Past students of Mineral Heights Primary (now Glenmuir scholars) Orane Thomas and Sherona Forrestor display one of several trophies they have earned as a result of their involvement in sports. - photo by JIS
Increasingly, local educators are encountering major challenges as it relates to maintaining discipline within the learning environment, and getting their young charges to conform to acceptable standards of behaviour.
The adage 'Spare not the rod and spoil the child' suggests for some, a heavy-handed approach to the business of disciplining the young among us.
For others, it simply fuels the debate as to the far-reaching effects, negative or otherwise, of corporal punishment. Many adherents to the rules of the old school, however, cast the blame wholly on the removal of corporal punishment from the education system, for the state of decadence and continued erosion of the moral fabric within society.
ways of addressing problems
Donovan Brown, physical education (PE) teacher at the Mineral Heights Primary and Junior High School in Clarendon, explains that while the problem of discipline among the young and the not so young worsens on a daily basis, it is up to the individual teacher to devise novel ways of addressing the problem.
For this Miconian, the business of discipline has become a "trade-off", a question of barter. "I always tell my students, I have something that you want, you have something that I need - participation in sports in exchange for good grades and discipline," he shared sheepishly.
Currently, the only PE teacher based at the school, Brown uses the children's love for physical education as a means of setting standards of behaviour students feel compelled to maintain.
"They are told at the beginning that unless they can comply, unless they can be disciplined, they cannot be a part of the track team, or represent the school in football or cricket. I make myself clear to them; footballers are not to be mischief-makers. No teacher must ever complain about an athlete's behaviour, attitude, decorum or grades," he states emphatically.
expects high performance
Indeed, not only does this high-spirited educator expect his athletes to be disciplined, but he also demands that they outperform their peers academically.
"I always tell my students, especially my footballers, that they should excel. They should do better than all the other students, both academically and in terms of their behaviour," he asserted.
Brown says his simple words of motivation to his footballers are that "footballers must be brighter than everybody else". When questioned by his aspiring 'Reggae Boyz' as to the reason for this, his consistent response is that they are fitter than other students and at nights when their peers are sound asleep, they should be busy studying.
"I single-handedly disproved the theory that students can't do well academically while being seriously focused on physical education," said Brown.
After breaking a trend where grade-sixers did not take part in PE, Brown said, "It was not easy, but it was done. You have to find something that works. For me, it is sports; this is what I use to motivate and discipline them."
In spite of his youth, Donovan wears many caps, and is also the Jamaica Teachers' Association's parish coordinator for sports and a member of the parish's Under-12 coaching staff.
As a result, his students are trained in conformity with national and international standards, and generally perform well in national athletic competitions, consistently earning as their reward, gold medal after gold medal.
In fact, he discloses, with all the pride of a doting father, that Sherona Forrestor, captain of the national Under-17 female football team, was captain of the female team while a student at Mineral Heights Primary and Junior High.
attributes success to brown
Today, Sherona, a sixth-form student at Glenmuir High School, attributes much of her success to Brown.
"Mr Brown and the Mineral Heights family have taught me that I can do anything that I want to do, just have faith in myself and confidence that I will do my best. The motto there says, 'Striving for Excellence' and I have never stopped that," she said.
Only recently, she got six subjects at grade one and three at grade two in the Caribbean Examinations Council examinations. This, she firmly believes would not have been possible without the discipline, self-confidence, time-management skills and strength of character acquired during her years at Mineral Heights Primary when 'Father B' (Brown) insisted she learn to balance sports, academics and her personal life.
In addition to schoolwork, Sherona maintains her involvement in sports and the arts. She is a member of the school choir and recently earned a national trophy and gold medal in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's Festival Arts Competition for a solo piece. At the same time, she continues to participate competitively in basketball, netball and football.
Orane Thomas, a lower-sixth-form student at Glenmuir, shares a similar success story, and continues to make Brown and his alma mater proud. In the CXC 'O' level exams, he copped nine distinctions and two credits. According to Orane, he learnt discipline, time management and competitiveness at Mineral Heights, and this has helped him to become a consistently high performer not only in sports and academics, but in all other endeavours.
Of course, Brown couldn't be more proud of these achieving students. Responding to the question of what keeps him motivated, Brown said he merely wanted the best for his students.
"I want them to be individuals people look up to. It's hard, it takes a lot of time, but if they are smart, they can get it done," he said.
This is a collaborative effort between The Gleaner and the Jamaica Information Service. Please send comments to regional@jis.gov.jm or rural@gleanerjm.com.