Creative partnerships: Sustaining educational opportunities

This is the second part of an excerpt from the inaugural address of Nadine Molloy, who was installed as president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) on August 16. ]

Last November, in the Young Leaders' Workshop, one of the stellar professional development opportunities of the JTA, over 80 young leaders were trained; the Canadian Teachers' Federation president in her address reminded us that "the learning condition of the student is the working condition of the teacher". The two are inextricably linked, so, let us be reminded that whatever is done for the teacher also redounds to the benefit of the student. Hence as a greater understanding of learning styles and challenges emerge globally, more appropriate, specialised training opportunities must be created for teachers to take advantage of, if we are to deliver as expected. This must be backed up with the necessary resources provided by Government.

Therefore, the Ministry of Education (MOE) must take responsibility for the schools that have been labeled as failures, and before moving to further improve the 'passing' schools - secure a passing grade for all of us by bringing up to par the failing schools in an atmosphere that is essentially non-threatening.

At the Behaviour Management conference hosted by the JTA in 2006 more than 300 participants approved a 24-item document called the Ocho Rios Declaration, outlining opportunities to engage various partners and stakeholders in the setting of standards and creating interventions in improving the working condition of the teacher and the learning condition of the student. Four years later, it still makes for urgent reading as the issues addressed are no less relevant.

These include:

• A call for 'the effective supervision of schools be effected by the MOE to ensure that policies and procedures are implemented; that the MOE collaborates with the JTA to develop ongoing professional development initiatives for teachers to keep abreast of changes in teaching and behaviour management strategies;
• That there be a coordinated effort among teachers/schools, state, JTA, MOE, employers, churches and NGOs to begin a national training programme for parents;
• That special institutions be set up - one in each region of the MOE - for children with severe behavioural problems.

These and other items contained in both documents of the JTA are high on the agenda for discussion and vigorous pursuit for action-oriented results. Contrary to popular expressions, the reality is that the JTA has been on the frontline calling for far-reaching changes in the ongoing transformation of the education system long before transformation became the buzz word. We will continue along this path and will not be ignored, regardless of how diplomatically or not it is done.

Assessing teachers

While it could not be more wrong to cast the blame for all the ills in the education system at the feet of the teachers, this is still done while ignoring issues related to the effects of extreme poverty and other elements of the social decline that we experience daily.

Here are some simple questions for all of us that are germane to the understanding of our reality. Why is it that so many of our children are on the streets at all hours of the day when they should be in school or at home doing homework? What about those, who by turning a blind eye, tacitly give permission for them not to study or to sleep because of night noises or their attendance at various dances,? What about those who live in violence-prone communities that we have largely ignored over the years as a society? What of those who attend school irregularly? What of those who form part of the under-fifteen age cohort that contributes to police statistics? Who is responsible for them? Who gets maligned or is held accountable for that? Will these issues form a part of the matrix in the ongoing assessment of the teacher? Are teachers the only responsible adults? What of the other state agencies and the parents?

Salary and conditions of service

Teachers are the recipients of hard and long-fought-for rights and benefits. There will be no retreat and no surrender, on not one single one of these. No retreat; no surrender! Every single one was won through painstaking negotiations lasting sometimes for years. The JTA and the Caribbean Union of Teachers stand ready at all times to protect the rights of the teacher.

Further, we note the attempts to engage in micromanagement. Administrators must be empowered and then adequately supervised. This process must be informed by the nuances of the community within which the school operates and our existing legal framework. I recall the prime minister in a meeting with education officials and administrators at Jamaica House in November 2008 stating categorically that he would support the position that administrators are able to "assert without any ambiguity the authority that resides in the school." I am calling on him, with confidence that he will fully support the schools by acting on his promises.

We at the JTA continue to be alarmed at the increase in violent attacks on teachers across the island. We denounce and decry the miscreants who prey on us. We call on the authorities to declare our schools safe zones as was indicated in the aforementioned meeting with the prime minister, and to move with a sense of urgency to protect those who use them daily. The working condition of the teacher is the learning condition of the student.

Speaking directly to the matter of salaries, we find the current salary impasse highly irregular, unkind and intolerable. With respect to the non-payment of reclassification monies owing to teachers, as we understand it, there was no provision made for proper teacher remuneration, during the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.

We are advised that the IMF does not operate in the context that is being portrayed. Hence we have engaged the assistance of Education International, the umbrella organisation for teacher unions and associations, in assisting us in working through our case, in favour of our teachers. We are watching very closely the developments as they relate to other public-sector workers, while we are taking this necessary step as we believe that the legitimate case of every single worker in Jamaica must be treated with the respect and dignity that it deserves.

Professionalism and performance

We are operating in a time when the world is going through significant changes - Jamaica is certainly being transformed, the education system no less, and those who drive it must of necessity be transformed themselves or perish. I am calling on you our nation's teachers to engage in the highest levels of professionalism. We must not and cannot be a part of the problem. I am asking for your accountability to that and nothing less.

As it stands, where professionalism does not obtain, we are providing fodder for those who would find it easiest to blame us. The highest level of professionalism is necessary for us to continue to justify keeping our jobs. That must be our first and most significant tool/weapon against those who seek to divide and rule us, for us to attract the type of partnerships and support that we need.

We must take the initiative and become lead-learners in our respective fields. Please take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself for you to improve your own education and training. Be cutting edge in your own transformation; take keen note of what the current international trends and issues in education are. Technology has made this relatively easy for you so, you have very little by way of excuse. We thank both our public-sector and private-sector stakeholders for providing us with educational opportunities such as the e-Learning Jamaica Project among others.

However, teachers, be reminded that the greatest evidence of this will be how we translate these opportunities into real performance by all of us. So, set your own goals and performance targets that support professionalism both inside and outside of the classroom, and work towards these assiduously.

As we seek to be better teachers, I call on parents and guardians to engage themselves in better parenting habits. Make the school your most important partner. I implore parents to form an unprecedented pact for a new deal with us, your teachers and schools to build a better Jamaica for our children. I challenge the private sector to seek even more effective partnerships with the schools and their teachers in your respective communities. It can be done and must be done.

I want also to challenge the churches to return to the place where your influence is unmatched by any other. Awake and arise! The challenge is not too great. I implore communities: stop abusing our children and speaking negatives into their lives, instead encourage and nurture them, foster in them discipline and a sense of responsibility for who they will become.

We need to treat our educational institutions as places of high value and worth, as they really are. Cease destroying them; instead protect them. Too much of our resources are wasted in this way each year. Jamaica, please join me on this quest.