Licks for teachers

SOME TEACHERS are no longer providing the “pastoral” care of times past and are displaying the disrespect that is growing in Barbadian society.Acting deputy principal of Erdiston Teachers’ Training College, Dr Patricia Saul, said she “cringed” at the behaviour being exhibited by some of them.“We are getting a cadre of teachers who are very equipped in terms of qualifications, but what bothers me is the attitudes among some. It’s a ‘don’t care’ attitude,” she told the DAILY NATION yesterday.Saul was speaking after the opening ceremony for the Diploma in Education (primary and secondary) and the Certificate in Educational Management and Administration programmes at the college.“We are losing the desire to reach beyond the academic and into the emotional and social well-being of the children, which is something we need in this day and age . . . . If teachers are no longer prepared to step in, then society will crumble further,” she said.Schools were a microcosm of society, which was why some of the challenges in society were being reflected in school, Saul said, adding that the younger teachers were products of the “current” society.However, she said it was now up to the college to hold firmly to its standards and thereby show teachers the right way so they in turn could show their own students the same high standards.“We have to insist on proper standards, deportment and professional conduct. We are not bending the rules to the whims and fancies of our students. If we are to maintain respect, we have to insist that the standards we have become known for are maintained,” she said.Saul said it was up to Erdiston to ensure the teachers they produced reflected those standards which she said were characterised by excellence not only in teaching, but in attitude and outlook.“You teach more than the subject you specialise in, and what you do sometimes impacts more than what you say. We are not a certificate factory; we are changing lives and equipping our students to deal with the challenges of modern society,” she said.