Dear Editor,
From the day (May 26, 1966) Guyana received political independence, this country was faced with the challenge of building a Guyanese nation – ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny.‘ It is doubtful whether the implications of building such a nation were, ever, fully understood by our post-independence leaders.
It could be said without fear of contradiction, that the challenge of building a Guyanese nation is yet to be seen as an opportunity to transform Guyana’s ‘factory oriented,’ elitist and irrelevant school system into a quality education system that would be capable of meeting the needs of all its constituencies (students, teachers, communities, and the wider Guyanese society).
It is imperative that Guyana undertakes the steps necessary to modernize and democratize her school system now.
This process has tremendous implications for all levels of the system: the laws regulating the practice of education; the structure, organization, management and administration; and, in particular, the teaching methods and classroom organization.
It is now widely recognized that a lot of ‘teaching‘ interferes with how many children learn.
To be precise, many bright children become ‘victims‘ of our current educational practices, (for example: ‘Parental engagement can make big difference…‘ SN, January 4). In today’s modern and complex environment, there are many distractions that compete, most intensely, for the minds of our youth. Therefore, there is urgent need to modernize our teaching methodologies. Our teachers must now be equipped with a greater repertoire of skills, and must, also, diligently seek to align their teaching strategies with the learning styles of individual students. When teachers behave in this manner, not only will they be modelling democracy in action, but will also be demonstrating a love for learning, which in my opinion, is the indispensable literacy of the twenty-first century.
To acquire professionals of this calibre in our schools, would require drastic changes in current teacher recruitment, teacher education, remuneration and career policies.
Essentially, the modernization of schooling in Guyana must be a process of freeing the potential in individuals, maximizing their ability to share in the determination of the goals of their communities and the larger society, and to participate creatively and effectively in the realization of these goals.
It is in our schools and in the lives of Guyanese citizens that the process of development ought to begin. This human element must always be our first concern if the ultimate goal of education is to build a better Guyanese society.
Studies in the field of developmental psychology have identified at least seven intelligences that are common to all human beings, but which vary in degree within each person. These are: Bodily-kinesthetic – the intelligence of the whole body and hands; Interpersonal – the intelligence of social understanding; Intra-personal – the intelligence of self-knowledge; Linguistic – the intelligence of words; Logical-mathematical – the intelligence of numbers and reasoning; Musical – the intelligence of tone, rhythm, and timbre; and Spatial – the intelligence of space, pictures and images, so aptly demonstrated some years ago by two young Amerindian sisters who became lost for several days in our forest, and survived to tell their stories. One wonders what would have been the fate of our most academically inclined urban/suburban sisters, had they found themselves in a similar situation?
Because of our traditional obsession with curricula, we have tended to ignore the work of developmental psychologists, which reveals the individuality of human nature. If we were to shift our focus from curricula to students, and from curriculum development to human development, it would allow us to incorporate these most valuable findings into our educational practice.
In order to help each student acquire an identity of greatness, and feel good about himself/ herself, teachers must begin to emphasize the discovery and development of each student’s unique gifts and talents. The most important facet of a child’s identity is his or her unique set of intelligences, and it is this human attribute that deserves our greatest attention.
In closing, I would suggest that the Ministry of Education should cease all attempts to accomplish what God in His/Her infinite wisdom did not attempt to do, and that is, to standardize human beings. We are all unique, completely distinct from each other. I would suggest, also, that the words ‘failure‘ and ‘not academically inclined,‘ be immediately removed from our educational lexicon. Finally, given the expressed concerns about ‘No child left behind,‘ ‘dropout rates,‘ and ‘truancy,‘ I would suggest, further, that each student should be presented with equal opportunities to have his or her unique abilities and talents challenged each day across the school curriculum.
The Best Education For The Best Is The Best Education For All. All who come to school, students and teachers, must experience success. And, success breeds success – it‘s cumulative.
Yours faithfully,
Clarence O Perry
