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Letter: Improving student performance
Published on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 Email To Friend Print Version
Dear Sir:
As our Caribbean countries face the challenges of developing their human resources, many of them are taking a serious look at the performance of their students. Jamaica has always been very proactive in experimenting with various strategies aimed at enhancing student performance, and also has been one of the most open of Caribbean countries in revealing the problems it faces in this regard.
Recently the Sunday Gleaner stated that more than one half of the students who left secondary school last year had no subjects and no skills. The Minister of Education also revealed that part of the non-growth in jamaica was a result of not utilising the human resources to the fullest. The Gleaner further stated that data from the Ministry of Education showed that there were 51,676 Jamaican youth of grade eleven age half of whom were not certified for any further education or job.
The real point is, why is this the case, and what is it that needs to be done to deal effectively with this situation? If one half of the students leaving schools last year had no subjects or skills, then it means that the other half acquired subjects and some skills. But what has caused this?
Could teachers be teaching only certain sections of their class, while psychologically ignoring others? Do they encourage and allow only certain students to respond to their questions, while feeling that others have nothing of significance to contribute, and therefore they are not challenged? Does class and race enter into the calculations of teachers in the classroom, whereby students with a certain colour, linked to socio-economic privilege are seen as the ones most capable of benefitting from their instruction, and therefore are pushed to succeed, while the others who are not so favoured are given a lack lustre attention? Is it that some teachers go to their classes late and leave early, and so do not spend quality time with their students? Or, is it the perception among some teachers that you will always have some failure, and they therefore feel that what they do is their very best, irrespective of the results? Are teachers trained in the subjects they offer? Do they use appropriate teaching methods? Do they receive the necessary supervision and appraisal of their work, or are allowed to attend professional development programmes to keep them updated in their areas of instruction?
These are some of the fundamental questions to be asked and examined if we are to come to some understanding of the challenges faced by teacher educators. But what strategies could be used to deal with this issue of one half of students leaving secondary schools with no subjects or skills? We need to check into what is being done in the schools that results in half of the students acquiring subjects and skills, What are the learning strategies being utilised, and what kind of attitudes and behaviours are exhibited by teachers that have a positive effect on their students.
Positive expectations by teachers will produce positive results by students. They will be motivated to want to achieve. We will also have to look at the way in which teachers are educated. Are those who trained them fully qualified in their subject areas, and have they been trained in the methodologies that are cutting edge? We will also have to look at whether some teacher trainers see their work as a chore, rather than as a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the country.
An important consideration in a solutions oriented effort is to examine whether students are sufficiently challenged, the considerations teachers have when they grade students, and what are the proper skills that should be involved in grading students' work. It could be that some students are undergraded, and therefore give up, while others see their grades as incentives to move further forward.
You will notice that I have not mentioned the resources issue, the fact it is said that students learn differently, or that class size is an inhibitor of learning. I wanted to look at the issue of perceptions and philosophy of organizations. For example do the people who teach have a particular philosophy that governs their work, and seek to operationalize it? This will determine how motivated they are, and how committed they are to the process. What about the management of student learning?
Teachers should be trained in serious management strategies that work, and that produce a certain kind of student with a certain outlook. Also, academic training of students should be linked to pratical skills required by industry, and people from various industries should be invited to teach these skills so that students graduate with relevant training and can be absorbed into the job market. The school should be purpose driven, and oriented to developing people and equipping them with modern, applicable knowledge and skills.
What I have sought to do is to advance some ideas that could be reflected on in terms of their contribution to enhancing student learning and their acquisition of skills. Jamaica has a number of institutions that are engaged in some of these processes. What is necessary is to replace theory with more practical, workable knowledge, have lecturers that are highly trained in their areas and not jut in a few courses, and have examinations that reflect what students should really be learning.
Probably what is further needed is for Jamaica to opt out of the Caribbean Examinations programme and design its own programmes for its own people, with international recognition. Could it be that the core problem with student performance is that what is taught is neither relevant nor appropriate to students in particular and the country in general?
Oliver Mills
Reads : 269
Published on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 Email To Friend Print Version
Dear Sir:
As our Caribbean countries face the challenges of developing their human resources, many of them are taking a serious look at the performance of their students. Jamaica has always been very proactive in experimenting with various strategies aimed at enhancing student performance, and also has been one of the most open of Caribbean countries in revealing the problems it faces in this regard.
Recently the Sunday Gleaner stated that more than one half of the students who left secondary school last year had no subjects and no skills. The Minister of Education also revealed that part of the non-growth in jamaica was a result of not utilising the human resources to the fullest. The Gleaner further stated that data from the Ministry of Education showed that there were 51,676 Jamaican youth of grade eleven age half of whom were not certified for any further education or job.
The real point is, why is this the case, and what is it that needs to be done to deal effectively with this situation? If one half of the students leaving schools last year had no subjects or skills, then it means that the other half acquired subjects and some skills. But what has caused this?
Could teachers be teaching only certain sections of their class, while psychologically ignoring others? Do they encourage and allow only certain students to respond to their questions, while feeling that others have nothing of significance to contribute, and therefore they are not challenged? Does class and race enter into the calculations of teachers in the classroom, whereby students with a certain colour, linked to socio-economic privilege are seen as the ones most capable of benefitting from their instruction, and therefore are pushed to succeed, while the others who are not so favoured are given a lack lustre attention? Is it that some teachers go to their classes late and leave early, and so do not spend quality time with their students? Or, is it the perception among some teachers that you will always have some failure, and they therefore feel that what they do is their very best, irrespective of the results? Are teachers trained in the subjects they offer? Do they use appropriate teaching methods? Do they receive the necessary supervision and appraisal of their work, or are allowed to attend professional development programmes to keep them updated in their areas of instruction?
These are some of the fundamental questions to be asked and examined if we are to come to some understanding of the challenges faced by teacher educators. But what strategies could be used to deal with this issue of one half of students leaving secondary schools with no subjects or skills? We need to check into what is being done in the schools that results in half of the students acquiring subjects and skills, What are the learning strategies being utilised, and what kind of attitudes and behaviours are exhibited by teachers that have a positive effect on their students.
Positive expectations by teachers will produce positive results by students. They will be motivated to want to achieve. We will also have to look at the way in which teachers are educated. Are those who trained them fully qualified in their subject areas, and have they been trained in the methodologies that are cutting edge? We will also have to look at whether some teacher trainers see their work as a chore, rather than as a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the country.
An important consideration in a solutions oriented effort is to examine whether students are sufficiently challenged, the considerations teachers have when they grade students, and what are the proper skills that should be involved in grading students' work. It could be that some students are undergraded, and therefore give up, while others see their grades as incentives to move further forward.
You will notice that I have not mentioned the resources issue, the fact it is said that students learn differently, or that class size is an inhibitor of learning. I wanted to look at the issue of perceptions and philosophy of organizations. For example do the people who teach have a particular philosophy that governs their work, and seek to operationalize it? This will determine how motivated they are, and how committed they are to the process. What about the management of student learning?
Teachers should be trained in serious management strategies that work, and that produce a certain kind of student with a certain outlook. Also, academic training of students should be linked to pratical skills required by industry, and people from various industries should be invited to teach these skills so that students graduate with relevant training and can be absorbed into the job market. The school should be purpose driven, and oriented to developing people and equipping them with modern, applicable knowledge and skills.
What I have sought to do is to advance some ideas that could be reflected on in terms of their contribution to enhancing student learning and their acquisition of skills. Jamaica has a number of institutions that are engaged in some of these processes. What is necessary is to replace theory with more practical, workable knowledge, have lecturers that are highly trained in their areas and not jut in a few courses, and have examinations that reflect what students should really be learning.
Probably what is further needed is for Jamaica to opt out of the Caribbean Examinations programme and design its own programmes for its own people, with international recognition. Could it be that the core problem with student performance is that what is taught is neither relevant nor appropriate to students in particular and the country in general?
Oliver Mills
Reads : 269