The role of Queen's College in the delivery of secondary education in the 21st century (Excerpts from an address given at QC last month) by Dr C.O. Perry Stabroek News August 20, 2000 "To whom much is given much is expected" To define a role for Queen's College (QC) in the delivery of secondary education in the 21st century is easier said than done. The reasons are simple. First, while it might have been possible for my parents and their contemporaries to predict a future with some amount of certainty - social change was that slow - at present such predictions are virtually impossible because of the exponential rate of change within our environment. As a result it is the young who must create a future for themselves. Second, the time allotted for this discussion does not permit more than an exploratory examination of the multitude of issues involved. Having said that I will, however, suggest that QC in the context of its motto: Fideles ubique utiles (Faithful everywhere useful) does have a critical role to play in the delivery of secondary education and ultimately in the development and modernization of Guyana. First, we ought to be concerned with what actually happens to students - the value added as they pass through the 'elite' secondary institution. Second, we should also be concerned with the issue of the impact that an institution like QC can have on secondary education generally in Guyana. The NDS (2001-2010) document commenting on the quality of education in Guyana states: "The overriding objective of the entire education sector is to enhance the quality of education, i.e. improve the process by which children and youth learn. Attaining this objective will require an array of measures ranging from improvements in salaries, academic and technical qualifications and training of teachers, to curricular changes and improvements in the physical plants, and to promotion of greater community involvement in schools." The NDS document goes on to say that at the secondary level efforts to achieve this objective are constrained by the fact that: "The persistent shortage of secondary school teachers has created a situation where about half of the secondary school teaching staff is employed on a part-time basis." Doubtless this situation must have an adverse effect on the delivery of the curriculum at the secondary level. About the training of teachers the NDS document has this to say: "The lack of adequate numbers of suitably qualified applicants has caused the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and the Faculty of Education, University of Guyana to lower their entry requirement for persons seeking to be trained as teachers." It is against this backdrop that I would suggest that we cannot use yesterday's tools to do today's job and expect to be in business tomorrow. Further, this metaphor begs the question: "Should education in Guyana be different? After these brief glimpses at social and educational realities we now turn our attention to the kind of education practice that can have an ameliorative influence on society and social development. Education must be for all students At present our schools act as social sorters to determine who goes on to higher education and who becomes the labourer. This role is not appropriate for the twenty-first century. With the requirement that all citizens become contributing members of society, it is necessary that schools provide learning skills for all students. It is simply not economically viable to have a large segment of nonproductive human beings relying upon others. The emphasis must now move beyond academic excellence to educational excellence. All who come must experience success. Higher-level skills Thinking, problem-solving, and information accessing skills must become predominant. With rapid change and obsolescence in the environment, schools that continue to focus on the memorization of inert subject matter will not provide the necessary knowledge or foundations for the twenty-first century. The emphasis must be on communication skills of all sorts (verbal, mathematical, artistic, foreign languages, etc.) and upon the ability to solve problems through critical thinking, and access to knowledge bases. Active and interdisciplinary learning The problems that workers face occupationally and in other aspects of life, demand that they be active life-long learners who reach across the traditional boundaries of subject matter disciplines. As old knowledge bases become obsolete, people must have self-directed capabilities to add new skills and knowledge. While the promotion of active learning through problem-solving is not a new concept, it is not normal practice in our schools that operate by lecture, drill and examination models. Outside of school, this pedagogical model has virtually no application for job performance and effectiveness. An emphasis upon cooperation Given the divided nature of our society the social benefits to be derived from greater cooperation among individuals loom large. Further, despite the emphasis on competition in the business world, the most effective and competitive companies are successful because of their ability to cooperate internally. A clear body of evidence has emerged which shows that the quality of products developed by groups is superior to that of individuals acting separately. Given the multiplicity of human talents, coupled with the simple fact that strife and conflict in our society must be reduced, education must shift towards cooperative models of instruction, assignments and assessment. Technology All students must be provided with the means to access and use new technologies including computers and information networks. Technology is becoming a primary communications and work channel. Integration with social services Education must cooperate more closely with other social agencies such as health and welfare. Students and their needs are integrated wholes. As the number of abuses increase, there is greater need for integrated action. Multiple definitions of intelligence Different skills and talents must be recognized beyond our traditional linear-sequential view of academic content. The health and viability of our society and our economy will be far more dependent upon the little recognized talents than it will be on traditional academic viewpoints. Education research has demonstrated that individuals possess at least seven kinds of intelligence - linguistic, numerical, interpersonal, intra personal, spatial, psychomotor and musical. The extent to which each intelligence is developed varies both within and between individuals. Life skills Education must be life long and lead to personal satisfaction and social contribution. The feeling of lack of self-worth, lack of access to new skills, lack of empowerment, anomie and general disaffection, represent strong threats to the health and well-being of our society. Education For me education must go beyond the present emphasis on academic excellence. The challenges and opportunities of the 21st century demand a shift in emphasis to educational excellence, from emphasis on curriculum development to emphasis on human development. In the context of social reality in Guyana experiences at QC must now be geared to the development of life-long learners who possess problem-solving skills, technological skills, new dispositions and new states of mind appropriate for the building of a democratic and prosperous nation. As a nation relatively recently emerging from a colonial past and being confronted by the challenges of globalization, content and skills can no longer be viewed in the traditional manner as ends in themselves. They must now be viewed as the lower rungs of an intellectual ladder from which to ascend to the more enduring and encompassing outcomes such as new dispositions and states of mind. The programmes at QC must be so structured that the attainment of these outcomes would be indicative of the experiences and value added by the institution to both its students and teachers. It is the QC teachers who must first become aware of the nation's new social responsibilities. It is they who must first deepen their own awareness, understanding and commitment to these new social responsibilities before we are able to inculcate new and desirable behaviour in our students. The mission of QC during the 21st century should be to develop Guyanese citizens who are valuable and constructive contributors to society, and who are capable of creating wealth and products. The institution should aim to: 1. Develop individuals holistically (all domains - cognitive, affective, psychomotor); 2. Develop within individuals a strong sense of self-worth; 3. Develop deep feelings of love and respect for all people; 4. Develop an insatiable hunger for truth and knowledge; 5. Develop individuals who are system thinkers, ecological in outlook and who understand the connectedness of everything everywhere; 6. Encourage partnerships - parents, teachers and the community to work collaboratively and cooperatively to help students develop in 2, 3, 4, and 5 7. Empower stakeholders by facilitating and nurturing the development of a "take-charge" philosophy. Teachers, parents and students must now use curriculum as "means" rather than "ends", as servant rather than master. The above list is by no means exhaustive. I now turn to the impact that schools like QC can make on secondary education generally in Guyana. Reference has already been made to the critical shortage of qualified teachers at the secondary level. Graduates of CPCE who are being asked to teach students preparing for their CXC's cannot for the most part be considered competent since they themselves may not have progressed much beyond CXC. Research has shown that the higher the level of education of teachers, the greater the correlation with classroom achievement. The correlation is nearly twice as much as that attributed to training. On this basis it is probable that QC sixth form graduates have the potential to make a greater impact as teachers at the secondary level than CPCE graduates who have hardly moved beyond fifth form. On the basis of the above, it is proposed that: 1. The QC sixth form must now be expanded in size. Smaller sixth forms can be encouraged to merge at QC. The larger the sixth form the greater the scope for combinations of options. 2. The sixth form programme must now be expanded to include a number of appropriate options including options in pedagogy. 3. The duration of the sixth form programme will be extended to three instead of two years. At the end of the sixth form programme students could be awarded an Associate B.Ed degree (UG). 4. That a programme be worked out to the satisfaction of all stakeholders where sixth form graduates (holders of an Associate B.Ed) can now give national service as secondary school teachers. For this service they will be paid. Scholarships to institutions of higher learning can also be part of the scheme. The Guyanese public system of education has a right to some of the bright minds it has helped to produce. 5. The physical enlargement of the QC sixth form could be facilitated if the age at which Guyanese children take SSEE is raised by one year. This would yield the required space for expansion within the physical plant. Conclusion The implementation of new ideas and strategies is not easy and does not occur overnight. Transformative change is a long term, systemic process that moves through clearly defined stages: from unawareness to understanding to (re) visioning to commitment to operationalization of the desired behaviours. It follows therefore that external change in behaviour always reflects some internal transformative experience. School change therefore will have to be driven by a vision of a better more responsive education system. Enlightened leadership will be essential to make this vision a reality, and teaching and learning in the renewed QC will have to be fundamentally different from our traditional approaches. To accomplish this renewal we must become learners and we must educate ourselves. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today