My pedagogical approach is anchored in a sustained programme of innovation designed to respond to the lived realities of Caribbean students while enhancing engagement, critical thinking, and professional formation. The innovations presented here reflect intentional interventions into classroom practice, shifting from traditional, hierarchical models of teaching toward dialogic, trauma-responsive, and relational approaches. Each initiative demonstrates how theory is translated into practice, with evidence of impact on student learning, participation, and the development of culturally grounded, reflective practitioners. These commitments are most clearly enacted through Mek Wi Talk, a signature pedagogical innovation that anchors and extends this body of work.
Pedagogical Innovations
Mek Wi Talk: Student Voice, Public Dialogue, and Experiential Learning in Social Work Education
The series creates a space where social work students can reflect publicly on the intellectual, emotional, and ethical dimensions of their training while engaging in dialogue about issues affecting Caribbean communities.
Social work education requires students to engage with complex social realities, including violence, inequality, disaster response, mental health, and community resilience. While these issues are examined in the classroom, students often have limited opportunities to reflect collectively on how theoretical frameworks intersect with their lived experiences in fieldwork, research, and community engagement. Mek Wi Talk responds to that gap by extending classroom dialogue into a participatory public forum, centring student voices as legitimate contributors to knowledge production about social work practice in the
Caribbean.
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The innovation of Mek Wi Talk lies in positioning students as active producers and circulators of knowledge rather than solely as its recipients. Grounded in participatory pedagogy and public scholarship traditions, the initiative treats student reflection on professional formation as a form of knowledge that has value beyond the classroom and deserves a public audience. Through moderated conversations, students discuss field placements, research experiences, ethical dilemmas, and the personal and political questions that arise as they prepare for professional practice. These dialogues are recorded and shared through a publicly accessible digital platform, allowing student reflections to contribute to broader conversations about social work education in Caribbean and Global South contexts. Each episode invites dialogue between students, educators, practitioners, and community collaborators, intentionally centring reflective and relational conversations in which students examine moments of uncertainty, growth, resistance, and transformation. A recent series documented student reflections in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall in Jamaica on 28 October 2025 as a Category 5 storm. Students explored how disaster response, community care, and collective resilience intersect with social work practice, connecting theoretical frameworks from the classroom with the lived realities of crisis response in Caribbean communities. By engaging critically with questions of vulnerability, responsibility, and collective care in real time, students demonstrated that the classroom had prepared them not only with knowledge but with a framework for ethical engagement in the communities they serve.
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Mek Wi Talk enhances student learning by creating structured opportunities for reflective dialogue, collaborative knowledge production, and public engagement. Participation in the initiative supports students in:
• Developing the confidence to articulate informed perspectives on complex social issues in public-facing formats
• Connecting theoretical frameworks from social work education with field experiences and community realities
• Strengthening critical reflection on their emerging professional identities through peer-to-peer and cross-generational dialogue
• Engaging with ethical practice and social justice questions in ways that are responsive to the contexts in which they will practise
• Contributing to Caribbean public conversations about social work as a discipline and a vocation
By expanding the learning environment beyond the classroom and into a publicly
accessible platform, Mek Wi Talk strengthens students’ capacity for critical dialogue, professional communication, and community accountability.
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The model underlying Mek Wi Talk, using a publicly accessible digital platform to extend classroom dialogue and centre student voices as contributors to disciplinary knowledge, is transferable across any professional training programme in which students engage with complex social, ethical, or community-facing questions. Disciplines including nursing, education, law, public health, and psychology all involve students navigating the formation of professional identity alongside exposure to difficult social realities. A podcast or digital dialogue initiative of this kind requires no specialist technology beyond a basic recording setup and a free hosting platform, making it practically accessible to programmes at any resourcing level.
The deeper transferability of this initiative lies in its pedagogical commitment: that students’ reflections on professional formation are not merely assessable outputs but are themselves a form of knowledge with public value. That commitment is available to any educator willing to create the conditions for students to speak, be heard, and contribute to the conversations that shape their disciplines.
Evidence:
Links to the most recent episodes from the Mek Wi Talk podcast series. The series is available publicly at youtube.com/@MekWitalkk. The following are selected episodes from two series: Men’s Mental Health (featuring cross-generational dialogue with practitioners and scholars) and the Hurricane Melissa series (featuring student-led reflections on disaster response andcommunity resilience).
Pedagogical Innovations
Men’s Minds Matter - Spotlighting Male Mental Health
As part of the Mek Wi Talk platform, the Men’s Mental Health Series was designed as a dialogic, student-engaged forum addressing the complex realities shaping men’s mental health in the Caribbean. The series brought together students, practitioners, and faculty in facilitated conversations that examined the intersections of masculinity, race, trauma, and structural inequality.
The forum targeted a broad university audience, including students, mental health professionals, and faculty, creating a shared space for dialogue, learning, and reflection. Through guided discussions, participants explored how cultural norms around masculinity discourage emotional expression and help-seeking, how racial and structural inequalities shape mental health outcomes for Black men, and how trauma, including generational and socially produced trauma, impacts well-being.
Grounded in frameworks such as feminist theory, critical race theory, socially engineered trauma, and intersectionality, the series moved beyond awareness to critical engagement, encouraging participants to interrogate dominant narratives and consider contextually relevant responses .
The series aimed to increase awareness, reduce stigma, and foster open, non-judgmental dialogue, while also connecting students to resources, mentorship, and support systems. Importantly, it positioned students as active participants in knowledge production, engaging them in conversations that linked personal experience with broader social and structural analysis.
Evidence of impact included increased willingness among male students to engage in discussions about mental health, greater openness to help-seeking, and the development of peer support networks. The series also contributed to a broader shift in how mental health is discussed within the university, promoting more inclusive, trauma-informed, and culturally grounded approaches.
Podcast Ep#6 Mr Owen Ellis's Take Masculinity Norms and Men’s Mental Health
Comedian and storyteller Mr. Owen Ellis blends humor and truth to highlight how rigid masculinity norms in Jamaica push men to bottle up emotions and suffer in silence. He openly shares his own mental health journey, challenging the stigma around diagnosis, therapy, and vulnerability.
Mr. Owen Ellis critiques the constant pressure on men to "man up" and perform toughness—whether it’s not crying, not laughing too much, or even how to eat a banana in public. These cultural rules, he says, are absurd and harmful. His core message? It’s time to move men from “head to heart”—from ego and entitlement to empathy, honesty, accountability, and healing. By reframing what it means to be a man, we can help boys and men live fuller, healthier lives.
Podcast Ep #4–Dr. Warren Thompson's Take On Race and Men’s Mental Health
In this compelling episode, Dr. Warren Thompson shares a powerful and deeply personal exploration of race, masculinity, and mental health in the Jamaican context. As a father, social worker, and gender specialist, Dr. Thompson unpacks how race and colorism—shaped by colonial legacies—continue to influence Black men's identities, mental health, and life choices.
Dr. Warren Thompson is the Director of Children and Family Programmes at Jamaica’s Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) since January 2022. Formerly, he served as the Deputy Children's Registrar, overseeing the National Children's Registry.
Student Reflection Series
The Last Lap of the MSW Journey
The journey toward the Master of Social Work (MSW) with Distinction was a transition from high anxiety to professional triumph, influenced by transformative mentorship. Pivoting from one research topic to the next. The final lap was extremely challenging at times, yet empowering. I thought of quitting several times along the journey…
Selection of Research Topic: I was originally set on researching vicarious trauma in social workers within juvenile correctional institutions, but encountered various hurdles regarding ethical approvals which would delay my completion of the programme within the time allotted for study leave. Under the guidance of Dr. Rogers, my focus shifted to Social Policy Research, specifically the "Expansion of Shelter Services for Female Victims of Domestic Violence in Jamaica." This shift turned a potential roadblock into an "exciting" and successful research journey.
Navigating the "Last Lap" Challenges: The final phase was marked by reader’s block, the pressure of study leave timelines, family obligations, illness, and the logistical complexity of hosting a Social Policy Forum. Dr Rogers provided invaluable guidance during the high-pressure planning and execution of the Social Policy Forum, and her presence there was a source of great motivation.
During the data analysis phase, Dr. Rogers’ strategic approach of setting clear milestones for review and breaking the research into manageable sections kept me on track and focused on the finish line. She was an exceptional pillar of support throughout the entire MSW research process. When challenges felt insurmountable, her encouragement kept me focused. I am especially grateful for her patience with my late-night submissions and her accessibility; the convenience of virtual meetings; and her prompt responses to my queries via email and phone, which made every hurdle manageable.
The impact of Transformative Mentorship: Dr. Rogers served as more than a supervisor; she was a source of empowerment and grace. Her approach combined high accountability (setting strict submission targets) and deep empathy (availability via WhatsApp and grace for late-night submissions). This was not unique to me, as she was also supervising other students. She has a genuine interest in the success of all her students. Dr. Rogers is a dedicated, competent, empathetic, and creative teacher who not only teaches the course she is assigned to teach but one who encourages her students to go beyond personal limits and often reminds us of the importance of self-care and reflection. Her approach to teaching is holistic, and her creativity is impressive. Sadly, the passion that Dr. Rogers demonstrates in teaching and the interest in seeing her students achieve good success, is diminishing within the teaching profession. She is an exceptional teacher and nation builder who is selfless, culturally sensitive, and a rare gem in the teaching profession.
My faith in God, transformative mentorship and support from Dr. Rogers and the support of my family contributed significantly to the successful completion of the research paper and the MSW programme. Thank you, Dr. Rogers for investing in me!
Steffani King-Halstead, MSW
University of the West Indies, Mona (2025)