If in old skins you put new wine . . . the skins will burst and the wine will run out. – Bible Rap (www.bcbsr.)
Over the years, the logbook has been used for various purposes within education in Barbados. During my early years as a teacher, one of the things feared by most, if not all teachers was being logged. In fact, many principals used it as a tool of control and it literally drove fear in teachers.
On another level, the logbook is perceived as nothing more than a school diary in which important events in the life of a school are recorded. Principals at the primary level kept it up to date for ease of reference and for inspection by the officials of the Ministry of Education as the Education Act prescribes.
It recorded the commencement and closure of the school term and school year and stated the roll of teachers and students at such time. Every time a new teacher joined the staff, an entry was made in the logbook.
Many principals used the logbook to record the late arrival of teachers and other members of staff. If, for instance a teacher arrived after 8:45 a.m. or later than 15 minutes before the start of the first period of the school day, an entry was made in the logbook.
This was often done without reference to or without the knowledge of the teacher. Similarly, if a teacher or the principal left early an entry would also be made. At the primary level, the logbook was also used to record the receipt of grants from the Ministry of Education and funds from other sources.
All monies raised within the context of a school become the property of the Government and as such, especially at the primary level, the logbook was used to document this.
Early closure due to water outage, or obnoxious odours, or smoke from fires in the area had to be recorded. When health inspectors or employees from the Vector Control Unit visited the school, the appropriate entry would also be made.
Over the years, it was the duty and practice of education officers to visit and monitor/supervise the schools allocated to them in what used to be called districts. At the end of every visit the officer would make an entry in the logbook, outlining what he or she observed and if necessary, what suggestions or recommendations were made.
Basis for investigation
Many officers commented on how the students deported themselves, the tone of the school, the level and quality of instruction taking place, the sanitation of the school and compound and any other thing that they deemed important.
If the observations spoke to serious problems within the school, such could form the basis for further and more comprehensive investigation or what used to be called “full inspection” in those days.
Given the difference in the management structure at the secondary level, there appears to be significant variation in the purposes to which the logbook is used. The existence of the board of management at the secondary level creates in my view a different context within which the logbook is used.
As far as the finances are concerned, there is no obligation for the principal to record such matters in the logbook since the chairman of the board of management and the secretary treasurer, along with other board staff perform key roles as accounting officers for the substantially large sums of money allocated to the school.
While a measure of consultation and collaboration with the principal is central to ensuring that the funds are allocated according to need, the logbook does not feature to any great degree in this process.
On another level, given the changes that have taken place in terms of teacher evaluation, principals at both primary and secondary levels can no longer “log” teachers in the ways that they did many years ago.
Our society and the educational system have become more litigious and the processes of natural justice and due process have taken on new meaning within the context of the management of schools.
Unlike previously, a teacher must be made aware of any report, adverse of otherwise. To the extent that teacher evaluation is more developmental and less punitive and that it now takes place in a team and collaborative environment, the logbook is now reduced to nothing more than a school diary that records important events in the life of the school.
In the advent of the integration of technology into school management information systems, it is inconceivable that principals can or will continue to rely on “secret” comments or remarks on the behaviour and practice of teachers recorded in a document that dates back to the dark ages of educational theory and practice.
School diary? Yes! Logbook, as used traditionally? No!
• Matthew D. Farley is a secondary school principal, chairman of the National Forum on Education, and social commentator. Email [email protected]
