Editorial | Teachers spark joy

Students of Spanish Town Primary School turned up for the new school year Monday to a warm, enthusiastic welcome from the teaching staff. Images of dancing teachers with broad smiles were on full display, as they declared their readiness to take charge of their students and get on with the business of teaching.

With 95 per cent of the nation’s kindergarten, primary and high schools now reopened, we imagine that this kind of positive energy from teachers may have been replicated in other schools which did not come to our attention.

If the majority of schools had an iota of the enthusiasm of the Spanish Town teachers, the nation could feel hopeful that there remains a dedicated band of educators who will continue to play that crucial role in the lives of our children.

All the research concludes that teacher enthusiasm positively influences children’s attitudes. Further, there is documented evidence that enthusiastic teachers can motivate their students and instill in them great motivation, enjoyment and vitality. So, the enthusiasm for teaching is easily matched by the enthusiasm for learning and together can grow a culture of high performance.

Faced by multiple challenges, teachers could choose to be morose and unmotivated, but hundreds of teachers across the nation continue to demonstrate that they have a singular objective – to ensure their students succeed in learning new ideas in order to build a base of confidence on which they can rely throughout their life’s journey.

The lesson from this observation is that joy can shine through even in difficult times and often in the least expected places.

Every year after summer recruitment of teachers, we hear about the teacher retention crisis in Jamaica. Indeed, there are indications that poor performance in some critical subject areas is caused by the lack of teachers. Our teachers are being recruited to fill vacancies in other countries where fewer people are entering the profession and where it is becoming harder to retain teachers with skills that are in high demand.

Teacher shortage is being felt in many countries. Higher salaries and better working condition could keep more of our teachers at home and in the classroom, but the Government seems content to rely on the fact that long-suffering teachers are accustomed to make do and will continue to do so. Why else would there be no clear plan to encourage teacher retention?

LEADERSHIP MATTERS

Society continues to have high expectations that skilful classroom management and teacher engagement will work together to ensure that the human resource is available to educate the next generation.

Enthusiasm alone will not produce the desired results. We strongly support the argument that leadership matters. First, leadership at the political level is crucial. We are talking about the kind of leadership that collaborates and builds partnerships to meet transformational goals and achieve better outcomes. The kind of leadership that sets the priority to accord more resources in underperforming schools.

At the home level, parents who take an active interest in their children’s school life create a supportive environment and usually see their children doing well. It is also crucial that there is ongoing communication between parents and teachers.

Spanish Town Primary boasts a full complement of staff. Three members of staff who left the St Catherine institution were replaced and three teachers have stepped in for their colleagues on study leave, which is an indication of strong proactive leadership.

It was indeed refreshing to see the sparks of joy at Spanish Town Primary School on Monday. We have grown accustomed to the usual gloom and doom and stories of shortages at the start of the school year, so it was remarkable to see a school that was raring to get the job of education done.