The English commonwealth and its effect on Caribbean Nations Essay

The English commonwealth and its effect on Caribbean Nations - Essay Example Bakker-Mitchell, noted educator at Florida A & M, discusses education as it existed in the Colonial era and urges more attention to foreign language teaching and learning in a growing global community. She notes that in the 1960s most of the countries in the English speaking Caribbean received their independence. Before this time, education in the Caribbean was geared for life in Britain. Textbooks were of British origin and students were familiar with the conversion table that indicated how many cents equalled one shilling--the pounds, shillings and pence table--even though dollars and cents were used in the country and very little in school readers related to the lives of persons in the Caribbean.Bakker-Mitchell is from what was British Guiana, now Guyana, which is a member of the British Commonwealth. This article is valuable as a contrast between the years of British rule and the current independent rule in most Caribbean countries, with its present stress on language as part of Caribbean, not British, culture. Bakker-Mitchell considers it extremely important for students in English speaking Caribbean to become fluent in the languages of their neighboring countries and is concerned that this is not a priority. In the development of the Caribbean, she considers education a major priority.Cateau H. and Pemberton, R. Beyond Tradition: Reinterpreting the Caribbean Historical Experience (Essays). Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers, 2006. Cateau and Pemberton selected a group of essays intended to re-interpret Caribbean history from the 18th through the 20th centuries, replacing the 'objective' view with a 'subjective' view of the region. One essay, "Nineteenth-Twentieth Century Trinidad and Tobago," will be useful as a comparison between Jamaica and Trinidad. The overall focus of the book on Caribbean identity and people gives a more realistic view of the area, moving away from the sugar plantation. Another essay looks at the role of Britain as a key trade center fr om the 18th to the 19th centuries, not just in the Caribbean, but throughout the whole English Atlantic. Cateau and Pemberton are lecturers at the University of West Indies, with Cateau specializing in economic history, while Pemberton's specialty is health and environment history. Federal Research Division. 1987. Commonwealth of Caribbean Islands. Library of Congress. Online. Available: 11 June 2006. A paper on the effects of the British Commonwealth on the development and under-development of the English-speaking Caribbean requires studying the specific areas and comparing them to determine what changes must be made to encourage growth. The Library of Congress Country Studies series gives a detailed, online, chapter-by-chapter overview of the Commonwealth of the Caribbean, with Chapter 2 covering Jamaica and Chapter 3 covering Trinidad and Tobago, two very contrasting areas. Jamaica is dependent on agriculture and tourism, while Trinidad is important as an oil-supplier. Other countries included in this topic are the Windward Islands and Barbados, the Leeward Islands and the Northern Islands. As a foundation, this source is recommended. History of Jamaica. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Online. Available: Last modified 9 June 2006. 11 June 2006. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia with researched articles that can be edited. Even so, the information in these articles is for the most part verifiable and easy to read with links to various related subjects. Since Jamaica is one of the most visible countries in the English speaking Caribbean, it has importance in a study of culture, economy and politics. Although it would be easy to see what is called the English Commonwealth as a single