Camille E. Bell-Hutchinson, Contributor

Camille Bell-Hutchinson -Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

The following is an excerpt from an address delivered to the graduating class of St. Joseph's Teachers' College on November 18, 2006.

I wish to put forward the argument that the teacher is the cornerstone of education and development in any nation. The state must be able to depend on its teachers to interpret and operationalise its broad goals and specific objectives for the formal education of its populace, and to transmit society's norms, values and attitudes. As early childhood and primary teachers you will have the unique opportunity to influence children when they are at the most impressionable stage of their development. It is at this stage that characters are being fashioned, values are being formed, curiosity is at its peak and minds at their most fertile. The question I want you to ponder is, "What will be the nature of your influence on these lives and how will this help to build a better nation?"

I believe that if we genuinely want Jamaica to change, then we must invest time and effort in making a difference to the education of the young. I suggest, therefore, that it is incumbent on you to make an impact on this nation by ensuring that you become agents of social change in the classroom. In so doing you must be not only intent on enabling children to pass tests and examinations, but moreso, and possibly more importantly, on moulding your students into the kind of human beings who will add value to society and contribute positively to their own growth and development.

unique opportunity

Teachers are the people who are best positioned to influence the youth. You, therefore, have a unique opportunity and, indeed, a responsibility to ensure that the values and attitudes you portray, and the kinds of behaviour patterns you encourage in your class, are ones that will plant the seed of change in this society.

As you take on this role, I wish to highlight three characteristics that should be hallmarks of your classrooms.

First, your classroom should be one which is characterised by fairness and justice.

Students must see and experience fair treatment. Unfortunately, education is often seen as an agent of social injustice! You must not perpe-tuate this. In your classrooms you can begin to change this culture by ensuring that every child is treated equally regardless of social status, colour, religion or connections. Children live what they learn! And don't forget, children become adults.

Oftentimes, too, we use our authority in ways that are unjust and because we are working with the young, we believe that it doesn't matter. Remember, though, that authority, inappropriately used, sends a wrong signal to children about what is acceptable and what leadership means. As they grow older they become the perpetrators of the very practice of which they were victims. they too act improperly, and they too use authority in oppressive ways.

Second, your classroom must be seen to place emphasis on values such as diligence, honesty, integrity, and tolerance.

Not only should these be expected of the students, but you yourself should model such virtues as you interact with the young child.

Teachers at all levels of our educational system are constantly being criticised for being lazy, for short-changing students, for lacking professional ethics. If you are going to make a positive difference, then none of these words should be used to describe your practice. You should be honest with your students and ensure that they know that you value honesty. You should demonstrate diligence in your approach to your teaching, and should likewise require diligence from your young students. You should be a model of integrity for all to see.

Third, your classrooms should be classrooms where students are respected. They should feel that what they have to say is valued; they should be spoken to with respect and they should feel unthreatened, especially about making mistakes. The young child should not be made to feel ashamed nor be ridiculed for making mistakes. Such behaviour demeans the child, shatters his/her self-esteem and sets him/her up to come to dislike authority, among other things. The adults who emerge are often scarred deep down and find it difficult to participate effectively in society.

appropriate environment

As I challenge you to be agents of change, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge, too, that you will be working within a larger system that is fraught with difficulties. Conse-quently, I feel that I cannot close without briefly addressing those who have the responsibility of providing an appropriate environment within which you can adequately function. If the state of early childhood and primary education in Jamaica is to truly change, then the Government of Jamaica will have to pay more than lip service to education. For example, effective early childhood and primary education cannot occur with student-teacher ratios of 40, 50 and even 60:1. And, yes, I have seen the counter-arguments that ratios are lower. But let us not fool ourselves. Anyone working on the ground knows what the reality is.

In addition to this, teachers must be better remunerated and must be provided with the kind of infrastructural and organisational support that promotes and enables state-of-the-art teaching and learning. We should never have to hear about such distressing situations as a child falling into a pit latrine.

As the Ministry of Education and Youth considers the introduction of a system of payment by performance, then concomitant with that must be an improvement in resource allocation, an improvement in physical plants, a lessening of the student-teacher ratio, especially at the early childhood and primary levels, and a reassessment of the GSAT examination so that teachers will be able to place emphasis on the very social skills of which we spoke earlier, rather than being consumed with drilling students to pass examinations. Let us be reminded that too much focus on outcomes can shift attention from those inputs which are even more vital to the learning process.

Saying that "every child can learn, every child must learn" is not enough. There must be in place, too, adequate and appropriate systems which will ensure that this can truly be a reality. Otherwise, the words will sound good, but will mean absolutely nothing.

The private sector also has a role to play. For we know that there is money out there. Look at the vast sums being plugged into the Cricket World Cup, and the millions of dollars being provided to the football fraternity to ensure that we secure a place in the next FIFA World Cup. Why can't we see these levels of enthusiastic support and sustained commitment to education?

As you enter into the world of teaching, be mindful of the circumstances you will be facing, but at the same time be resolute in your determination to give the best you can.

Dr. Camille E. Bell-Hutchinson is deputy dean (education) in the Faculty of Humanities and Education, University of the West Indies, Mona campus. Email: camille.bellhutchinson@ uwimona.edu.jm