The Intersection of Gender, Culture and Education: Jamaica: The Next 50 Years!

The 2018 World Cup is over.   The world stopped briefly, or so we would like to believe, especially on those days when our favourite team whether from South America or Europe played.   The World Cup is held once every four years and this year the 21 ST FIFA World Cup was held in Russia.     There are some among us who are still going through a period of mourning, while there are those who are still basking in the fact that France emerged from group C to become the eventual winners of this international football competition.   Perhaps most troubling about the World Cup is that many of us without much thought gave support to countries which in the past have embraced a racist ideology. To be ignorant of the law is not an excuse; the same argument can be made for not knowing one’s history.   Marcus Mosiah Garvey expressed it most eloquently when he said, “a people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” ...

We often use words without knowing their origin. The word Diaspora comes from the Greek word, “diaspeirein” which means to scatter or spread out.   Jamaica currently has a population of 2.8 million people and there are some estimates which indicate that another 3 million Jamaicans live in the Diaspora. Jamaicans have always being a migratory set of people. Recently, I reached out to three colleagues living in the Diaspora to hear from them their views on migration, and whether or not they would re-settle in Jamaica.        My colleague Errol Douglas hails from the community of Thompson Town in the parish of Clarendon. Errol who is married describes himself as mature, outgoing, adventurous, educated and a family man who loves Jamaica. He sees himself as a global citizen and an economic refugee living in the United States of America.   His primary education was at Thompson Town Primary and St. Thomas Moore Preparatory schools. He passed his Common Entrance E...

In 1987, Michael Jackson released the album BAD . One of most popular songs on the album which eventually went to number 1 is “ Man In The Mirror .” “I ‘m starting with the man in the mirror I ‘m asking him to change his ways And no message could have been any clearer If you wanna make the world a better place Take a look at yourself and then make a change.” The lyrics of Jackson’s song speak to the core philosophy of what leadership is ultimately about. Each leader regardless of where he or she falls in the scheme of things should engage in and embrace a process of self-evaluation.   Self-assessment is critical for all educators, more so for those who aspire to become school leaders. If one is desirous of being a competent, capable and effective leader then this process of examining the self is essential. This means the leader in question must muster the courage and fortitude to realize when he/she has become ineffective and then take the necessary corrective measures to bec...