For quite some time now many Jamaicans have been clamouring for the return of civics education to the curriculum in secondary schools.

In June of last year former president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) Winston Smith called for the reintroduction of civics in secondary schools, referring to its removal many years ago as a “grave and fundamental error”. On December 13, 2022 the Minister of Education Fayval Williams answered this call by launching the new civics curriculum, which will be incorporated into the National Standards Curriculum (NSC) for grades 4 to 9.

The adjective ‘civic’ comes from the Latin word ‘civis’, which was the word for a citizen of ancient Rome. We often talk about someone doing their civic duty when something is related to or benefits an individual or group of people in a society. By extension then, the hope of the ministry is that this subject, which includes topics such as citizenship, nationalism, cultural and social awareness, and recognition and respect for national symbols and icons, will help to inculcate in Jamaicans a heightened sense of national awareness, patriotism, and core values, such as respect, integrity, and honesty. Indeed, all of these are important in any sovereign State, but more so in Jamaica, where the moral fabric seems to have descended to an all-time low.

The lack of national pride, love, and regard for human life, as evidenced in our current murder rate, has left many of us with the conviction that something has to be done, and fast, if Jamaica is to return to its former glory.

As usual, whenever solutions are being sought for problems of this magnitude, all eyes are turned on the education system as the school is one of the primary agents of socialisation. Much is mentioned of the curriculum of our schools and the need to redesign it in such a way that our education becomes more relevant to all members of society and assists in solving some of the ills being faced by the society at large.

It is important that when we have discussions such as these we are able to make the distinction between the different forms of curriculum. When we talk about subject areas such as civics, mathematics, English, etc we are referring to the formal or prescribed curriculum. The formal curriculum refers to the content that is taught in our classrooms in a deliberate way, delivered by a teacher/instructor, and follows a curriculum guide. In Jamaica we have a centralised or top-down system in which our curriculum is designed and developed by our Ministry of Education and then handed down to our schools’ administrators/teachers for delivery. In such a case, teachers have very little say in what is taught to our students and so have very little control over the content of the curriculum package. However, a curriculum is a much broader than this and covers much more than what is delivered in the classroom with the use of textbooks.

The informal curriculum

Jamaica has a very rich culture and heritage and we hardly miss an opportunity to celebrate and highlight these events. In almost every school across the length of breadth of the island we will see our students and teachers celebrating our national heroes in October, or Jamaica Day in February when we showcase historical icons like Bob Marley, Louise Bennett-Coverley, et al. These activities fall under the informal curriculum and are normally delivered through activities previously mentioned, clubs and societies, and extracurricular activities. In fact, many of our schools bear signs in various parts of their campuses as a reminder to their students of the core values on which a well-functioning society is built.

In other words, though civics as a subject has been removed for several years now from our formal curriculum, elements of it are still alive and well in our informal curriculum.

Though I am in agreement with the reintegration of civics in our formal curriculum, the absence of it should not have led to the moral decay that has infiltrated our society and spilt into our schools over the last few years.

It is not a lack of knowledge of national symbols and icons that has caused Jamaica to be now dubbed one of the most murderous countries in the western hemisphere but rather the decline of the village and the breakdown in family life.

The Hidden Curriculum

The hidden curriculum refers to those mores and values that are not written or stated explicitly but which are learnt by students in an indirect way.

As a curriculum is usually associated with schooling, it is the teacher who is normally seen as the source of this hidden curriculum. Therefore, the students’ belief systems, ethos, and values are shaped by the teachers with whom they interact on a daily basis. This can be very problematic as oftentimes the value system of the teacher may well be in conflict with the student’s individual value system. This is where the village comes in.

Though we acknowledge that the school forms an important part of the ecology of our children, we cannot deny that the family is the primary source of interaction of the child and forms the foundation on which everything else should be constructed. If the family unit functions according to how it was designed, that is, to instil the necessary core values in children, such as discipline; respect for authority, rules, and regulations; compassion; thoughtfulness; and selflessness, then there would be no need for such ethos to be written in the formal curriculum, and schools would be able to focus on the matter of formal education.

Jamaica’s woes exist not because civics lessons are absent from our schools but because the family structure has failed. Children are no longer being raised; instead, they are being “dragged up” in households and communities where the accepted mode of solving problems and resolving conflicts is through violence and aggression.

The year 2022 will very likely go down in the annals of history as one of the nation’s bloodiest. Though I also add my voice to the throng of people who welcome the reintroduction 0f civics education in the formal curriculum, I am also hoping that we will someday soon see the return of the family as an agency of socialisation and change. Perhaps this curriculum needs to be extended beyond the walls of the classroom to include parents and adults who may have missed out on some of these important values.

In my opinion, there is an entire generation of Jamaicans who need to be trained in the softer affective skills, such as tolerance and conflict resolution, so the education system and the society at large will be better able to work in tandem to create a country that we can be proud of. Until then, we await the full implementation of the new civics curriculum.

Kathey Wanliss is a curriculum specialist and head of the Modern Languages Department at Shortwood Teachers’ College. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or katheygrant@stcoll.edu.jm.