Leaders, teachers must have vision

April 10, 2002
By Bukka Rennie

In the last column I commented on the disastrous approach to education that seems acceptable to most of our renowned educators, and suggested if we are to ever become a truly developed world-class society, we will first have to re-fashion and redesign our education system.

There were numerous responses, but the one which I felt most needed to be published is the one, interestingly enough, sent by a female professor who makes no distinction between what is required of our "teachers" and what is demanded of all our "social leaders". Her piece is as follows:

"...I cannot neglect responding to this comment about separation of males and females enhancing male chances of being successful. Where can I find this study or research?

"I am a Trinidadian by birth and I was exposed to teachers using the strap in classrooms. As a result of this punishment, I was terrified of my teachers. I lacked self-esteem and motivation. If it were not for my parents who went to the school and informed the teachers not to use the strap on their children, I may have never been successful. "Our parents encouraged us to think critically, as critical thinking would allow us to establish a solid base of knowledge.

"For the past 32 years I have lived in Canada and the United States. I have been a professor for many years in Canada and now a Director of Education in Miami.

"Our classrooms have become very diverse. Students are experiencing diverse learning curricula. Computer technology is mandatory for all students.

"Educators today must keep abreast with changes in curricula. They must be visionaries. Visionaries have open minds, they do not close their minds. They grasp at every paradigm shift.

"Educators today must keep up with the pack else they would be left behind. Students today are requesting rationale for our outcomes. They are being trained to be innovative and creative; to adapt in a world that is constantly changing. They are researching more than ever.

"Outstanding leaders appeal to the hearts of their followers - not only their minds. A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way and at the end of the journey, the followers will take that same path. He/she needs to be careful of the message left at the end of the journey. It takes years to build credibility but one second to destroy it. Thanks for sharing..."

The lady is on the button when she suggests that leaders and educators must be "visionaries". They must inculcate and, in their approach, be representative of all the most modern tendencies and particularities of the epoch and given age in which they operate.

It is not only about disseminating information but it is about taking young people on a journey and an adventure through which they will be exposed to various experiences. These experiences will serve to sharpen their ability and capacity to examine and analyse and interpret phenomena and allow them to develop the required techniques to exist in harmony with their natural physical and social environment.