ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Episode 11 · 2 years ago
SHARE THIS EPISODE
Episode 11 · 2 years ago
9 Life Skill Subjects that SHOULD be Taught in Schools!!
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
I guys, we welcome back to you. Another way is to podcast guys. Today, I'm it's a bit hazy and dark wool side dish, so if it's not as well lit, that's the reason why it's bit drizzling at the moment as well, but I'm gonna try invest to deliver this episode to you as much as I can. This week's episode is dealing with which life skill subjects really and truly should be introduced into schools, because not many schools are really teach you know, like teaching you how to manage your money, manager time, manage your your finances and all the stuff that you really get into. And you're getting older past secondary school and High School for those people in America. So just what something is really will be introduced. So I've brought in a teacher, one of my former teachers as arson college, and we just borrow boat to sit down and have a quick discussion here and hope you guys enjoy and subscribe down below. Hey, the bat icon. And Yeah, you can listen to all of these on the platforms in the description down below, because you can. Don't have to watch it as well. If you are watching it on Youtube, you can are if you are listening, go to Youtube and subscribe there as well. So, yeah, go check all those different platforms that you want to listen to and, yeah, enjoy this episode. Right. So again, welcome guys, to waste a poecast. This was actually shocked yesterday but due to some technical difficulties, I don't know, the file just was not appearing anywhere. So I we've had to re re reshoot this. We shoot this and I'm here yet again. I decide in the intro from yesterday that you guys would have already seen. I'm just discussing something with dealing with the life skills subjects that you that should be monetary or should not be monetary in schools. There was a post I saw on instagram and I'm here with a former six for me, year ahead and English late or lying communications to les, lying our communication studies teacher from Harrison College, Mr Apple. Wait. Obviously, as we discussed yesterday, it was just that. Yeah, it was just keep dealing with the whole life skill subjects and I will just repeat them again in case you forgot. It was first accounting, budgeting, negotiating, stress management, self confidence, taxes, self defense for aid, which we actually didn't really touch on too much, so I might add that in today as much as well, and time management, but I just wanted the first other day, yesterday, just get your opinion on which of those subjects do you think should be included and which one do you think should not be included or do you think are already covered by the education system in Barbados Secondary Level? It's a very atensive or frey exhaustive list, but I would throw a couple of them that stand out for me, and I would think these would be ones like stress management, for sure, because of the increase in nature, the increasing level of stress for which I heard person's talk about within society, and budgeting, because budgeting is a life is a life skill. So it more has to do with the skills, the skill sets that you'll be required to have when you integrate...
...within a globalize arena, because it's not only about these one hundred and sixty six per miles. I would say that we have started the processed, or the ministry has seen the need to start the process. You may be aware that a couple I think it may be a year, but a year ago we had a traffic incident one of our secondary schools, which highlighted the level of violence that we were, the ministry was seeing for route the secondary schools and as a result, one of the initialives that came out of this, because there is they mandated that we have some kind of life skills session allocated it for each year level all schools right across the island. So last cohert six farmers. They would have had a SAS a period dedicated to that. And we have the latitude to address what areas these school found was necessary or they may be deficits that you may see in our children that may be peculiar to the school, and we were able to do that. So I know, for example, what we have done. We have brought in all scholars from different areas of expertise, different areas of in terms of the career. We've done not only just the stereotypical law and medicine and engineering, but of course you have entrepreneurs, persons who started their own business at think remember chair on for really problem that they've started their business and they started those things from school and they were able to transpose that into real life and see some meaningful change. So these things can be too, can be taught at that level and the ministries seeking to have students in is he get in okay, at least kind of skills within the students. The challenge, however, remains that you do aware that you are aware at the end of the day, there is a syllabus to to complete and because their exams and qualifications that are needed. But I think we are seeing a different shape in terms of what constitutes a successful student or what constitutes and all around it student to ensure that when a student leaves secondary school, he or she is not only verse in Academia, he or she has, as I said, values and skills, text for which they can operate an excel within a global, globalized environment. So I know you mentioned, for example, budgeting. The reality is Leslie clearable with it. When you leave sis form leaves its form and message you like, and if you go overseas, the study within eight weeks, because we start, let's say September, within a weeks, you are thrust into a position where it is expected that you're going to have the skills to manage your money, to take care of things such as food, transport. Of course you would want money to engage in the recreational activities. So, you know, those killed that skill set, for example, should be embodied or should be included in either one of those sessions we age and the sessions that you have act indoor six up for six, or it can be included within subsumes in the subject matter itself. But that's another question I think you'd ask yesterday about, you know, be such a really symbles of the subject and how we can capture as fully as possible to ensure that the student does not only have the academic aspect of it but they can see the how it relates to their actual lifeliness. Yeah, but I mean some I mean I have it written done as question when the questions I had yesterday and because majority h f Elle really and truly stops at third form, if I remember, if I'm...
...it kind of really stops after the form because you kind of read dive into the C set and all that we did with the SBA is at fourth form and from even from there you start to push out the PE and h f Eli and it's not as focused on and some people could even argue to say that in those hf at least sessions, sometimes we didn't have those questions and it would just be a free period and just somebody watching over where those things like stress management, budgeting and negotiating could be taught in those those periods. So some people may argue and say that what are the point of those sessions if they aren't one being truly pushed on, taught well by somebody that's qualified and as well as White, aren't? They puts further to six form, because that when you get to six forms, that's a big stress causer and the jump from sea set to Cape is is fairly huge, especially mentally, I thought, as it is. So you have to then balance your time. There's the whole Cape and SBA's and then if you are dealing with some people that actually take a couple Cape Story's outside of school, and so then they end up doing like nine hundred and ten Cape subjects and then use then they are still involved in key club, may be involved in cricket, Football, chess, all these different clubs. So somebody could argue that way our way isn't pushed that that far and beyond third form. I that's just an idea that I would have want to at least seen, at least because that would have helped a couple of students who maybe really, really tasked with all these different co curricular activities. But moving no one fully move away from it, because that is something that you just stressed on about the whole being around your student. That's something that Miss Wade would have pushed us to to be. But for the parents that may not, because we spoke about it kind of yesterday, for the parents that may not cover the the bases in terms of the as soon as they leave to go overseas, it's because you mentioned, I said that appearing with some things give their child feel like money to just spend all the week just to work on, just to understand the whole school and what you have to buy and what's not. But for those pairs that cannot cover our because they're probably at work so much or may not have the ability to teach that their their child because their child is probably two rests are doesn't want to listen to their peer. And however, how can you, as a teacher and the education system, go about to help those students that need the assistance with with with these stress management, the self confidence to step outside of their comfort zone to help deal with these different life skills. Well, I dare say. Let me make it clear, I'm very conscious, conscious of if I if a parent cannot control to his or her child, I don't see how a teacher can, because apparently child lives with the parents or the Guardian. So to put that on us, on a teacher, is somewhat unfortunate that a teacher would have to stop up. And that's not to say that they are not critical partnerships and there's not a partnership between school I'm home. I think there is. On the point that you saw, that you alluded to just now, is that, even in terms of those skills of which we were talking, that when you have a child, of instances where the child was leaving Barbados to go overseas and what the parent,...
...and it was a single parent, actually what what she did is she may not have been there, but she gave her child money to do shopping for the household for the week. So before the child left the island, she was confident that he had these skills in terms of budgeting and if he can demonstrate here in Barbados that he can purchase groceries the last three or four person household for an extended period of time. I know how to prioritize and you know what brands to use, what is a necessity, what can stretch further, you know, hopefully at more economical then that parent is more comforted in the ability for that child to not only exists but excel within that environment overseas. Now, I think as a one reason why I say is a partnership is that school also plays a partner. I do believe that it is possibly trained that we look at our curriculum other syllable to see if there can be more practical elements within the syllabi. So if you're doing business subjects, for example, why do we not have that opportunity for persons to work within various companies and a play the theoretical knowledge that they're they're learning within the classroom, play that within a real life context. And that's when partnership comes in, because that's the school. But now you're bringing any private and public sector, various businesses and in within Barbados to give children the opportunity to work their training to between vacation. It could be eventually lead for an hour or two hours and once a child or wants anybody in life, because learning is a lifelong process. But once you learn how a concept, how any concept, is going to impact your life, benefit or relate to your life, you're more likely to remember that for length and also a play it to life. Find me, they don't. I think right now some children think there's a disconnect. So your some children are saying things like why do I am were my learning Pie Fados fee? In ten years time I don't see myself diversity and what's about the purpose? But they are concepts within you know, those subjects where you can see how they will be a play that I'm sure Kiro and and Salvia and others, brandon double and others, can see now how certain things are played. So there is the school part in terms of the syllabi and making more practical, having more practical opportunities, and then there is that partnership, as I said, with businesses, private I'm I'm governmental public sector agencies, to offer the opportunity to the children, because it's only one redound to the benefit of the bar being in society, and I don't know, if you don't want to be selfish about it, we are in society. But I dare say these skills can be as fort to regionally and internationally, because we are no longer, you know, qualifying to justice domestic space of operation. Yeah, just because you said we're being confined, I mean and opportunities. We mean there's the whole opportunity that. It was really clarity. You the gender champions with the Canadian stuff. Is Charlie or Christopher in them? And as well as this, just the opportunity the twenty all challenge, but also national and a nationwide thing. But for the lesser schools, quote unquote, because that is a very strange to your tell you, and it doesn't really matter which school you go to. It's what you do out of school. For those Coote Lass with schools that may not have the opportunities, I may not have the teachers that are as patient to deal with those students in newer secondary schools. That's not commes lesser school. Yeah, how...
...how you think that more opportunities can be given to those, those students, to give them the same fair opportunity as somebody Harrison College, Queen's guys and Michael Klem or foundations, all those kind of schools, you know, that are a bit older. What can be done to help those students with the same stress management, negotiating self confidence, you know, first aid, time management, because they need it as much as the other students that are these are at these these older schools. So what can be done to create that balance, you know, to help them? Well, I think first of all the whole notion of success has to be redefined. What someone at school a mays deemed as successful for them is not the same level of stuff. It's not what someone else who x, maybe myself, as successfully. So some schools are purely academically streamed and there's somes that have a more vocational leaning. And I do know that some of those schools that have people hit that need to risk more vocational subjects. They have lit work to school programs. So they are the students help the opportunity to go into two businesses, to practice their craft things like here dressing, barbering, carpentry. They're even some schools that have these students engage in agriculture. So they have that opportunity. And what happens, knows. If you look at the education system holistically, you are not I don't think any student is constrained to one particular trajectory. So even if us. We have a fit form. You've been in. Sight says there's the opportunity for you to change your trajectory at the end of it form if you're a school does not have a fit form. The process is such that, you know, the sixth form application process is such that everybody can apply to any school that has a sixth form or trains. Really Challenge there. Maybe we don't have sufficient places at least sixth form, but at least persons can do that. So a person who comes, I can think of a school that doesn't have a sixth form. person who comes from school came things this form and try to, number one, takeing with it. I don't with all a sixth form. They do not have to remain in the system or they don't have to leave the system because their school does not have a sixth form. They know have number six forms for which they could enter. I want to also highlight there's an instance, at least one of them aware of, where there's a student who would have attended St George Secondary School, and you know that's one of the schools that hasn't leading to restive vocational subjects, but he was more academically in claim and he pursued the academics for feverishly, as in George, and the end of the physic form process he transferred to a school that had a sixth form and excels there and then went on to be a lawyer. So those kind of there is the opportunity there for upward more. Want if up with more. I don't want to put it up with mobility, let's say, for a change, for change of direction. There is the opportunity there for persons at any school because, as you ratefully said, it's not necessarily but what school you go to, but what you do at the school. And I would think that one of the things holding some of the children by it's the perception of society because to see you go to school x that focuses on the vocational and because they would focus on vocational society does not deem that as a success. And that's...
...really self confidence issues coming to play, because you are not seeing yourself of any value. You're do not see any value in yourself because of how society sees you. I'm without the more. That's obviously a deeper talk, using psychology and things of that sort, but it's strange and not I run it that the monster which we try to fight is the monster that society actually creates. Yeah, there's a challenge right in that happening right there. But, like you're saying's this opportunity to change directory and everybody, and, as I said just earlier, every school has been mandated to include that session for every single year level right throughout the school to provide that opportunity. Yeah, well, that is exactly you said. Dealing with the mental health side and the psychology said, is everything, and I mean that would be definitely more important, especially not a pete that their law students know, are dealing with all these social media challenges, whether it be Tick Tock, child, instagram, facebook, snapchat, twitter, twitter is one heck of a social media I'll tell you that. All together, definitely, probably this is it's vicious. Yes, it really is. But moving away from just the more theoretical academic side of everything on to the more practical side, Mia, the prime minister, me and Motley. She made it clear that all barbadians ready. It went well, if you can get to them, that they should learn to swim, and that is I mean that she's put in place, and I I mean I just thought about looking at the first aid subject, because I feel like somewhat like you should be able to understand first aid and understand like, what do you call it? The I mean maneuver and all those different maneuvers and stuff like that. We're different. First Aid techniques should be taught to persons from a young aid because, as more, there are lots of younger persons know that are passing away and it's tragic. It's a tragedy, even recently with you, with the boy that was injured by the two other students, and you just can't yeah, just Ke is going on throughout the years. And so, regardless of disregarding hf a lie, could that be something that educational system implements with in pe them where they practice the physical site of where they're treat their teaching the physical side of everything, that they also teach how to combat getting injury from being involved in these physical activities because, if anything, if you fall down, you break a break a bone or, and I've seen it at Harrison college a number of times where a student dislocated an disappeared a shoulder something that that if whether it was on the tennis core, are just playing football. So if a teacher is not their if Mrs Thorn or anybody's not their students should be able to know what to do in those situations. I shouldn't have to run for help just because you know. So should that be something that is involved in P or does that have to be implemented in HF alle Christian? It's a good thing. It's a good thing in terms of physical education because you are dealing with activity and heightened activity within that specific subject and if you're dealing with doctor physical activity, there is a increase spread is in terms of, you know, damage to one's...
...self. So it only seems logical that something like that, to fix what is broken, is placed in a sit in a subject where you're increasingly lately that that something can be broken. I think that's that's a wonderful thing that I haven't heard many persons discuss before. So something worth discussing. The first of all the PDEPARTMENT and of course, at a national level with regard to the the Ministry of Education. But I do know if we talk about, you know, putting ourselves in these kind of situations, one of the things that the prime minister has said is in terms of learning to swim, I mean if we are surrounded by water, a hundred square miles of rock, others is it's sorry, square miles of rock. We're surrounded by water. is almost ludicrous to think that person's Environatis cannot, cannot swim. It is it is there for recreational purposes. Persons thousands of dollars to come to. Where is that experience? It highly therapeutic, and yet they're persons who would be here. We don't want enjoy. I know it from myself. Le That not be to be beating verby three, four years? Unfortunately, we have to take advantage of what we offer first, because you know, home drums beat first. But I was making the point that the prime ministers not only talked about swimming. She's talked about technology and I will young enough to remember Edu tech men. That was implemented and I was reflecting recently because of this whole covid pandemic and the necessity to increase the use of technology and the delivery of instruction and realize had edu text stayed on track on course, we would have me so much. We would be much better prepared for the pandemic which we are facing. No, we would have been way ahead of the game. But be that, has it made, I mean the prime minister has made it clear and the ministry that there needs to be an increase in technology and you would know that even before covid struck we had the integration of the Google classroom and Google Suite. I'm not sure if you were there. Let me take a google classroom, but we have google classroom were you were there to all students have their own Harrison college email address. We have the opportunity to interact with the students online, like what we've been doing essentially for the whole covid copid period. So we have classes online and that's a perfect thing because when you look at what's happening international, internationally, a lot of the jobs which persons were paid to do or being replaced by machinery and automation. But that's not necessarily I know their persistent. One jump and say, but we see many you that you're going to decrease unemployment, but you know the reality is that there are persons that need to come in to create programs for these injuries and the automation to occur, for a technology to run smoothly, etc. So you then realize what the ministry is done is that included something called holding on robotics at the third form level. So now that's included on the syllables. So from an early stage you have students beginning to think creatively about what they can create, how they can contribute to society and not just sitting down and relying on what is given to them, because what is given to them may have suited the past but it doesn't suit the needs of the present. And that is week to the other point about you know, education is constantly society, I should say, is constantly changing, and because society is constantly changing, education has to change to fit the needs of society. And that is what I think the ministry and Prime Minister Mark You're trying to do to ensure that we are fit for purpose, that support, that...
...that is used fairly often and that what we are doing in the school system. It's the purpose of our society. And Not Know in two thousand and twenty not know in two thousand and twenty one, but we're talking about for the future, for the future, and that's a piece of advice. I mean know some of my students, if they're here watch this. We know that how I give them. If you are thinking of a career rear, don't think of a career for which there's a demand. No, think of a career for which there will be a demand in the future or which they will be a sustained demand. So you always have to be visionary in terms of your approach to even career choices and things like that were discussed in the in session that we have that I told you about, the HF and e session, or the enrichment life enrichment session, which other one who want to call it. Things like that were discussed and addressed within that session. So I can tell you, for example, the I think it was the lower six, had a session and they were carnage to come up with five areas of concern within Barbados, within the region or within the international arena, and they had identifying a specific solution that they were going to start, they were going to implement and they were going to follow through to address this. So if it was something such as, let's say, governance, they had to come up with their concept of what they think government should look like in the twenty one century and going, I'm going forward. When they get to their s in the their s and their fort these at saffer. Then you look at the environment, same thing with one of them. Was a challenge. They had to come up with a solution. So it is happening. It is happening on the basis slow pace. We've started the process. It doesn't happen overnight, but be should be a short rest assured at least a house college cannot put a Vanta of the opportunity to ensure that our students are fully quick to as I said at SIS, I excel in globalized environment. Hug Are you just said about the introducing coding and recording and yeah, and theird form. So I mean that's third form. But for some of these same subjects, that these life skills subjects, do they all need to be introduced? Are the third form level or can they be in his juice earlier, because I know a third form is where you do majority of the subjects you do like twelve, thirteen subjects and enters some students that maybe go and do some sec sex, sexe's outside of the school. A third form which then leads to time management and stress management, which probably should be implemented even earlier than third form. So you sort that you understand that when you get the third form you are being you're going to be doing a lot more subjects than you are going to be doing as you go on to fourth, fifth and sixth form, and even when you do get to those. was those those stages the work. There's less subjects, but it's harder work that you need more time heat to plan and organize yourself. Because I mean for myself at least, I know that it took me a while, I'd say, to understand how I study, understand how I grasped certain topics. So I knew that, as I mean, it took me probably a bit too late. Maybe to sixth form I'd be in a states for maybe I would have started...
...to relearn that, as opposed to maybe in fifth form lation being understanding that so that I could have probably progress better than I did in fifth form. So should time management and the stress management should should that be implemented from as soon as you finish the eleven plus so that you are well prepared to understand and go about child being involved in co curricular activities as well as taking on the academic side of things? For sure, I think that the FL program starts. I think it definitely starts from first form. Part of that program was that has a structure. That's actually a structure program part program deals to it, just time management. The stress, my issue, doesn't really manifest itself or come into play. You don't really see it until, as you said, it for a form of Ende pressures of the examination. But the valid point that you made that person should be equipped with, you know, methodologies in various methods to deal with stress, and not only even within school, because you remember, the students come from from very risk households. But even from then that's a distinct possibility and option that could be as sounding having that included from there. But if you're looking that putting more subjects in the first form, remember what you want to do before a student is start as broad as possible, so you expose them to as many subjects as possible and then you narrow as they go up so that they have a set of a greater sense of folks as to what they want to do and what they want to achieve as they as they go through the educational system. And that doesn't mean that they have to follow us agains in a particular trajectory, but it means that you know, they have to make some choices. Even if you do the sciences at six form, you may want to do the sciences because you think is easier to get a scholarship, but when you get your some Shit, you can then change on that for university switch to the humanities or specially psychology or something else, whatever your whatever makes you happy at the end of the day is, is what you can do. But the point is state, and it is a valid point about things, that time management being is in for a song and I think it is done with the h f any program which is very structure and covers things, because you have to deal with things like sexuality. The transition from primary to secondary school, we're doing many more subjects. In Primary School you may have one teacher who teaches you everything. In secondary school you have, like you know, have thirteen different teachers. The whole notion of going from class class in terms of different physical locations to have the classroom. We found that there's a greater level of inpendence. You have to look after your lunch, you know, you want to persual as we can teen those those kinds of of things. I'm aware that there's a school that does something called. They do a transition program and they put it on during summer to help primary school students transition from primary to secondary school. What you are suggesting now is that we need that within the schools, as people are students navigate from one year level to another, and you're suggesting that especially from fifth stis because they're the magnitude of work and the intensity is so much different. As you it's also summer vacation that you have before you're thrown depend on. Is something worth considering. I know we have put some things in place it. See that we have a mentorship program where we have teachers who will be assigned to teach students, a system in that we do things like time many well, strangely enough, just remember that one,...
...the time management program which is done at the beginning of yours six. But you see, I don't think that should a students also have to be responsibility. I'm Balsa a responsibility. I say that I don't want it to seem as if teachers already silver bullet to any problem or challenge that exists, because we may do a session on time management at the beginning of yours six. I very often, and you can probably tell me. If this is the case, you don't realize how important the things you are being told during this my product they are until you hit the end of yours. It's any exams are here. In any realize or shoot, I should have followed the advice. I should have done a schedule, I should have a vision board as at home. I should be, you know, turn off my social media a particular time. All of those things you don't realize because you know you're you're a teenagers, you're no experience and experience in life. I don't see the seriousness of it unless you're highly disciplined, until after the fact. So I suppose we need greater engagement with the students to find out when to place the programs and the frequency with which we have the program but I don't know if we can expect optimum performance if we only facilitate a session on one occasion. Yeah, yes, actually down to the the student themselves to be disciplined. I guess you're prolonged correct with that one. Whether it be from secondary and tertiary and me and we I mentioned this yesterday when we when we were discussing this topic, the body whole discipline with dealing with with zoom and the Google classrooms and what's not, and I will repeat it again. Obviously you guys would now or seeing him. But how with with the whole challenge of teaching, because there's the challenge of teaching in person, as it is challenged to teach let alone or zoom our Google classrooms. You know, there's the person that get up and walk around. Not extremely questions. I mean I'm sure you would have had your challenges with different students all these these different days, whether it's child may not want to listen, you may be calling their name for a few times. Ask you know where they are and they may be any bathroom, brushing the teeth, are making a sign with your something, who knows? And if you never really know what they're really doing because you're just sitting on one end of a computer. So how, as a teacher, and maybe as a year head, how do you go about discussing with your your fellow teachers and the ones that are working with you in sixth form? Hopefully, how you guide them to help to getting the students to stay focused and discipline, to turn off their phones, to stay focused direct the same note is treated as it is a regular classroom with with their bed next to them. You know, how how do you, how do you help to Guy Yours, to your teachers and students to stay discipline after partnership comes into play, because I'm not your host, so you have responsibility as well. I'm going to say you are really students and parents. The parents have a responsibility, serious responsibility, to ensure that they provide an environment that is conducive to learning, and I dare say they should. They too, because there was a point where they would have been at home, to play their part in terms of monitoring, to ensure that you know if the child's that's is in the bedroom, for example, when they passed through the bed, pass by the bedroom door. First of all, insistently bedroom doors open when they're having classes. Make sure that there's a structure, that the child gets up, that they brush their teeth, they come, they hare, they put on appropriate clothing and they go to the Loptop, because they know when I go to this device, it is about work, it is serious...
...business, we mean business here. So from that and parent place place an important rule. They shouldn't plays an important role as well, because he or she has to realize that this is their future. The same way, how there and we do assessments to online. So the same way. They want to get the top mark or they want to make sure they get any one percentile they're aiming for. That can only be achieved if they put in the world. From the teacher perspective, they may be challenges. So of course we we are. We are smart. We were children too. So even though these little strategies and we have weekends, you know. So, I know we have there he is. So we know what people do. You know, turn on the camera then go and cook. You know what could ever knows? We aware that children do that. But there needs to be because it is the rapidity with which she method up instruction is changing or has changed. There needs to be retraining and retraining of teachers and re training of students, both entities and strain of teeth of parents always say. Major state holders have to be trained in how they approach this thing called education and how education is delivered in this environment in which we live. And I say this environment because I don't suspect that after covid nineteen that we are going to revert to walk existed before. This whole concept improvement and if we realize that something can be done better, why not pursue pursue that? So all stakeholders have to be trained, retrained, sorry, and how they approach education as as a whole. With regard to in the class, there no strategies that you may use to ensure that students remain engage. What is the question technique, so you make sure that you're always asking questions to the students that you're getting responses? A student is more likely to remain at the laptop when they hear a random names being called because they don't want to get you don't want to have their name called and then realize they're not there to respond because they'll get you know it, we picked up. The other thing that you can do is ensure that students have on the camera so that you can see that they're there and they're working. Now, of course, this poses its own challenges because you are no exposing that child's house whole. You're not inviting people in to their household, into their household which can reveal certain social economic dynamics which will not necessarily be realized within the school environment and for persons who for working class families who may not live in households which they would want others to see. You know, there's a level of seam or embarrassment that some people may feel. I would not want to turn on their camera for this particular purpose. No, for this reason, I have seen recently there's an APP overwhere, for example, you're there and here and there's an APP which creates a different background, so you would not know where I am. So that's something that the authorities can look into to see if those students can help that on their device so that when they come on they're my welket automatically be let's say, a forests or space or whatever it is, or just all. But what it does is it allows them to have that visual engagement, but it blocks so what is happening within their immediate physical environments. So those are some strategies that you can use to ensure that the challenges that my first manifest themselves are address, I mean still get the best possible outcome in terms of the delivery of instruction and quality of Education. Yeah, that's a fair point. From your say that, I guess that's from the teacher, the teaching perspective,...
...and you mentioned about training teachers, which I do. You think that you would need to bring in more teachers, whether it be from outside or inside, and that more personal need to be trained to become teachers so that the students can gain the necessary qualifications or maybe from need, from one of these nine life skills subjects. Do you think I did, you need to train more teachers to handle these actual subjects, or do you think not? The teachers that we have already are capable enough to teach the same subjects that we have today, but as well as implementing some of these same life skills subjects, that can truly give us a well round the student. Really and truly, I think what we need to do, we would need to do as a conduct art and Auditt sorry to see what are the qualifications and the skill set of teachers right across the board, because ideas, see a subject or area of the budgeting and finances, finding for income tax, those kind of issues, something like that can be subsumed in a business subject syllabus like Po, a management of business, Po, be some some shit like that, and I would think that a business teacher would have that skill set and would be able to deliver that. So it would be the first to conduct that audit to find out what are the skills sets that teachers have, because it would we do something that we take something like stress management less use stress management as an example. Teachers are not trained in stress management and I think something like that would have to come from a professional, maybe the guidance counselor or social worker. But that's not something that I think should be thrust upon two teachers who themselves are looking for various ways to manage their own stress. I don't think it's like that a should be thrust upon them in terms of no increasing the number of staff within the ministry to deal with something like this. You know that the economic circumstances right now there's not even exist the not even a loan for such to occur, because we've taken a major hit with the almost destination of the tourism industry under highly dependent on on tourism. So the economy cannot bear that burden at the present moment. So, president, what would have to happen is, as we said, persons who teach the area, and that still set is there. You'll have to to utilize them, but going forward in terms of hiring more persons, rather than hire more persons we may look at training those TV teachers that exists and are in the system, already trained them in that particular area so that they are non fully equipped to deliver the instruction that is necessary, professional perspective that is necessary the students, to manage the stress or to manage your time. What other skill is that you're referring to? Our value that you're referring to, but I don't think it can be done just really nilly to say that you're doing it. You're either going to do it so that its effective or you're not going to do it at all, because both of them six of one, half dozen of the other. In my perspective, and I mean you just mentions about it, would be included in terms of accounts or peel are POB, which is principles of business, principles of a coms for you, somebody outside people, I may not know what those mean, and but those are subjects...
...that are included in certain categories, certain options that you have to choose, and that comes from choosing from third form choosing again as you're going into sixth form, because I had to do our played math and I can't remember what else I did. Oh, computer science those three subjects and I had to do those those three subjects. If I wanted to, I had to do math. Because of that, I couldn't just go and choose any old subject or if it was one of these sub one of these nine subjects, I wanted to just say, Oh, I want to learn self defense as well as learning art and learning computer science or learning the same coding, I have to do those, those same things. And I know that as a student, you kind of question why can't you just go and do principles of a comes or principles the business? Because from myself, maybe I'm dealing with with film and videography and whatever, learning something from the principles of business side of everything. I'm counting that may have helped me to maybe get in or maybe from to get into learning entrepreneurship. I Guess Chiron then would have maybe love to do that. I don't know if they did do it, but maybe they were restricted to the same categories that we're given to us. So why is it that it has to be those same categories, that you can't just go and pick principal business and I want to do French, I want to do art. Let me just be a an artistic in French, entrepreneur or something like that. You know, why is it that those categories have to be chosen and why can you just go ahead and pick any something that ways, that you know is going to help you to become an entrepreneur or whatever it is? It's a simple issue, is very, very it's really simple too. It comes down to timetabling. That's that's all it really is, because when you get the sixth form, we have the you have to remember, you choose some grades. Yeah, so there's it's into D and You choose a subject from each grade and subject you don't choose from is the one where you use to replace you in a communication studies class or Caribbean studies class. So it all comes down to two rates. Understood challenge that you're going to find out all secondary schools, because what we may be able to offer, the combinations we maybe all maybe to offer, are not the combinations that Queens College, but not, may be able to offer, will not be combinations that common here is able to offer. So what you find is don't just stick to one and we encourage your students are watching this. Don't just stick to one school and hard questions coming already about it. Look around and see what the options are so you can see where you get the best fit, as you just say. So if you want to be the Porte Fright, the artistic French friends, because you want to be that, you realize, okay, this is not over, that possibility is not offered at school, but I see it is offered that school. See, then you select school, see as your school of choice for sixth form. Incidentally, I can say this now because the counts bye. We are offering entrepreneurship from September. House College Ispreneurship, so you graduated just a little bit earlier. We find an operom to, you know, a fly needs of the of the society, because we do realize that there are number of persons, they're only a certain number of careers that you could pursue here in Barbados, our opportunities. But in order to give persons the in ours, a low persons, to Fello or create their own opportunity, entrepreneurship lends itself to that because,...
...as I said out, your critical thinking and things of that sort, those that would help with the creation of business. When you so Zavia and his is blended juices. Is that? He's yeah, we're yet to call me to tell me. Come and takes. I have those all. They're not supposed to sell at school, but I had some of those school as well. I know that persons who may have engaged in their entrepreneur shuit from a young yeah. Yeah, I guess that explains everything for all these dus that are wandering or didn't understand. Think Myself, I didn't really understand why I had to do this and I still don't. It's a bit tricky where you have to even as I'm you know you have to do certain electives and you can. You is it's a bit you know you have to do electives. The way is to push to be around this student. So I guess all you have to do is to try to go at it with as much effort and still try to do as well as you can in them while you still try to stay on your path. I guess that's the best advice I could probably give to anybody if they're trying to get to their end goal, but don't hires motivated in another subject. I think that really covers everything. I didn't I'm looking at self defense and I trying my best not to really push that because I don't think that that's something I understand where people would argue and say that is something that should be taught at young level. But just thinking about it and looking at it for the past few minutes, I'm trying to understand why that it's somewhat pushing violence and some that's why I'm hesitant to bring it up because it kind of brings it kind of pushes the whole idea of violence and I don't think you want that a secondary level. I mean it's self defense is something that maybe would be if made for a bit older. Maybe, but again I do see the counter argument where a child may need to be learned self defense from maybe any person that's you know, God forbid run up on anybody or jump them just to steal from them or whatever it is. So I guess I could be something that's taught outside of schools, but it's still somewhat offered, but it's not confident resolution as opposed to sell. Get that point where people are engaging in a violent manner and they teaching them how to disengage. So let's teachers proactive and teach them how to prevent situations from escalating to that point in the first instance. I don't really a violence that you would really need to respond to be violence that you were speaking of. Just know. Yeah, yeah, definitely that probably should be the ten some life. Still something that we should be on this list. Then, if anything on the self defense should be removed, because all the rest of them, accounting, budgeting, negotiating, which is already tackled in communication studies, I would believe, and English line at least, because even writing those simple essays, I mean it teaches you to to speak at least. But if you don't fully push in the communication studies that, I guess you wouldn't fully learn how to know bull shate. I would have it, I would learn a bit of minding gushed inside of everything when I was dealing with deposit and what's not. But I'm glad you said that because that's the point...
...that I wanted to start. Interjected to me that everything does not have to be placed in the formal education system. So everything does not have to be taught through a subject on a timetable within class, and that's where you have the core curricular activities. I call them core because I think they would be working in time them with each other. So when you just started, the passion and wholly pattern would have taught you skills. Late it was negotiating, heating and just speaking out and all that stuff. Yeah, need to sit down in a class for a teacher to tell you that. I'm sure that you would have. It is more effective having been in the experience or have an experience day that having being taught it in a classroom. Second so things like the same conflict resolution comes to become about a cos a mote within co curricular activities. You have keep lum versus service oriented club and there are certain values, sharing and caring, and then the which are taught in a key club, the you know and in on debating and that critical thinking ability think for yourself, to consider all of the variables and to come to a solution, and may not come to a solution, but come to a realization where you acknowledge all the factors that put that play in coming to a decision. And that helps you if your leadership and your leadership style. So it does not have to be team more. You know, you have cricket, you you are the cricket. You have football, you have hockey, so you know that it does not have to be within the formal system in terms of in a subject. You don't have to put it on the timetable. It is available in the informal education and, let's say, the hidden curriculum, and these things are taught in that way as well. So we would want to do things like that. Same mandate that student participates in at least one core curricular activity when they're in from the time they hit for as form. Yeah, we have coets could act, you know, if the level of discipline, so if every student is involved at least one, there is some value there, some skill set they will learn that will enhance their performance if in the academic arena, their performance within the pademic arena contribute towards their self development there. Yeah, there's social, social, sorry, development as a human being. Yeah, and I mean that's fair enough to say because you you do learn, but I guess it depends on which Cochru activity you choose, which would teach you different ones. If you want the multiple ones, then you learn more as a sense, which would, I guess, kind of help, especially on the academic side. But you really nail on the ahead with so I'm mean that was just the last subject, life skills, subject that we really discuss, and we tackled all the rest of them and even why you can't do certain things at certain times and all that, and I will just give you my face with that, guys. So I'm just a wrap up. Thank you. MISSED UP WITH IT, for joining me today. On ways a podcast, I mean how to drag you back again from yesterday to get it done. I hopefully it works and there's no technical difficulties this time or other ways. I have want to have people over here because I really don't want to have to do this again. Really, I don't say there's any laughs, but yes, again, thank you, guys, or joining me today. Always a podcast, guys, you can listen to this if you are watching on Youtube. You can listen to it on all the links that will be in the description down below, whether it be...
...spotify, apple podcast, Google podcast, cast, box, sounder, doesn't matter. If I find it it links will all be at the description down below and I won't play a social media or as I said yesterday, I still won't do it. If you guys want to want to find out, you can contact the Harrison College office. If you guys want to find that out. But yeah, subscribe. If you are new, guys, hit the belt icon. Comment down below what you did think about this episode and you are rating. The rating link will be in the top of the description. And, has I said, you can leave your future topics that we can discuss with you. Maybe he'd missed up it again, who knows, it maybe with another parent. Whatever. You guys can leave your thoughts down below and I will see you, guys, for another video. Thank you. Question. I can't say thank you, because great stuff within your plenish university. I made it real. Yeah, I'm trying my best. So, guys, yes, I thank you and I will see you, guys, for another video.
In-Stream Audio Search
NEWSearch across all episodes within this podcast