Stop boxing the children!

Cornwall College principal lashes academic streaming

BY HORACE HINES Observer West reporter hinesh@jamaicaobserver.com

Thursday, February 25, 2010

CAMBRIDGE, St James-- Denham McIntyre, the principal of Cornwall College in Montego Bay, has condemned academic streaming in the island's secondary education system, advocating the establishment of a relevant supportive curriculum for all students.

"There should be no exclusion. I don't believe in bright and dunce children. All children can learn and should be taught equally," he argued at a ceremony to welcome Mavis Hamilton as the new provincial principal of the Cambridge High School on Monday.

Academic streaming involves the separation of children into classes for tuition according to their percieved abilities. Although schools here have come up with all sorts of creative names to glamorise the practice, this has not managed to camouflage the stigma associated with the lower academic streams.

"It is time for us to get rid of that and know that every parent who sends his or her child to Cambridge High School (for example), wants the best for that child regardless if they are poor or rich, and so we must do our best to ensure that children are given an opportunity to achieve and stop putting them in boxes," he said.

Hamilton, an educator of 27 years, graduated from Moneague Teachers' College with a Teachers' Diploma. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master's degree in education from the Western Carolina University.

Prior to her assuming the new post at Cambridge High School last month, she was the vice-principal of the Muchette Comprehensive High School in Trelawny for 10 years.

She succeeds Rhudal McFarlane who served as principal of Cambridge High for 27 years.

At Monday's function, Hamilton pledged to address "low passes in math and language, late-coming, truancy," and unveiled plans for succession leaders, staff development, the school's involvement in co-curricular activities such as "All Together Sing", a singing contest for school choirs aired on television, as well as the popular "Schools' Challenge Quiz".

"The involvement of all the stakeholders isnecessary for the vision to become reality," Hamilton noted.

Among those who welcomed Hamilton at Monday's ceremony were:

*South St James MP, Derrick Kellier;

*Community member, Eric Foster,

*Past student, Esmond Clarke;

*Akelia Thompson, the school's head girl;

*PTA president ,Francella Anderson;

*Clive Evans from region four of the ministry of education and

*Board chairman, Franklin Binns.

McFarlane, who according to the programme was designated to hand over the welcome key to Hamilton, did not attend the function.

McIntyre warned Hamilton to expect to be compared to her predecessor, who received a number of glowing tributes in his absence. But he was quick to reassure that "if a new principal plays his or her card right, most if not all persons will accept the new management."

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COMMENTS (3)

Olivia Dwyer
3/2/2010

wow!!! I must attest to the fact that we have "backward minded" people, in our contemporary society. I strongly believe that regardless of a child inability to perform exceptionally well, why "ridicule" their utmost potential by dispersing them in an environment where they are susceptible to learning less. As a future educator, one must look at all the challenges students faces in their everyday life as well as the social background of the learner. We know that collaboration works best for most if not all students as well as teaching strategies and styles a teacher implements in his of her lesson. Why demotivate a child by placing him or her in a classroom based on his or her performance on examination scores or through regular assessments. My friends we have to look each individual and understand where they are coming from. Not all learners come from the same family background or environment as you AND I. We also have to bear in mind that there are different levels and characteristics associated with multiple intelligences. eg's of such are Linguistic, logical mathematical,bodily kin aesthetic, spatial musical,interpersonal amongst many others. Now many individuals develop differently and as educators what one may learn one way, the other may not learn the other way. So a child can be very Mathematical logical, in that most of their intelligence can only be performed mathematically, as in they tend to love experiments, solving problems, experimenting e.t.c while others may be linguistically inclines. i.e they love to write, read, tell stories ,play word games. I WOULD DEFINITALY SAY I FALL INTO THE LINGUISTIC INTELLIGENCE. Could it be that i am a "Dunce" if i can seldom exhibit the "perfectionist" behavior of a mathematical logical individual. I would rather think not, for there are those who are so mathematically and scientifcally inclined that if you ask them to write a paragraph or sentence, the " ambiance" and literalistic methods they use would not even pass for a high school student. Now it is deep pleasure that i must re-inform educators and institutions to look deeply into behaviors they carry out, which will deter and demotivate students from performing exceptionally well.

Olivia Dwyer
3/2/2010

Richard G. Williams
2/25/2010

Let’s hope that JA ends this terrible practice. Streaming does not take into account the student’s abilities and interest. It ignores that fact that each student learns with a different style and pace, and it assumes that low performance is always correlated with low ability/intelligence (i.e., IQ). It can lead some students to underperform or rebel when they are forced into areas that do not stimulate their development.
Many world shapers like Einstein, Descartes, and Gates, were underperformers that our school system would have discarded in favor of rote learners who simply regurgitate obsolete information.
In my second year of high school, my academic and family life was negatively impacted as I discovered the plan to put me in the Arts stream. While I have a respect for Art, History, Languages, Literature, and Religion, my main interest was in the Sciences. My parents both worked in Science related fields and my daily academic adventures were in Engineering and Medicine - I hold the BA in Computer Science.
Even though I went to one of the top JA high schools, my experience there was a waste of time. I stayed focused due to friends-neighbors who encouraged my nascent abilities and interest.
“A Mind Is A Terrible Thing to Waste”
(Ad Council Campaign slogan for the United Negro College Fund)
Richard G. Williams, MSM
Department of Research & Evaluation
School District of Palm Beach County, Florida

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Stop boxing the children!