One aspect of the upgrading and modernizing of our schools, for example, could be a focus on enhancing the technological and electronic inputs in order to enhance both teaching and learning, and to improve the quality of school administration.
Most, if not all, of our schools are acutely in need of more effectively functioning computer labs that offer more regular and organized access, by a greater number of students, to the the Internet. The same can be argued for more video-equipped classrooms.
It is painful to hear of a secondary school, with a roll of a thousand students, having only one smart board, and of teachers having to (i) transport this to and from classrooms, (ii) then set up the equipment and (iii) then effectively use it in the classroom – and all this to be undertaken during a 40-minute class period!
In some schools, also, teachers face severe challenges in getting classroom learning materials copied or printed for their students. Some teachers are thus forced to copy or print materials for their classes at their own expense..
Equally, the quality and level of technical instruction in our secondary schools definitely need to be upgraded – built on a foundation of the necessary quality inputs of facilities and equipment, together with ongoing, adequate support and promotion.
A tertiary level institution of technology, offering degrees and training in a variety of technical areas, would play a critical role in this upgrading.
A second critical ingredient of the upgrade would relate to the question: How many schools in Barbados have, or can claim to have, a real, genuine library or resource centre? Yet, access to adequate and quality learning resources is critical to student success.
Equipping schools, therefore, with real, functioning libraries, or resource centres, that are adequately stocked with a variety of educational resources is an essential aspect of effective schooling.
The presence of necessary and sufficient teaching and learning resources enables teachers to teach more effectively and students to engage in more authentic learning. And it is this lack of teaching and learning resources, beyond the often single required textbook, that frustrates both teachers and students.
Most of the classrooms at the secondary level are also rather bare, drab and uninspiring; and these too need to be upgraded into real stimulating environments and learning centres, with relevant posters, exhibits, maps, quotations, pictures, and so on, to focus, challenge and stimulate the young minds.
One of the more impressive features of North American schools is the volume and variety of learning resources available to students. This enables the students to consult a variety of sources, other than a single textbook, and thus to be better informed, to build their vocabulary and be able to give more impressive answers.
A third avenue for upgrading the learning environment could be effecting more and better organized contact and linkages between schools and their local communities.
The community is recognized as a very valuable teaching/learning resource in several subject areas – especially geography, social studies, science, art, mathematics and language arts. Thus students can engage in community service-learning activities in the above subjects; and resource persons from the community can address students on such school topics as cultural practices, local history and historic buildings, family trees, fishing and farming, plants, local heroes, local business, local economic resources and so on.
Using the local community as a learning resource and incorporating out-of-class learning activities would also, in the process, provide a mechanism for enriching students’ learning experiences and for making that learning more relevant and authentic.
Fourthly, due to the physical layout of our schools, the installation of electronic two-way communication between the main office and individual classrooms would also seem a useful upgrade. This could serve as a tool in instantly notifying classes and/or teachers of emergencies, in making important general announcements and in obviating the need for long morning assemblies.
Teachers could also communicate, in emergency situations, with the main office without leaving the class unattended. All of this, of course, also has the potential, if used wisely, to contribute to the more efficient management of the school.
The upgrading proposed here would, of course, need to be accompanied by requisite adjustments in the school curriculum and, more importantly, in positioning and encouraging principals to function as “educational entrepreneurs”: researching, proposing, initiating and managing new and innovative educational ideas – ideas that will both qualitatively enrich the teaching/learning environment and enhance student performance.
• Anthony Griffith is a former Senior Lecturer in Education, UWI, Cave Hill. Part III continues next week.
