Staff Writer – Katrin Callender
After a fun day at the movies, I happened by the Hallmark store. In the window I saw a mug in the area designated for Teacher appreciation gift items. It read: “Because you believed in us, we believed in us” accompanied by an illustration of children with smiling faces.
I thought about those who had taught me throughout my academic career. And the sentiment rang true. It was an immediate favorite among all the beautiful items in the store.
Whenever I chat with students of secondary or tertiary levels, it seems to me that they are quite aware of their needs as students. I admire their awareness of their circumstances. I respect their opinions about the course their education should follow.
They seem to feel any perceived negligence very deeply. Lately, I find their complaints weigh heavily on my mind. I am curious about the solutions to their problems. How do students, parents, educators, curriculum planners, the government, and society address their concerns? Where do we even begin assuaging their anxiety?
We might say, we will continue to invest in their education. But an investment without extensive planning may easily result in the waste of resources. And, what constitutes an investment in education anyway? Is it enough to give a student the opportunity to study, or should they be given the best environment, technology, teaching and support services as well. Is the absence of these things a failure to invest?
Stakeholders must be given the opportunity to voice their concerns freely, and without fear. And the act of listening, and recording these concerns which is infinitely more important, must be done by a highly intelligent, patient, neutral and trained entity.
Photo courtesy cashthechecks.com
This individual or group of individuals must possess all three qualities in addition to the training because stakeholders will come from disparate backgrounds and may offer feedback with a motive. Consider popular phone-in programmes. Persons with a vendetta, or those who merely want to be captured in the footage, call in to have ‘their say’, though it does not propel the purpose of the programme forward. The data collector that can find the point within lengthy discourse, or put an end to rambling with diplomacy, serves the cause.
Once there is a comprehensive body of data as to the needs of this sector, it can then be decided what sort of investment can be made.
Here, I find myself thinking of the levels of sponsorship articulated in many a template for a sponsorship proposal. An event planner will usually identify the particulars of the event, the purpose, target audience, venue, time and date, and needs. They then list levels of sponsorship which allow investments of varied sizes. And investments need not be monetary only.
To return to a question asked above: students, parents, educators, curriculum planners, the government, and society may address the concerns of students by making the investment that they can afford. Students may invest their talents and a positive attitude; parents may make a monetary investment as well as support their child’s emotional needs.
Teachers may invest their time and expertise, while curriculum planners can invest their knowledge and powers as liaisons between the schools and the Government. The Government in turn can invest by funding or creating initiatives that will develop our students and society can invest all of the above, and more, as society is made up of individuals belonging to a plethora of jobs, across many industries.
I am happy to see such investments being made in Trinidad and Tobago. There have been contributions by the corporate community, and the Government; society as a collective and individuals. Data collection must be continuous, as we will continue to change even as technology and the economy changes. But the future of education is definitely promising because of all the efforts at the present.
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