Uncovering environmental and sustainability education themes in Caribbean secondary education certificate (CSEC) English literature

Abstract

An examination of school curriculum documents which guide teaching in Caribbean schools indicate that while some efforts have been made to infuse ESE into some subjects, very little progress has been made in incorporating it into the teaching of English. One pedagogical technique to address this situation is ecocriticism. The authors conducted ecocritical analyses of two selections of West Indian prose: For the Life of Laetitia (Hodge 1993) and Breath, Eyes, Memory (Danticat 1994), from the current CSEC English Literature syllabus to unearth the ESE themes in these works and the implications of such analyses for the teaching of ESE. In addition to the conclusion that both prose selections contain ample opportunities for the teaching of ESE within the specific subject, the study indicates that within anglophone Caribbean literature a palpable richness exists that can deepen environmental and sustainability education more broadly. Pedagogical and curricular implications along with practical advice for doing ecocritical readings are discussed.

Keywords:

• ESE in the Caribbean
• ecocriticism
• West Indian literature
• teaching of English literature
• environmental education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding/Acknowledgements

None

Notes

1 In the anglophone Caribbean there is no common curriculum at most levels. Each country has its own Ministry of Education which autonomously makes its own educational arrangements. However, at the end of secondary (high) school, all territories write common exams. The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is the major body responsible for the development of these public examinations in the region. CXC offers examinations at the ordinary level — the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC), and at the advanced level — the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). The subject syllabi provided by CXC guide teaching and learning at these levels. CXC exams represent a common standard that all students are expected to meet. CXC syllabi therefore tend to drive the formal educational arrangements for the region.

2 ‘The West Indies’ is a contested term. Geographically it refers to the outer chain of islands that run from Florida to South America in the western Caribbean Sea. Socio-politically, the West Indies refers to the English-speaking Caribbean, that is, the former British islands situated from Jamaica in the north to Trinidad and Tobago in the south and the mainland territory of Guyana. According to Ramchand (1988), West Indian literature takes up the latter definition.