School violence in
Trinidad & Tobago (Part 1)
Violence refers to harmful behaviors that can start early and
continue into young adulthood.
The young person can be a victim, an offender, or a witness to the
violence.
The following newsmaker capsules the aforementioned statement:
Recently ... Four female Mayaro Secondary School students who were involved in fracas last Tuesday could now face expulsion,
Education Minister ...
Youth violence includes various behaviors. Some violent acts—such
as bullying, slapping, or hitting—can cause more emotional harm than physical
harm.
Others, such as robbery and assault (with or without weapons) can
lead to serious injury or even death.
“Missing Waterloo Secondary School student “J B”, 16, was found
dead yesterday in a storm drain located behind the school. “
The ultimate goal should be to stop youth violence before it
starts!
The NYC Board of Education public school system
I having worked as an administrator in the
NYC BD of Ed public school system, I was in charge of a High School with a
school population of little over 4,000 students.
These students move to their assigned classes every 35 minutes,
through 5 floors, within a time frame of 5 minutes without incidents.
This WAS no miracle! It has to do with having a “school safety plan” in place which WAS not reactive.
Secondary Schools in Trinidad Tobago
Three years ago, I visited a Secondary School in the county of St. George. The total school population
was under 900 persons which included pedagogical and non-pedagogical staffs.
The compound was like down town Fredrick Street at any time of day.
You have over 169 Secondary Schools in Trinidad Tobago. I observed
a school operating in prime time without a safety plan. Even “crazy ants” have
a sense of purpose and direction. This school had nothing in place to handle
the situation!
I mentioned it causally to a member of the Ministry of Education
staff with the ability “to make a phone call”. The response was to write a
proposal. This is the
norm!
I was not looking for a job, but, I got the message.
However, since the ultimate
goal is to stop youth violence before it starts.
Mendler and Curwin. when
addressing school
discipline
I choose to share an article on discipline which might bear
fruits. There are several prevention strategies which have been identified
by Mendler and Curwin. When addressing school discipline, one focuses on “challenging” children.
I went through a long internal process of reflection ON MY DAY AS AN
ADMINISTRATOR IN THE NYC PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.
What have I learned that is new TO T&T “KNOW IT ALLS?”
What could I share that has not already been shared?
Do I know more Theoretical and practical applications of
FUNCTIONAL strategies and methods THAN the T&T PLANNERS?
SUPERVISOR 3’S IN DISCUSSIONS.
I SERIOUSLY DOUBT IT, but I did entertain the thought AFTER
LISTENING TO SOME SUPERVISOR 3’S IN DISCUSSIONS.
Are there ANY PRACTICAL school discipline program
APPLICATIONS Or new frameworks, organizing concepts, or structures IN the
educational system of T&T IN PLACE?
SHOULD MY NEW PERCEPTION OF THE SUPERVISOR 3’S
DISCUSSION change MY fundamental beliefs in a substantial way TO BENEFIT T&T?
“There is a process”
How do I confront this elite body of influencers with something new to the appetite of THEIR ingrained
COLONIAL PALATE FOR change? Why try? “There
is a process” in place! (Hurdle).
When I tried to answer these and other questions, the word change
resurfaced in neon lights, but, this is what I have been trained to do! - Therefore, without trying to dent
anyone’s reputation or showcase the folly of their mental ATTITUDE toward processing relevant
information.
Visible Blockades of their Insecurities
I came to the understanding that the most significant issue was
change itself. My intent should not be guided by the visible blockades of their
insecurities.
My intent was to share
how traditional
approaches to discipline has changed and how it is the belief that schools
and teachers behaviors
surfaces in their body language. That visualization must change in order to
create change in a most challenging way, for those students who are most
resistant to change.
Schools are for children
THE fundamental beliefs and construct of education thinkers have
remained the same over the years. IT IS THE belief that:
Schools are for children, not for the cynical, whimsical ego trips
of staff, teachers, and administrators.
It is the enlightened belief that students must always be treated
with dignity, as people who would cement the inheritances and become
worthy citizens of
emulation as adults.
Teaching students how to be responsible should be the core of any
discipline program in T&T.
TEACHERS MUST REALISE
That all students are equally important, even the most difficult
ones. The perception of the good, the bad, the ugly and disabled, must be
modified.
Even though our “COLONIAL” principles have remained unchanged in
T&T, former Prime Minister Dr. Eric Williams, informed us that “The day for
Massa done.” The way we apply the “Massa”
concept evolved over the
years into pride, dignity and equality.
THE “COLONIAL CONCEPT”
For example, we once rejected punishments as theoretically
incompatible with dignity and useless as a practical strategy.
We in T&T have inherited and maintained the “COLONIAL CONCEPT”
that punishment can help as a deterrent to misunderstood patterns of behavior.
There is the perpetual belief that, with a small percentage of children,
“blows” is the only remedy if not applied to their body, would otherwise
perpetuate misguided behavior across the line into dangerous
behavior.
Discipline with respect for humanity.
Challenges youthful misbehavior without the lambasting body
language attitudes of a slave master this one of a number of
new concepts and strategies FOREIGN TO the T&T behavioral landscape . The
application of discipline have evolved around efforts to find better ways
to help teachers help themselves and by extension their most misbehaviorally
challenging students.
Includes showing the difference between their effort and
their consummate achievement.
Three types of interventions IDENTIFIED BY RESEARCHERS MENDLERS
& CURIN:
1-Crisis Strategies
Are concern with restoring order when chaos occur. The primary
goal is to ensure safety and survival.
Crisis plans are designed to address classroom or school moments
in which events need to be handled on the spot. Preparing for a possible crisis
involves studying the dynamics of the situation and practicing probable
responses. Here you are not trying to solve the problem that comes later. You
are trying to stop the crisis or keep it from escalating. Example: Mayaro Secondary
School.
2-Short- term strategies
Are designed to defuse classroom escalation, and to ensure that
power struggles are handled effectively.
Short-term strategies are designed to stop misbehavior while
preserving the dignity of the student and teacher.
The goal of short-term strategies is to redirect the energy of the
class back to instruction so that little time is lost.
3- Long –term strategies
Have a more preventive focus, in that the educator learns why
students misbehave and what to do to make school sufficiently satisfying so
that misbehavior is unnecessary.
The capacity of human beings to change
Working successfully with difficult youth requires an unflagging
belief in the capacity of human beings to change.
The wise, caring adult refuses to give up and understands that he
or she can influence behavior by offering genuine moments of appreciation and
support.
Recent research noted that teachers fail to recognize 95 % of all
appropriate behaviors.
The significance of this finding is profound. It suggests that all educators should try
to find several additional moments every day in which they notice accomplishments,
identify behaviors they admire, and focus on small gains in a
targeted behavior.
Many teachers who make a targeted effort to share positive,
interactive moments with challenging students have reported substantial
improvements in the students’ behavior.
It is just as important to focus specific behavior when you
discipline a student as when you praise the student’s achievement.
When educators need to correct student behavior, they should focus
on the specific behavior while providing alternative s that explains the
personal and social benefits of responding in a more pro-social way.
For example “Bill, I can listen to what you want much better
when you talk to me rather than yell at me.”
Long-term strategies can grow from a basic needs paradigm (Brendtro,
Brokenleg, & Van Brockern, 1990; Glasser, 1998; Maslow, 1968; Mendeler, 1992),
in which educational experiences and inactive moments are guided by
strengthening of each need.
Long-term strategies
Require that educators understand and be guided by these basic
needs when they arrange classroom experiences and learning activities.
For example, an educator can search for ways to increase a sense
of belonging by arranging activities that require student s to do m meaningful
things together.
Structuring cooperative learning activities is one way of
addressing the need for belonging.
Dr. Cliff Bertrand
Former NYC
Public School Administrator
