Day 3 & 4: Schools, "None but ourselves can free our minds."

For two days, our team of 14 broke into pairs and visited seven schools throughout Kingston. The Ministry of Education assisted us by arranging the site visits and granting us access to classrooms and the opportunity to interview students, teachers and school administrators. We found that the seven schools all had strong principals and that our small sample may not be an accurate representation of most school in Jamaica. At each campus, we gained insight into existing pedagogical practices that utilized sports and game-based learning as means to improve student outcomes. 


Guest Blog: Christopher Kajander

        Jamaica College is an all-boys high school founded in 1789. Addy and I spent two days on the beautiful campus talking with students, teachers, and administrators. The culture is steeped in sports, competition, and excellence. When you drive up to the campus one of the first things you see is a sign reading “School of Champions,” and both the students and faculty are proud of their accomplishments: 15 Rhode Scholar recipients to date, numerous track and field championships, soccer championships, the list goes on and on.

        The most interesting conversation in my view was the one we had with the principal, Mr. Reed.  Jamaica College had been in decline for a number of years and their reputation had suffered. Mr. Reed was brought in 7 years ago and he turned the school around. This sentiment was voiced by both teachers and students.  We spoke at length about his approach to teachers, his approach to the community, his many methods of assessment, and how he builds culture. The thing I found most interesting was his use of student and parent opinions to create a comprehensive assessment of teachers, administrators and the school. He wants to know if the community feels like the school is doing a good job.  It isn’t the only assessment he uses to evaluate teachers and staff, but it helps paint the bigger picture. 

Queen's School in Kingston, Jamaica

At the Queens School, we found that the girls took pride in their sports activities and academic pursuits.  

The girls grilled us on how to get into Harvard and shared their ambitious career goals. 

Education for girls in safe spaces can be one way to promote gender equity in the broader society. 

Teachers commented that they would like to incorporate Jamaica's national athletes into the classroom to serve as role models to students. Unfortunately, this aspiration is constrained by the reality that many of the athletes are exported overseas to train and study in U.S. universities.

Teaching the value of team work, participation, communication and effort through sports.  

Colleen was not kidding when she said she wanted to learn more about Reggae as a teaching tool in Jamaican schools. This is no laughing matter. 

Shamayne, graduate student in the Education Policy and Management program at HGSE, interviews students, teachers and administrators about education in Jamaica while drawing comparisons with the U.S. education system.

Sports in education.