“I am Mrs Norma Holder”.
That statement of revelation and clarification was important for the lifelong educator to make during our interview.
“I am not Dr Norma Holder. I don’t have a doctorate but many people believe that I do,” she said smiling. “I just got tired of trying to correct them.”
After spending most of her life as an educator both in England and Barbados, it’s easy to understand why many people would make the assumption that the Jamaican native possesses a doctorate.
Naturally when you think of her, it’s an easy assumption to make considering her 35-year tenure at the Barbados Community College (BCC) which began as a tutor in chemistry and mathematics and culminated as principal.
But for Norma her only job in Barbados and the love of her career was never about the lure of ambition, but more about the essence of who she is, a teacher at heart.
As she excelled in her field, the opportunities for advancement presented themselves as the head of the health sciences division, then as deputy principal and finally as principal.
“Teaching is perhaps the thing that I really like doing best,” she said smiling. “I really liked the classroom because I think I was able to communicate with my students and teach them more than chemistry and maths. I was able to teach them about themselves and about life.
“They could not mistake the enthusiasm I had particularly for teaching chemistry. A lot of the people I actually taught are in the scientific field, a lot of them are doctors, engineers, I see them around and it’s very satisfying.”
Perhaps in many ways Norma’s career path was preordained, after all both her parents were teachers.
“My father went on to do all kinds of things including being a minister of religion in his 70s and died when he was 96. He had a wonderful life,” she said. “I think I probably chose teaching as it was convenient with having two young daughters.”
Like many working women with families, Norma was always cognisant that her family came first and learned early on that she needed to strike a balance between her personal and professional life.
She and her husband Jean Holder, the chairman of LIAT, met when they were both students at Oxford University and got married in Norway where he was on one of his assignments. Being a wife and mother was something she always wanted but she learned that balancing and managing were the keys to doing it well.
“You need a very loving and supportive husband and you need help,” she admitted. “I didn’t have that extended family here to help me but we’ve been fortunate in terms of housekeepers.”
That successful juggling act helped her to increase BCC’s standing in the academic community and gave students avenues for entrepreneurship.
For Norma, she was just building on the work that was set before her.
“I had two good predecessors – Charlie Best and Alvin Barnett,” Norma said. “One of the jobs that Best had as the first principal was to get that college understood and recognised. There was a big teacher’s strike when that college started and Errol Barrow had to step in. We started off with A levels and doing courses like the history of science and some general education courses.
“After he retired, Alvin Barnett was a physicist and under him the concept of the associate degree began. So he started working on that and it came to fruition when I was there. So I had something good to build on.”
Norma was able to make her own mark in continuing the tradition of growth at BCC.
“One of the areas which is quite outstanding is the Hospitality Institute. A lot of people don’t see PomMarine as part of the Community College but it is,” she said. “When we first started there were those who would look down their noses at hospitality thinking these were people working at a lower level. But the standards for getting in are the same as the standards for getting into the college. Hospitality has mushroomed because not only does it provide training in various areas in the associate degree level, but it has made its stamp regionally and internationally.
“A lot of training courses are done and people come from throughout the Caribbean. This has come about because we’ve adhered to standards and I have to give credit to (director) Bernice Critchlow-Earle who is passionate about the industry.”
Though Norma said that she was never one to climb any “career ladders” one cannot discount her contributions. She came to a country that was not her own, and put her stamp on education and the development of minds in a major way. For that in November 2001, she received the Gold Crown of Merit for her work in education.
Though she’s retired and left the hallowed halls of academia, the passion for education still remains.
“I feel satisfied,” Holder says of the work she’s done. “Here I am as a teacher that loved my students. I really didn’t expect the administration and being principal. It wasn’t something I was aiming for, I just happened to get there. One thing I can say is that I really enjoyed my career.”