FORMER British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once said: “The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.”

That was, arguably, the idea behind the invitation by the American International School of Kingston (AISK) to locally governed schools for bilateral relationships with a view to improving literacy rates on the island.

“AISK wants to be a part of the community here in Kingston, Jamaica. We would love to collaborate and share ideas in a bilateral relationship. We have a lot to learn from Jamaican schools and we feel we have a lot to share with them,” AISK’s Scott Genzer told the Jamaica Observer in February.

Since then, a number of schools and educators have approached AISK, including Holy Rosary, Chetolah Park Primary, Jamaica College, and author of Inside Jamaican Schools, Hyacinth Evans.

Speaking on behalf of Robert Smith and Nathaniel Muir, principals of Chetolah Park and Holy Rosary Primary, accountant and teacher-in-training Lorna Burkin-Clyburn said they were impressed by AISK’s “focus on responsible use of information”.

She noted that while she has been an accountant for more than a decade, she has had a burning desire to see the education problem in Jamaica corrected and so she decided to enrol in the Mico Teachers’ College to learn what she could to catalyse the change.

Stemming from that meeting, in which the teachers were exposed to the educational model of multiple intelligences, Muir and Smith have said they will seek to incorporate it into their own school systems.

The multiple intelligences model refers to the practice of allowing students to express their understanding of a particular subject in various forms, as opposed to having everyone complete an assignment in a pre-determined manner.

AISK, a private institution modelled after the American education system, has consistently achieved 100 per cent university matriculation for its students, who are mainly the children of diplomats, high-ranking government workers and the wealthy. Its class sizes range from 12 to 18 students, each of whom is equipped with personal laptop computers.

These statistics have not escaped the notice of Jamaica College (JC), which has been seeking to enhance its delivery of the high school curriculum. JC’s information and communication technology (ICT) steering committee took a trip to AISK to conduct a site visit with the intention of garnering as much up-to-date information as possible.

“AISK’s use of information technology in education is the standard that the locally governed schools should aim to be at, and it was on that premise that the committee was driven to seize on the opportunity,” a committee member told Career & Education.

Formed at the beginning of the 2010-2011 academic year, the steering committee seeks to provide guidance to JC’s directors in the selection and employment of ICT equipment.

Chairman of the committee, Edward ‘Teddy’ Alexander, CEO of tTech Limited, said he was more than impressed with the American school’s use of technology.

“They are far beyond our local schools in relation to how technology is used in the classroom. In our local schools, for example, there may be a few projectors available to everyone, but at AISK there is a projector in each classroom,” he said.

Alexander was also impressed by the innovative teaching mechanisms employed by the teachers of AISK.

“AISK gives their teachers the freedom to determine how lessons are brought forward, in comparison to the teachers of our local schools who are forced to operate within specific guidelines and where possible, use technology to enhance the learning environment,” Alexander added.

From the perspective of Anthony Robinson, another committee member, the visit provided great advice and very good pointers on the use of technology. One example to which he referred was the use of tablets in the classroom.

“The site visit assisted the JC ICT steering committee with their plans to revamp their sixth form as a model they can assess for the implementation and increase in the use of technology into the school system,” explained Alexander, who is group senior manager of Jamaica National Building Society. “So far, Mr Blake, a math teacher at JC, is using the electronic white board to great success.”

The visit also inspired thoughts of incorporating social media into JC’s education system as a means of encouraging students to complete assignments in a manner that taps into their creativity and critical thinking.

JC principal Ruel Reid also went on a tour of AISK.

According to the committee, while they may not be copying the educational programmes of the American school, they “definitely see where visiting AISK can provide a template for us to improve our own school system”.

Conversely, Alexander and Robinson told Career & Education that they foresee JC assisting AISK in subject areas that require technical and vocational skills. Woodwork and auto mechanic workshops are two avenues that AISK directors found particularly interesting. Robinson was also keen to add that participation in extra-curricular activity training could also benefit AISK.

“The invitation extended by the directors of AISK is a very good opportunity to gain. I hope more schools take advantage of that invitation,” Robinson said.

AISK starts at kindergarten and goes up to grade 12. Its tuition fee is US$14,000 a year.