The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Global Campus is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Sheron Burns as Head of its Global Campus Site, Montserrat, with effect from September 1, 2025. Dr Burns is an experienced educator and scholar whose career in education began in 1987 after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education (Social Sciences) from the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), St. Thomas. She began her teaching career with children aged five to seven in Montserrat’s government primary schools, where she played a formative role in early childhood education until 2006. That year, she was appointed Education Officer – Pre-Primary within the Ministry of Education, Montserrat (2006–2014). In this capacity, she spearheaded the development of Montserrat’s Early Childhood Education Policy and introduced the annual June celebration of Early Childhood Education—two initiatives that continue to shape the island’s education system. In 2014, Dr Burns joined the School of Education at The UWI Cave Hill Campus on secondment from the Government of Montserrat. There, she led the development of the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Care and Education), significantly strengthening teacher education across the Eastern Caribbean. After returning to Montserrat in July 2021, she continued to contribute to education both locally and internationally. She currently lectures part-time with the University of Guyana, serves as an external examiner and graduate supervisor for universities in Australia, the United States, and the Caribbean. She supports the Montserrat Ministry of Education in its transformation initiatives. Dr Burns holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Elementary Education (Early Childhood) from the University of Alberta, Canada. Her dissertation, Teaching and Learning Using a Child-Focused Approach in a Kindergarten Classroom in Montserrat, underscored her dedication to child-centred pedagogies. She earned a Master of Arts in Elementary Education (Educational Technology/Reading) from the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) in 1997, completing a thesis on, The Effects of Phonological Awareness Skills and Letter-Sound Correspondence on the Early Reading Ability of Low-Skilled Kindergarten Students, whichreflected her commitment to literacy development. She also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in University Teaching and Learning from The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus (2017). Dr Burns’ professional and scholarly contributions have been widely recognised. She was nominated for the Election Management Award (2024) by the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies, and, in 2020, received The UWI Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Multi-Campus Research Collaboration (One UWI Award). Other awards include the Women of Montserrat Bonding (WOMB) Gem Award (2019); the Ministry of Education, Montserrat Award for Contribution to Early Childhood Education (2016); and the Montserrat Progressive Society of New York Centennial Award for Education (2014), among others. Her teaching and research interests include teacher education, play as a pedagogical strategy, education in the Eastern Caribbean, and advocacy for access to culturally and developmentally appropriate early childhood education. She has published widely in these areas, with publications including: Every Learner Succeeds: Reconceptualising Quality in Early Childhood in the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States 2021, Palgrave Macmillan; Early Learning Environments: Embracing and Valuing Home Language (2021, IGI Global Publishers, co-authored with J. Jules); Actualizing Children’s Rights Through Early Childhood Care and Education: A Focus on the Caribbean (2019, Journal of Early Childhood Research, co-authored with Z. Kinkead-Clarke and S. Abdul-Majied); Achieving Quality in Early Childhood Education in the Eastern Caribbean Depends on Teacher Preparation (2018, Early Child Development and Care); and The Ontology and Social Construction of Childhood (2013, in Understanding Child Sexual Abuse: Perspectives from the Caribbean, Palgrave Macmillan). In addition to her professional and scholarly work, Dr Burns is a committed community activist and avid amateur gardener, florist, and photographer. She currently serves as Chair of the Electoral Commission of Montserrat, continuing her contributions to national development and civic engagement. Commenting on this appointment, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal Dr Francis O. Severin asserts, “Dr Sheron Burns has joined us at The UWI Global Campus at an opportune time. We are accelerating and augmenting our longstanding and ‘vintage’ commitment to the Eastern Caribbean as the Campus that is most flexible and agile in facilitating and meeting the hopes and aspirations of our people in their hamlets, villages, countrysides, towns and cities. We will not relent, and Dr Burns embodies this sort of intellectual activism and care that adds value to our Regional thrust. It is an especial boon that Dr Burns enjoys the support and confidence of the Government and people of Montserrat. She is not only well respected there but well known and recognised as an authentic and genuine Montserrat and Caribbean patriot whose goal is to advance the people of the Region. This aspiration is in concert with the philosophy of the Global Campus.” The Principal and Senior Management Team welcome Dr Burns to her new role and wish her every success as she transforms the Global Campus Site, Montserrat.
