its most efficient, operating costs can be minimised, profits maximised and competitiveness improved. This study investigates the role of a firm's human capital in impacting its technical efficiency. It uses the Productivity, Technology, Innovation survey (PROTEqIN) conducted for a sample of 13 Caribbean countries in 2014 and comprises 1,966 firms. To account for differences in efficiency of firms, a Stochastic Frontier Analysis is used to estimate the production function as well as technical efficiency scores. The efficiency scores are then regressed against workforce characteristics and other firm-specific control variables using a Tobit estimator with robust standard errors. The results suggest that workforce characteristics, in particular workforce composition in terms of the proportion of managers to total workforce and graduate and post-graduate education play an important role in influencing firm efficiency, perhaps more so than other firm-specific variables. Lastly, government technical assistance programmes in the Caribbean also act to improve firm technical efficiency.

The development, quality and impact of environmental and sustainability education (ESE) in the Caribbean have received increased attention from a growing body of education researchers over the past few decades. This is not surprising given that the region has been grappling with various environmental, social, and economic sustainability issues, and education remains widely regarded as a key mode of response by a range of stakeholders, networks and commentators. Drawing on local to wider perspectives and initiatives, formal and non-formal ESE activities have been undertaken, to enhance knowledge and awareness, develop values, hone skills, and promote behaviours consistent with sustainable development. Whilst this increased engagement is significant and heartening, I argue that there is still scope for a renewal of focus in ESE in the Caribbean, honing in on four main areas: climate change education, the environment and violence nexus, teacher education, and universities as models of and for sustainability. These areas are consistent with regional sustainability imperatives and the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as ripe for deeper research-practice interlinkages. An overview of existing fields of educational inquiry in the Caribbean is offered, along with the four foci for further and future research, with the hope that new, emerging and established academics (as well as practitioners) work productively together to engage these crucial issues and critical imperatives for ESE.

This article outlines a case study of creating a system of quality assurance in Belize while also building the capacity of teaching staff in order to support the process of establishing quality standards in tertiary education. This case study outlines the process of establishing the first quality assurance system in the nation's history as well as the instruction, mentoring and coaching provided to support capacity building as the implementation of standards were rolled out. The culmination of the initial two years of the pilot resulted in the first external review of an institution in the nation's history. Challenges and limitations of the programme are addressed as well as the successes each institution experienced in the initial two years of implementation. The pilot programme has yielded great interest in data collection and analysis as well as professional development to facilitate a culture shift from oral interpretation to data-driven decision making.

This study was conducted to better understand the level of involvement of families in Belize with the education of their children. It was anticipated that information from this broadly distributed survey might show areas of current strengths and weakness in the current system that might allow for future adjustments.

This article reports on a set of language attitude experiments undertaken in Belize in 2013--2014. The experiments tested attitudes toward Belizean Kriol in two different situational settings among 96 Belizean university students, exploring the extent to which experimental 'setting' had an effect on survey results. We administered verbal guise tests to 48 university students in classroom settings at the University of Belize campuses in Belize City and Punta Gorda. We then administered the same tests to 48 students in non-classroom settings in these same two cities. We found significant differences in both sets of results, with classroom participants registering stronger preferences for Belize City Kriol in status and solidarity traits. Our results add to a small but important body of literature in which setting is shown to influence language attitudes, and they provide support for an understanding of the quantitative survey as a meaning-making activity.

The general premise of the student teaching abroad experience being that it will provide future teachers with experiences that will enable them to interact effectively and productively with the increasingly diverse student population that comprises U.S. schools (Martines, 2005). It is understood that teacher preparation programs must provide effective platforms and settings for pre-service teachers to develop, express, and refine the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that will, collectively, establish their foundational competence as culturally responsive teachers. Toward this end, the student teaching abroad experience is projected to provide a substantive platform and setting for student teachers to engage in a multifaceted, culturally distinct experience outside the United States to develop, and even transform, their professional and personal perspectives, and related knowledge and skill bases. The authors have previously addressed the effects of student teaching abroad experiences. The purpose of the current stage of their ongoing research was to determine the influence of former student teachers' student teaching abroad experiences along three dimensions of their teaching practice within U.S. classroom settings: (a) instructional practice, (b) cultural responsiveness toward diverse student populations, and (c) curricular approach. The research was an extension of the researchers' three previous years of on-site and electronically-based investigations regarding the instructional, cultural, and professional development of student teachers in Belize, China, and Mexico (Jiang & DeVillar, 2011).

We live in a global society with demands to respond to global needs. Many higher educational institutions are attempting to integrate international components in their curricula. However, in this endeavor, some institutions are more successful than others. This paper presentation will explain how global mindsets can be cultivated through innovative international preparation programs that benefit both domestic and international students, as well as other stakeholders in the international community.

Early childhood education (ECE) provision is becoming a growing priority. During the past twenty years, Latin America has shown a growing recognition in the provision of educational programs for young children, birth to age eight, is essential. Urban and rural populations intimated in 2009, that many countries utilizing equitable access to quality early childhood programs is often seen by policy makers as a means of achieving economic and political goals (United Nations, 2012). Unfortunately, a pre-occupation with economic and political goals may conflict with the provision of quality programming for young children. In a number of Latin American countries provisions for educating young children exist as intent to provide quality services. The continuing challenge is to finance, organize and regulate those well-meaning intentions. The objective of this article is two-fold. First, to describe national policy efforts that regulate the education of young children consistently. And, second, to reflect the status of early childhood education programming; and to examine the possibilities for the improvement of the quality and accessibility of an education for all young children. Five Latin American nations have been chosen for examination, including: Belize, Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico, and Peru. (Contains 4 tables.)

A new international partnership in southern Belize that provided ongoing mentoring, teacher development, and resource allocation in two rural schools was examined through interviews with key individuals. This research was implemented through a scholar-practitioner approach, which embraces the concept of researcher as change agent. The results suggested that this partnership was providing increased educational capacity in the schools through the development of instructional strategies and intellectual capital. There were few problems mentioned, but inadequate communication and lack of parental involvement were factors for one volunteer. (Contains 1 note.)

The scholar-practitioner approach to leadership has the potential for effectiveness in developing countries through contextual understanding of unique circumstances. The purpose of this study was to survey leadership perceptions of principals in the Toledo District of Belize. This data, in the tradition of scholar-practitioner involvement, was used to inform the researchers of context and needs of respondents. The development of further professional activities was connected to the data in order to improve the ability of the principals to support socially just systems of education within the region.

This qualitative study explores how 11 university students in a U.S. service-learning course in Belize understood and represented their identities during the project, particularly their use of "the tourist" as a construct to interpret their experiences. Drawing on literature in international service-learning (ISL) and tourism studies, the article explores how students in this outreach project positioned themselves in relation to tourists and rejected this label for themselves, the ways in which they both exhibited and departed from the "tourist gaze," and the conditions that fostered a more or less tourist-like stance. The article argues that the tourist gaze counteracts core goals of ISL and university engagement; however, such projects can also provide students with opportunities to develop a more conscious perspective of others and themselves. Findings suggest the need to identify and nurture programmatic practices that enable students to move away from a tourist gaze, especially in short-term projects. (Contains 2 endnotes.)

Purpose: There is limited amount of research that constitutes non-traditional curricula implemented within an institutionalized context of developing countries. An attempt is made in this project to gain a clearer understanding of a non-traditional early learning program within an orphanage campus setting of Ladyville, Belize, Central America. This program is supported through the Belizean Ministry of Education and the University of Belize. In 1996, a comprehensive literacy survey was conducted in Belize that indicated the functional literacy rate to be approximately 40 percent (Cornerstone, 2007). In addition, it is estimated within developing countries one person in four is illiterate (Terryn, 2006). Liberty Learning Centre (LLC) of Ladyville, Belize implemented non-traditional theoretical curricula reflecting the social-constructivist theory to early learning. The methodologies include: Pikler, Montessori and components of the Reggio Emilia philosophy. The staff of LLC discovered creative, innovative and strategic ways to differentiate traditional academic learning through a diverse non-traditional learning environment. Procedures: Responses from the administration, caregivers, teachers, staff and students were interpreted and documented through various means of audio/DVD/video recordings, photography, interviews and journals. In addition I used detailed anecdotal field notes that became pieces to the methodology for the project. Findings: Responses, thoughts, ideas and viewpoints were given by the administration, teachers, students and staff regarding the implementation of non-traditional curricula within an institutionalized and non-traditional learning environment of a developing country. Implication: An institutionalized and international socio-cultural perspective will extend early childhood education further through a qualitative ethnographic study in Belize. This project gives voice to the silent and voiceless.

Teacher professional development and in-class mentors were used to support structured inquiry with math manipulatives. Twenty-four primary schools (n = 6,628 students) were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups as an experimental field trial to examine the effectiveness of this instructional approach in a scaled-up application in Belize for the duration of a school year. Implementation fidelity measures were collected permitting evaluation of two separate multilevel models: intention-to-treat and test-of-treatment. Both quantitative and qualitative evidence suggest students within this culture respond well to this relatively simple and inexpensive intervention that departs from traditional, expository math instruction in many developing countries. Policy implications are discussed that supported nationwide rollout of the intervention.

This article is centred on the constructs of teacher quality as defined by early childhood (EC) teachers in Belize. Using the concept of teacher beliefs as a framework, the researchers analyse teachers' perceptions of quality teaching, which should guide policy and practice decisions. For this pilot study, data were collected from 22 teachers using open-ended and Likert-scale questions from a questionnaire (n = 13) or focus groups (n = 9). Guiding research questions first sought to identify behaviours teachers believed were important or need to be stopped or improved, and second, to determine teacher agreement with guiding standards for excellence in EC teacher preparation as identified by National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Open-coding and descriptives were used to interpret qualitative and quantitative findings. Themes identified by teachers as important EC teacher behaviours and behaviours that needed to be stopped or improved are presented, as well as teachers' agreement with standards of excellence in EC as identified by NAEYC.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to answer the following research questions: what characteristics do key Belizean educational leaders value in teacher applicants and why? What hiring tools do they use to ascertain whether teacher applicants have the characteristics they prefer? Design/methodology/approach: The authors utilized a mixed-methods approach drawing upon three data sources--face-to-face interviews with Belizean educational leaders, field notes, and government documents. A card sorting activity of applicant characteristics and tools was embedded into the interview. Findings: Informants preferred motivation, caring, subject matter knowledge, and teaching skills. Intelligence was perceived as a potentially negative characteristic unless coupled with other characteristics, such as strong teaching skills, motivation, and caring or the umbrella of other characteristics, such as content knowledge or university training/credentialing. Professional characteristics, such as where one went for teacher training and academic performance, were perceived as having less relative importance than personal characteristics. Least important were applicant demographics. Consistent with the extant literature, Belizean informants perceived the interview, evidence of prior experience, and certification as the most important tools in vetting and hiring applicants. Research limitations/implications: The exploratory study is limited by the small sample of informants, but provides insights into preferences for applicant characteristics and hiring tools in an understudied international context. This study informs future research that may seek to survey representative samples of various stakeholder groups (i.e. general managers and principals) for their preferences in applicant characteristics and hiring tools from across Belizean schools and educational providers. Originality/value: The study adds to limited research on preferred teacher characteristics among educational leaders responsible for hiring and/or working with teachers and to the limited international educational leadership research.

Background: Following the occurrence of natural or man-made disaster, relief worker priorities include providing water, food, shelter, and immunizations for displaced persons. Like these essential initiatives, reproductive health education and services must also be incorporated into recovery efforts. Purpose: This study examined reproductive health care indicators, including the key areas of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infection (STI) transmission, family planning and pregnancy-related health services, and selected reproductive health education knowledge among refugees and internally displaced persons residing in southern Belize following Hurricane Mitch's assault on the region in 1998. In addition, the occurrence of gender-based violence was measured. Methods: Internally displaced persons and refugee men and women were interviewed about prenatal care and delivery services, family planning knowledge and utilization, HIV/AIDS and other STI transmission knowledge, and sexual violence. Results: Numerous misconceptions about HIV/AIDS and other STIs existed. Most persons had never used any family planning method. Oral contraceptive use declined as length of stay at refugee camps increased. Most women were able to access prenatal services. Violence against women, including sexual violence, was reported. Discussion: Better access to medical services and education about reproductive health issues are needed following disasters. Translation to Health Education Practice: Health educators can contribute to relief efforts. Moreover, other relief workers should be equipped with skills and knowledge to help meet the reproductive health needs of disaster victims. (Contains 3 tables.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show how higher education institutions in the Caribbean may benefit from the quality assurance measures implemented by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC). Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses an outcomes model of quality assurance to analyse the measures implemented by the CXC to assure quality in its examinations. It considers how higher education institutions in the Caribbean can benefit from the approach to quality assurance used by that organization. Findings: The paper suggests that there are several ways in which the quality assurance in higher education institutions may be improved by using an outcomes model which focuses on the centrality of the student experience by learning from the experiences of the CXC. Research limitations/implications: The research uses a methodology of theoretical analysis, that is the selection and discussion of theoretical material and descriptive material, in a particular context, and considers their applicability for improving practice, in this case, in higher education institutions in the Caribbean. It therefore does not engage the collection and analysis of quantitative or qualitative data. Practical implications: The paper suggests that quality assurance practices of higher education institutions in the Caribbean should take into account the lessons that may be learned from the quality assurance measures implemented by the CXC. Originality/value: The paper calls attention to the need for higher education institutions to make the shift away from a purely institutional approach to quality assurance by adopting a more student-centred approach.

Through the analysis of survey and interview data, we investigated the attitudes and perceptions of 32 multilingual teachers of Spanish in Belize, a code-switching (CS) context where Spanish is in intense contact with English and Belizean Kriol. More specifically, we examined teachers' and students' attitudes toward Spanish and CS and teachers' perceptions vis-à-vis students' attitudes toward Spanish instruction. The study revealed that whereas some teachers held negative views of Northern Belizean Spanish, they did not markedly perceive standard Spanish as "better" than the local variety of Belizean Spanish. The analysis also showed that most teachers had a positive predisposition to the use of CS as a pedagogical tool in their classrooms, a finding that suggests that ultra-normative attitudes toward Spanish varieties are not prevalent among these educators. In view of students' attitudes, teachers concurred that students had overwhelmingly negative attitudes toward standard Spanish, in line with previous findings. We argue that educational reforms and status-planning efforts are vital to destigmatize Spanish and to promote its maintenance alongside Belizean Kriol and English.

This article reports on results from a qualitative study of a two-week international internship for pre-service and in-service physical education (PE) teachers in a developing nation (Belize). Relying upon data from questionnaires that were administered before and after the short-term international internship, participants' perspectives related to their professional and personal development were investigated. Understanding the overlap that necessarily exists between professional and personal growth, five themes are identified and discussed. These include: (1) Kids are Kids (Or are they?), (2) Relationships Matter, (3) Cooperation and Collaboration in Teaching: Learning Together, (4) Teaching without Bells and Whistles, and (5) Recognising One's Own Privilege. In light of these findings, some suggestions for future practice and inquiry are offered.

This article presents the major findings of an international study that attempted to investigate the labour market outcomes of qualifications frameworks in six countries--Belize, France, Ireland, Jamaica, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia, as well as the regional framework in the Caribbean. It finds limited evidence of success, but fairly strong support for the frameworks. The continued popularity of qualifications frameworks as a reform mechanism seems to be symptomatic of the ways in which transitions from education to work are in flux in many countries, coupled with the fragmented and complex systems of vocational provision in some of the countries. Even where such systems are not overly complex they have weak and possibly weakening relationships with work. Insufficient differentiation of different types of frameworks by policy makers obscures these factors, leading to misleading ideas about what frameworks can do in general. Extending existing typologies for the analysis of qualifications frameworks the paper argues that the French framework, where labour markets were the most regulated and collective bargaining had the widest reach, had the clearest relationships between qualifications and work. However, the qualifications framework did not seem to be the cause, but rather the effect of such relationships.

Despite the assumption that Sport for Development and Peace programs can foster social change, many fail to provide intentional educational experiences. This limits the attainment and sustainability of positive outcomes for participants and communities. The literature calls for such programs to use sport as an educational tool that shifts power to participants in a way that is responsive and respectful to the local context. In this article, we present findings from a program designed to promote youth development and social change through youth sport in a Central American nation. The teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) model provides the instructional framework for this program and local coach training was guided by the principles of critical pedagogy. Participants were eight youth sport coaches who became local trainers in the program. Data sources include interviews, observations and artifacts. Participants appeared to have meaningful educational experiences characterized by the following themes: reframing the coach's role; personal reflection; developing a critical perspective; and increasing feelings of agency. Findings indicate that in this program, TPSR was a relevant instructional framework that combined effectively with the principles of critical pedagogy to foster transformative learning among the participants.

This paper seeks to explore the implementation of three of the critical elements required to improve performance in the education system: governance, accountability and management. The paper examines the education reform processes conducted by five Caribbean countries: Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Guyana, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, along with those represented by the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. The individual countries along with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States have all embraced and implemented at some level the elements of governance, accountability and management as a part of their strategic planning arrangements between 1990 and 2010. The review shows that clear efforts were made by these countries to address the issue of governance, accountability and management although with varying levels of success. The most notable achievement was that the democratization and decentralization of the education process in these countries seemed to be a central strategy being used to strengthen governance, management and accountability. However, the implementation needs to be deepened so that stakeholders, especially at the school level, can have a greater say and make a more worthwhile and meaningful contribution to the process.

International cultural immersion provides an in vivo, authentic, cross-cultural experience that can enhance multicultural awareness, knowledge and skills. This article examines the impact of an international immersion on graduate counseling students' cultural self-awareness using a qualitative approach. Five graduate counseling students participated in a 3-week study abroad in Belize where they interacted with persons from diverse cultural backgrounds and settings. Four major cultural self-awareness themes emerged from the analysis of participants' journals, (a) discrimination and prejudice, (b) cultural pride and appreciation, (c) cultural sensitivity, and (d) self-awareness. The findings are presented along with implications for future research and the use of international immersion as a viable experiential teaching strategy to enhance counseling students' cultural self-awareness.

Educating children on a global level is a dynamic process where policy, procedure and guideline changes can leave teachers searching for new programs to resolve new challenges. This brief report shows a successful application of the Good Behavior Game in a school in the country of Belize following a significant change in policy regarding acceptable practices in addressing school-based behavioral challenges.

The internationalization of local Extension programs has long been a source of debate among Extension educators. Often, international work is seen as extravagant during difficult economic times. Extension also faces challenges attracting qualified young people into our profession. We report the results of a combined international Extension training and student education program. This program was popular with agents and students, improved student knowledge of Extension, and made long-term contributions to the programs of agents who participated. Building the cost for agent participation into study abroad courses may benefit students, Extension agents, and teaching faculty while controlling cost to Extension programs.

Collaborative engagement with local residents and organizations is often cited as one of the most valuable aspects of community-based research integration in classroom settings. However, little has been written on the impact of community engagement in international study abroad programs. We explore the use of community geography in Belize to develop international, community-based research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students. In our study abroad program, students utilize Geographic Information Systems, Global Positioning Systems data collection, fieldwork, and interviews to understand social and environmental issues important to our Belizean collaborators. As we demonstrate in this article, foreign collaborators often have different expectations, commitments, burdens, and resources that either encourage or limit their participation in all stages of the research process. These conflicts present researchers and educators with a significant challenge to identify the appropriate model for community engagement that works best in the particular international context. With these challenges in mind, we examine a community geography model for study abroad programs that has implications for geography and related disciplines as scholars work to create meaningful and sustainable international research experiences that benefit higher education students as well as community residents and organizations in host countries.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe selected Caribbean extension officers' technology preferences and examine factors that may affect their technology preferences. Design/methodology/approach: The sample consisted of extension officers (N = 119) participating in professional development training sessions in Grenada, Belize and Saint Lucia. A 29-item instrument with a four-point scale was used to gather data on technology preferences. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Findings: Extension officers used Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for personal benefits and increased professional productivity but then would use traditional interaction methods with farmers. Education levels of extension officers played a part in technology acceptance; higher levels of education earned led to an increase in technology use. Practical Implications: An increase in awareness is important for the further adoption of ICTs for extension purposes. Organisations in both the public and private sector must work to increase knowledge of ICTs for the benefit of stakeholders. The use of ICTs can increase productivity for extensions officers and expand educational opportunities for learners. Originality/value: The use of information communication technologies (ICTs) by extension to disseminate educational materials around the world is widespread. While ICTs exist, extension officers' level of acceptance in using technology for their core job functions may prohibit the dissemination of ICTs to farmers. Increasing awareness and use of ICTs can lead to more productive relationships between extension officers and agricultural stakeholders.