Dr. Jim Jeffrey (front left), Dean of the School of Education, Andrews University and Dr. Clinton Valley, President of University of Southern Caribbean, sign the Memorandum of Understanding for the new doctorate degree in educational psychology as representatives from the Adventist Accrediting Association and USC administrators look on, Jan. 27, 2014. Images by USC Communication Dept./IAD
February 27, 2014 – Port-of-Spain, Trinidad…Del Phillips/IAD Staff
Adventist educators recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the University of Southern Caribbean (USC) in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, to offer the first doctoral program in educational psychology. The event brought leaders of USC and Andrews University, in Berrien Springs, Michigan, to partner and allow graduates to practice as certified school psychologists in Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, and Canada.
The program will provide the opportunity for Trinidad and Tobago to have a cadre of trained schools psychologists that can be part of the preventative psychology and counseling framework for the country, according to Dr. Clinton Valley, president of the University of Southern Caribbean.
Dr. Rudolph Bailey, professor and chair of the Department of Educational Psychology at Andrews University, explained that “psychology applied to educational research will make education more effective since it involves processes that assist learning, classroom and curriculum design, and critical information about the brain and learning that must get into the school system.”
The first cohort of Ph.D. students pose for a picture with USC administrators, Andrews University representatives and members of the Adventist Accrediting Association.
Dr. Bailey further explained that given the reports of escalating social issues in Trinidad and Tobago, talks with the government facilitated a redesign of the proposed program to include a three-pronged approach to the counseling component. “This approach emphasizes assessment, consultation, and training in individual and group counseling for schools,” Bailey said.
Research projects to be completed by the 22 students enrolled in the first cohort will identify and document critical issues related to the Trinidad and Tobago context, using empirical data which can guide curriculum redesign, classroom management and policy formation, university leaders said.
The new Ph.D in Educational Psychology at USC is accredited by the National Association of School Psychologists, in The United States.
Established in 1927, the University of Southern Caribbean sits on 384 acres of land on the Maracas Valley northeast of Port-of-Spain in Trinidad and Tobago. The institution is a private, coeducational institution owned and operated by the Caribbean Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and has been accredited by the Adventist Accrediting Association since 1982. USC offers 15 graduate and 30 undergraduate degrees from its six academic schools, on campus and at its five satellite campuses located in Tobago, St. Lucia, Antigua, Barbados and Guyana.
USC is being called upon to assist the government in training over 3,000 early childhood educators as part of an overall plan by the Ministry of Education in Trinidad and Tobago to achieve universal early childhood education.
For more on USC, visit usc.edu.tt