SVG teachers told to ‘guide the whole child’

Chief Education Officer Susan Dougan has called on teachers to train and guide the “whole” child and not just focus on the “tangibles of academics”.

The Chief Education Officer was addressing participants at the opening of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers’ Union (SVGTU) Canadian Teachers Federation (CTF) and Ministry of Education two-week In-Service Training Workshop held last Monday at the Girls’ High School.{{more}}

Since the World War Two era, Canadian teachers have been helping Vincentian teachers develop their teaching skills, and the Chief Education Officer praised these efforts.

Dougan however reminded teachers that the “ingredients” for success in the classroom were compassion, flexibility, communication, an open mind and humour among other things. The Education Official said that good teachers focused “not only on the head but also the heart” of their students, since children were always looking for motivation and someone who could help them realize their strengths.

She also insisted that discipline to be fair and consistent and that teachers should never speak negatively about their students, but should always be willing to have dialogue with them and their parents.

Dougan praised the tri-partite relationship among the SVGTU, CTF and the Ministry of Education and encouraged the teachers to learn as much as they could and translate it to their classrooms.



Meanwhile, Minister of Education, Girlyn Miguel said that no longer should the teaching profession be frowned and looked upon as “an ungrateful profession”, since teachers were the “vanguards of education” and were “necessary for living and productivity”. Miguel who is a teacher by profession, read from documents she saved from a Canadian Teachers workshop, which she too once attended.

The Education Minister pointed out that her government has been focusing on short, medium and long term training for it’s citizens, particularly for teachers since universal secondary education has been implemented.

She noted that universal secondary education access would be constantly refined to improve areas such as teacher development/support initiatives, curriculum and instructional adjustments and learning support systems to reduce disparity in student performance among other things.

First Vice President of the SVGTU Joy Mathews explained that the Canadian teachers were in the country because they were invited by her organization and that this demonstrated their commitment to not only tackle teachers’ trade union issues but to also their professional development.

Mathews said that it was vital for teachers to arm themselves with the latest research, techniques and knowledge to stay effective in their career.

She however expressed disappointment in persons who have down played the progress teachers have made in ensuring the results of the common entrance exam were the best ever this year. Matthews said she believed that the achievement was because of the SVGTU’s continued work in professional development.

Team leader of CTF, Kevin Gabbert announced that besides improving on teaching techniques, he and his team would focus on areas such as info-technology, special education, testing and measurements, math and science.

The Canadian teachers, who also took in carnival and toured some of the nature spots around the island, encouraged the participants to view the In-service training workshop as their own since it was the SVGTU which invited them to share their skills. (SG)