Monthly Archives: December 2015

A unique exhibition featuring an amazing and diverse range of photographs taken by high school students from rural Jamaica is currently on display in Brussels, Belgium, in an exhibition at the Headquarters of the European External Action Service (EEAS).  The exhibition is being staged as part of the activities to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of relations between the European Union and Jamaica. It was opened on 3 December 2015, and runs until to 31 January 2016.

Through the lens of high school students the project, which is sponsored by the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) Foundation through its Resolution Project, depicts the various facets of Jamaican life and its people. Authentic and captivating scenes ranging from work, school, play, music, dance, religion, sports and nature are captured by the young photographers.

A reception to launch the exhibition was jointly hosted by the Mr. Roland Schafer, Acting Managing Director of the Americas Department of the EEAS and Ambassador Vilma McNish, Ambassador of Jamaica to Belgium and the European Union. Mr. Schaffer highlighted the strong partnership between Jamaica and the EU over the years.  As evidence of its commitment to this partnership, he referred to the EU’s allocation of 46 million euros to Jamaica under the 11th European Development Fund from 2014 to 2020.

For her part, Ambassador McNish referred to the special economic and political relations between Jamaica and the EU over the last four decades spanning a number of sectors, including education, security, agriculture and rural development.  “Jamaica and the EU have had a longstanding history of friendship and cooperation over the past forty years which will continue to strengthen for many years to come”, she said.   She described Jamaica National Building Society as the epitome of corporate social responsibility in Jamaica, noting its efforts to make a positive impact in areas such as community development, culture, education and youth and security.

Dr. Saffrey Brown, General Manager of the Jamaica National Foundation was on hand to welcome the guests and provide the background and context of the exhibition.  She said the main goal of the Resolution Project is the promotion of advocacy through the art of photography among young Jamaicans as a way of expressing themselves, focusing on issues that concern them.  The photographs ask complex questions about human rights, sexuality, gender and identity issues that affect them and the communities in which they live, she said.  The authenticity and uniqueness of Jamaica is captured through the lens of the young photographers.

Guests at the launch of the exhibition included representatives from the diplomatic corps, the European institutions, the Secretariat of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, as well as the Jamaican diaspora.  Members of Parliament Mr. Fitz Jackson and Mr. Mikhail Philips who were in Brussels to attend the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly also attended.

Jamaica National Foundation has staged similar exhibitions in several countries including the USA, the UK and Germany.

Stunning images of Jamaica, as captured by Jamaican teenagers, will receive prominence at the headquarters of the European external action service in Brussels, Belgium, at the ‘Out of Many, One Jamaica’ art exhibition.

Scheduled for December 4, 2015 to January 31, 2016, the exhibition is being mounted as part of the activities to recognise the 40th year of partnership between the European Union (EU) delegation and Jamaica.

‘Out of Many, One Jamaica’ will feature the work of student photographers in the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) Foundation’s Resolution Project, which was instituted in high schools in rural Jamaica to train students in photo-journalism and youth advocacy.

Saffrey Brown, general manager of the JNBS Foundation, noted that the collaboration with the European Union for the staging of the exhibition will provide an increased opportunity for Brand Jamaica to be shown on an international landscape and to reinforce the strong partnerships between Jamaica and the EU.

“This exhibition will allow persons to see the authenticity and uniqueness of Jamaica through pictorial depictions,” noted Brown. “It will also provide a medium for the students to showcase just how talented they are through their various expressions and interpretations of art. This partnership is indeed a perfect culmination of the 40th-year celebration between Jamaica and the EU, as we are taking Jamaica globally.”

Head of the EU Delegation to Jamaica, Ambassador Paola Amadei, remarked on the importance of the exhibition taking place in Brussels: “Our EU colleagues in Brussels, who have not had the opportunity to experience all of the variety and beauty what Jamaica has to offer, will be able to get a glimpse through this thought-provoking exhibition. It’s the perfect way to end a marquee 40th year of progress between the EU and the people of Jamaica.”

The mounting of the exhibition is also being held in collaboration with the Jamaican Embassy in Brussels.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20151208/out-many-one-jamaica-exhibition-mounted-brussels

THE country’s leading authority on mathematics education has indicated that one of the major gaps in the teaching and learning of the subject in local classrooms is the lack of focus on problem solving.

National Mathematics Coordinator Dr Tamika Benjamin, who is part of the team implementing the iLead educational leadership programme in schools — an initiative created and implemented by the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) Foundation and the Ministry of Education — told maths teachers from Happy Grove and St Thomas Technical high schools at a recent workshop that very often the tasks set by teachers are focused on finding answers to questions that already dictate the algorithm to be used to find the solution. However, she explained, problem solving requires students to find solutions without knowing what method to use.

“You have to allow students to use their own strategies; do not restrict them,” she stressed, noting that while questions may have one answer, problems may have multiple solutions.

“We stifle their development when we eliminate problem-solving. [That] approach adopted by most teachers encourages passive learning and consequently, students become dependent on instructions, rather than grasping concepts and confidently take on challenges,” she argued.

Using examples, Dr Benjamin challenged the teachers by demonstrating how problem solving tasks were different from questions teachers in general currently set.

“Thirty-five pupils attended a Children’s Day party. At the party, each girl was given five sweets and each boy was given three sweets. If a total of 155 sweets were given out the party, how many more girls than boys were there?” the Mathematics Coordinator asked, in an effort to demonstrate her point.

Dr Benjamin posited that the tasks set must deal with situations that are natural to the students and should centre on core mathematical concepts which they should learn. That approach, she said, shoulld lend itself to students justifying and explaining their answers.

The mathematic coordinator countered claims that students will resist problem solving tasks, insisting that dialogue must be an important part of the teaching and learning environment, in order to engage the students.

“Teachers have to ask purposeful questions that allow students to explain and reflect. Questions that help them to know what the students know. They must lead to meaningful discussions and ideas,” she emphasised.

In addition, she urged teachers to use a variety of strategies to engage students, including drawing or dramatising to “bring mathematics to life in the classroom.”

Happy Grove and St Thomas Technical are two of the new participants in the iLead programme, which targets ten schools in Portland, St Mary and St Thomas, given the National Education Inspectorate’s assessment of their needs.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/career/Problem-solving-missing-from-maths-education—Benjamin_45354