Moving to upper management in Education

Moving to upper management in Education

by Sherrel Johnson

Must I be losing breath each time I climb up a flight of stairs, my hair be greying or I be walking with a cane to qualify for Minister of Education, Superintendent, or Director of Education? When was the last time, you saw a young educated professional under the age of thirty-five promoted to such a high-ranking position? Promotions of this kind in education are few or virtually non-existent in the Bahamas especially if you are female. If the life of an organism is in its blood and the life of any society is its youth, why do we seem to have such an aversion to elevating the young educated professional man or woman to such positions of authority? Could it be that we are holding doggedly to the belief that only people of a certain age or group can make good decisions?

Josia was only 8 when he was called to reign. David was only a child when he slayed Goliath. Joseph was only 18 when he went down to Egypt and became one of the greatest prime Ministers. In the King James Version, we have countless examples of young people who were given the opportunity to serve in very high-ranking positions. Why then as a society do we seem to be fighting tooth and nail the promotion, use and integration of our youth into key positions?

As result of the economic prosperity the Bahamas has enjoyed over the decades, many of our younger professionals today, are now more widely travelled, read, and exposed. Before information was only in the hands of a few. However, with the advent of the computer and the internet, information is easier to access and people of all ages have been empowered. The education level is also higher as a result of a variety of Governmental initiatives like the teaching, nursing, technical cadet programs, and governmental loans that have come on stream to help Bahamians qualify themselves. So when we consider the point at which young professional are entering the teaching profession today, it wouldn’t surprise me if within 5 years, a young professional would be feeling stagnant and ready for more responsibility. In other Caribbean countries, the code of ethics in the teaching profession is after just six years, a teacher would have garnered enough experience to qualify himself for a high ranking position. Why have we not adjusted our educational policies to keep our best minds in education? Why are we never pace setters in education but followers? In this global market, the Bahamas is in a sad state of affairs not because we are altogether lacking in talent but because we refuse to creatively use the talent that we do have. Refusing to put our young professionals in positions of authority when they have the stamina and intellectual alacrity is a sure way to discourage them and send them running to the United States, Canada and Europe.

Presently, there are two tracts for teachers: the senior/master teacher tract and the administrative tract. Currently, a teacher must teach in the Government educational system for ten years before they are regarded as an experienced teacher. In the face of globalization, I am flabbergasted by this particular criteria. With so many possibilities in the job market, our young professionals are not waiting around until they must consult with their medical care providers about a possible hip or knee replacement? They want employment opportunities which offers them opportunities to grow professionally, and materially in the shortest space of time. Because time is too precious to waste, our young professionals want to be promoted while they can still scale walls.

Even as I advocate for greater use of our younger Bahamians in more high-ranking positions, I certainly do not support the view that we are to send our industry veterans home to retire. Firstly, our more seasoned employees whether they are in the teaching, nursing, technical or business fields should be used to nurture and inform the work of younger professionals. If the younger professionals are given the opportunity to shadow management, I believe the quality of leadership in education will begin to improve in The Bahamas. As it stands now, our school system is in dire need of more Bahamian textbooks, age appropriate reading materials and electronic resources. Experienced teachers should be freed up so that they can get on with the business of making their contributions in these areas.

The bottom line is this, if we begin to make better use of the cadre of teachers we do have, the quality of the educational product we provide would begin to improve in more tangible ways. If teachers have a good understanding of what roles they will be playing at every step of the way in their career, perhaps those in leadership would be more willing to release the death grip they do have on the positions they currently hold. With the movement of people in and out of these key positions, teaching and other professions would perhaps again entice our young people into the government service not just because it is offering them job security but also because it is holding out to them the chance to self-actualize- self- actualization in the government sector? Now that’s an achievement!

Educators, let’s advocate that the necessary policies be put in place to reverse the current employee trends which presently exist in education. Promoting our young professionals while they are physically and mentally at their optimum means the difference between a country that is able to dictate educational trends and one who is always waiting for others to make the next move. Aren’t you tired of reading about what the Chinese, Canadians, Barbadians, Americans or Europeans are doing? Why can’t we once in our lives tell the world what we are doing? So often we think young means inexperienced and fickle. Remember, our young professionals are only as inexperienced and fickle as our experienced and strong teachers have nurtured them to be. If you are a veteran in education, what kind of young professional have you been nurturing? Let’s reverse the current trend of promoting someone simply because they are the more senior man or woman on the job or worst yet because they are of the right political or religious persuasion. Let’s fast tract all competent young people and keep our professionals healthy throughout the length and breath of their careers. The ball is in your court!