A Short History of Education in Jamaica with a Focus on Educating for Leadership

(Dr. Desiree E. Bernard)

Education and Educational Leadership Development in Jamaica:

I think any examination of educational leadership in Jamaica will suggest that the

very models of leadership inherited from colonial times have had considerable influence

on the educational system. The consistent use of variant forms of the Westminster Model

of government within the Jamaican political sphere, specifically, appears to have some

impact on how leadership is viewed and developed within the educational hierarchy. I

think it is a good idea, therefore, to review very briefly the history of education in

Jamaica, in order to understand efforts at educating students for leadership.

The Development of Education in Jamaica:

A formal education system did not begin in Jamaica until after slavery ended.

During slavery, the colonial powers did not provide any kind of literacy for their chattels.

The plantation system, the prevailing social, political and economic structure in Jamaica,

naturally influenced the development of, and attitudes toward the type of educational

system (formal and informal), which evolved during the pre, and post-slavery period. The

slaves were thought of as merely possessions, uneducable, without the right to exercise

free will in the pursuit of a satisfying life; an economically significant part of the sum of

the estate owners’ investment in an exploitative, plantation system. As McBean-Hartley,

(1978) stated “…the development of an education system for the slaves would have been

inconsistent with the institution of plantation economy that had as its major focus

exploitation of the land and its natural resources” (p. 21). The desire of the plantocracy,

therefore, was to keep the slaves dependent and ignorant in order to justify and maintain

their paternalistic control and to use these slaves to fulfill their economic purpose of

cheaply producing sugar as a means of enriching themselves. Literacy or education for

that matter was not necessary in such a situation because the British Government was not

committed to any kind of settlement or development of the island but shared only an

exploitative relationship with it. The applicability of the following quote by Gintis cited

in Holtz, Marcus, Dougherty, Michaels, & Peduzzi, (1989), discussing Education,

Personal Development and Human Dignity, cannot be denied:

The …mission of education in a slave society…dictate that the slave be inured with a world view consonant with his or her condition as subordinate to the will of his or her master. In a parallel manner, the conservative mission of education would suggest that those youth destined to join the ranks of the masters be infused with the skills, the attitudes, and the moral values allowing them to control effectively the lives of their subjects. Since the master/slave relationship is by its nature…of dominance and subordinance, the joint satisfaction of the conservative and egalitarian functions of education would be quite impossible (Holtz et al, 1989, p. 51). The planters therefore had no reason to desire the provision of an educational system

because most of them were absentee owners, preferring to enjoy the wealth they had

attained, in the more developed British Isles where they could school their children in

relative ease. Change came however, with the arrival of the missionaries. The Moravians,

Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians whose intent it was to Christianize the slave were

soon teaching them to read and write with the use of the Bible or the catechism. Some of

the literate slaves even became local church leaders (Allen, 2001; McBean-Hartley,

1978). The motives of the missionaries, however, had less to do with the economic,

social, political, or intellectual welfare of the black slave population, and more to do with

what they saw as the moral improvement of the Negro, an attitude that in itself implied

the acceptance of the moral inferiority of the black race and which coincided with the

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prevailing belief of the Negro as sub-human. In any event, a few schools were built,

funded from money left by persons who stipulated that education be provided for white

and colored children. This reality displayed elements of classism and racism, which were

already parts of the social, political, and economic status quo of the plantation system.

The majority black population made up the lowest social class and was obviously

powerless to access a provision meant for white and colored children.

The end of slavery did not usher in a new order for the newly freed African

population. Hurwitz and Hurwitz (1971) summed up the situation in the following way:

…Jamaican soil had never nurtured mutual respect between the races , and the ingredients for its growth were not there in significant quantities…Although on August 1, 1833, the old order was officially and legally dead, its values and attitudes would remain very much alive (p. 119-120).

The 1833 Emancipation Act, therefore, made a very small provision for the introduction

of formal education into the society’s social structure, mainly because the former slave

owners did not see much economic advantage in this. This provision came by way of a

small monetary grant and so the British Government, for their part, contributed in a small

way to the development of a fledgling educational system in the island by providing the

Negro Education Grant for the primary level education of the ex-slaves. There was,

however, no specific plan or strategy to educate the masses since this was not perceived

as of vital importance and the Legislatures wanted to keep the ex-slaves in a position of

inferiority. Whyte (1977) stated, “…no attempt was made to set up any general

controlling authority” (p. 76). Primary education provided for the ex-slaves was industrial

(agricultural education). It was mainly used to control the large number of destitute ex-

slave children. This was not a successful system. By comparison the schools that

benefited from bequests had a tightly controlled system run by the Vestries or trustees put

there by the parish or clergy electorates (Whyte, 1977).

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Education for the Blacks, already low on the planters’ list of priorities, fell even lower

with the decline in sugar. The Negro Education Grant was originally intended to be

administered for five years, but by 1845 it was cut off with the expectation that other

sources of funding be found within the Jamaican economy itself. At this time it is ironic

that, with the provision of inadequate primary education a hallmark of the system, both

the missionaries and the legislatures initiated the development of secondary schools, not

based upon the needs of the blacks, but for two other reasons. One of the reasons was that

the negative economic effects of the decline in sugar had resulted in the planters growing

increasingly unable to fund their own children’s British based education any longer. As a

result they were now resorting to keeping them on the island and finding alternative

schooling for them. The second reason was that with the steady decline of outside

financial support the churches had been finding it difficult to fund education. With the

planters now looking for local answers, the churches saw that secondary education could

now become a viable investment. In addition, the growing numbers of coloreds

themselves were another resource from which the churches could draw to make up their

secondary school population. At this time, therefore, a secondary education system

evolved from the economic disaster caused by the withdrawal of preferential treatment of

West Indian sugar. These secondary schools were an imitation of the British grammar

school model and served the white and colored classes, not the black masses most in

need. The Legislatures now began to take a closer interest in education and even

established a Code of Regulations.

The Colonial Legislatures soon took over responsibility, prioritizing industrial

education, and a grant by the House of Assembly opened up the door for industrial

secondary education to be made available. As with the provision of primary education,

secondary education for the blacks was a system evolved for specific economic gain by

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the landed class and not undertaken to awaken the thought processes that would result in

leadership development for the blacks. McBean-Hartley (1978) observed:

It was clearly not in the interest of the planters to educate pupils who would later aspire to clerical positions (most of which were held by Europeans), but rather to “educate” them in a manner such that the market for their particular skills would be under the direct control of the propertied class (p. 26).

The system of education that was developed for the ex-slaves now displayed an

established pattern of learning without the empowerment; literacy without enlightenment.

Other structural changes were taking place in the evolution of the somewhat ad hoc

educational system. There was ongoing conflict between the missionaries and the

Legislatures because each sought to educate the ex-slaves for different reasons. The

churches wanted to improve the moral state of the newly freed people, while the

propertied class wanted well-trained field hands and skilled workers who would

contribute to the efficient running of the estates. Because the churches were the ones that

controlled the primary schools up to the middle of the 20th century, they had great

influence over educational policy. The secondary schools that were established using the

English grammar school pattern had to use an English-based-and-controlled type of

examination, the Cambridge Local Examinations (minimally used in Jamaica today),

English textbooks, and teachers recruited from the mother country. According to Whyte

(1977), this “marked the beginning of years of imitation of English patterns and thought

in education without any consideration of their relevance to the country’s needs” (p. 48).

Although, in recent times progress has been made in tailoring the secondary educational

strategies to the needs of Jamaica, many of the structures still remain, including the

grammar school structure and now limited use of such terminal examinations as the

Cambridge and London General Certificate of Education (GCE) at the ordinary and

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advanced levels. They continue to hold some significance place beside the fairly new

Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examinations.

Early higher education in Jamaica was made possible by contributions from the

British government and the denominations for the development of normal schools and

emphasized agricultural education to fill the needs of the primary and secondary schools.

There was no effort made to develop the leadership potential of students. The oldest such

normal school established by the Mico Charity in 1836 became the Mico Teachers’

College and very recently the Mico University College.

Prior to 1948, higher education at the university level was impeded by the lack of

students with sufficient matriculation requirements. Nonetheless, a number of colleges of

higher education were established, which failed as a result of the lack of sufficiently

qualified entrants as well as the fact that the curricula were too far removed from the

needs of the society. The establishment of Jamaica High School which later became

Jamaica College produced one “M.A. Degree, four B.A. Matriculation, and several

Intermediate Examination” (Whyte, 1977, p. 73). By 1901 it had stopped teaching. The

roots of the University of the West Indies were planted in the 1926 West India

Conference, but finance and communication problems were to hinder the efforts until the

1943 Irvine Report, which recommended the need for a higher educational institution in

the British Caribbean. This resulted in the establishment of the University of the West

Indies in 1948. The structural make-up of the university’s system is inherently British,

with a few variations.

Educating for Leadership at the Higher Education Level:

Very little research seems to be available on educational leadership in general and

educational leadership in higher education, specifically, in Jamaica. So far, I have not

been able to ascertain if any kind of foundational philosophy exists that articulates the

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understanding of the need for the structured development of leadership in education in

Jamaica. As the quick outline above about the history of education in Jamaica

demonstrates, the provision of education for the majority of Jamaicans does not seem to

be based upon any kind of philosophy such as John Dewey’s, as in the case of the

American educational system. Nonetheless, some effort at exposing students to

leadership experiences within the educational context has been made. This is evident in

the many clubs and societies, which students at the high school and college levels have

had the opportunity in which to participate. Most recently, beginning in 1993, the

University of the West Indies has begun to focus on the development of students in

leadership programs and has instituted an Office of Student Services, which caters to

some extent to the needs of students in leadership. I have been able, however, to identify

only one study (completed in 2003) that looks at the development of student leadership

within the university context in Jamaica. This study suggested a model upon which

student services in Jamaican higher educational institutions may be built. This would

incorporate the institutional mission with a focus on “affective learning” (Reynolds, p.9,

2003), which would strategically gear goals and objectives to the promotion of student

development. The strategies to do this would include graduate programs in higher

education, careful staff recruitment, and the establishment of strong divisions within

student services. Also included would be aggressive staff development and the situation

where faculty and students serve as partners. This partnership would include policy

decisions and student services actions. At least one aspect of student leadership

development was observed in this model, i.e. the faculty/student partnership, but the

development of leadership still bears traces of top-heaviness in the concentration on the

development of staff and faculty in comparison with students.

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A short paper published in the text Higher education in the Caribbean: Past, present

and future directions edited by Howe (2000) outlined a vision of leadership for the

University of the West Indies as “one which has as its objective the engaging and

transformation of the malaise and lack of effectiveness and excellence found in many of

our schools and educational institutions” (p. 167). It was obvious, however, that the

above vision was not yet a part of the psyche of the leaders at the University of the West

Indies. Howe (2000) added that the observation had been made that because leadership in

the West Indian context had been defined “as the capacity to take charge and get things

done, we have overlooked the importance of teamwork and comprehensive

improvement” (p.167). Based upon this observation, Howe contended that

transformational leadership was something greatly to be desired and highly imperative

and appropriate “if schools and universities such as the UWI are to respond effectively to

the multiple problems, challenges and opportunities with which they and the region are

currently faced” (p. 169). It seemed, therefore, that the reason for seeking a new way of

leadership within the educational context was to promote the growth and survival of the

university system in an attempt to meet the needs of stakeholders and the fulfillment of

its aims and goals.

In articulating the vision of transformational leadership for the University of the West

Indies, Howe (2000) gave lip to the idea of empowerment but this has been restricted to

the staff and faculty and those he described as “stakeholders”. He mentioned the

demoralizing and frustrating effects of the university’s bureaucracy upon the staff, which

had resulted in the impersonal treatment of students. The suggestion was that to remedy

this, the university would have to value and support the individual. This would, in turn,

lead to the development of a more congenial atmosphere. This congenial atmosphere

would lead to a more student friendly learning environment with the display of higher

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expectations of student performance. In order for all of this to occur, Howe (2000)

showed that the emphasis would have to be placed on strong, direct and indirect

instructional leadership and further training of leaders within the university. While all of

this is commendable, it was of note that there was no inclusion at any point of leadership

training or empowerment for students. The implied perception of students, despite the

talk of transformational leadership, was that they were a part of the problem that needed

fixing and not part of the solution. They were not seen as a viable group to whom

leadership training should be given. Instead actions were to be taken on their behalf so

that the environment would be more conducive to learning.

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REFERENCES

Allen, B. M. (2001). Jamaica, a junior history. Kingston, Jamaica: Carlong

Holtz, H., Marcus, I., Dougherty, J., Michaels, J., & Peduzzi, R. (1989). Education

& the American dream: Conservatives, liberals & radicals debate the future

of education. Granby, MA: Bergin & Garvey.

Howe, G. (2000). Higher education in the Caribbean: Past, present and future

directions. Kingston, Jamaica: The University of the West Indies Press.

Hurwitz, S., & Hurwitz E. (1971). Jamaica – A historical portrait. New York: Praeger.

Factors affecting female participation in education in seven developing countries – Education Research Paper No. 09, 1993: The case of Jamaica. Retrieved June 17, 2004 from: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/education/research/Library/contents/dep09e/begin.htm

McBean-Hartley, D. (1978). The Jamaican educational system and the maintenanceof existing class boundaries. unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of the West Indies, Jamaica, W.I.

Reynolds, T. (2003). The delivery of Student Services in Jamaican tertiary level Institutions: A model for the 21st century. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.

Whyte, M. (1977). A short history of education in Jamaica. Suffolk, Great Britain: Hodder & Stroughton.

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