PRIME MINISTER Philip J Pierre has made another astounding declaration. He has said that every child should be given a chance to reach his or her full potential.
Now, how can this be done? We go to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to find some profound answers. As an educator, I am quite familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which is used extensively in the field of education.
Here are some ideas to get started, if you have not already done so.
Your full potential is a path or journey of liberation.
Paulo Freire, a Brazilian Philosopher and Educationist propagated “Liberation Education’.
Now reaching one’s full potential takes patience, courage, self-awareness, and self-determination.
In 1943, Abraham Maslow published a paper in the journal of Psychological Review in which he described his popular “Hierarchy of Needs model”. According to Maslow, if you want to get to the top of the pyramid and fulfil or reach your full potential, you’ve got to build a solid base first.
The two blocks at the base of Maslow’s Pyramid relate to your physical needs: food, clothing, shelter and good health, among several others.
The third stage or block in the pyramid relates to emotional needs. These include feeling appreciated, feeling accomplished, feeling safe, and feeling part of a family and community. As humans, we always seek emotional nourishment as much as food and water.
Indeed, there is a need to be part of an environment that is rich in resources which provides access to information and friends which will enable us to reach our full potential.
The final two blocks of Maslow’s pyramid relate to mindset. Mindset is often the highest mountain to climb when it comes to reaching our full potential.
Now, what is one’s mindset? It is an established set of attitudes of a person or group concerning culture, values, principles, outlook or disposition. One’s outlook refers to your general attitude to life.
Indeed, having said all of this, I wish to return to the issue of ‘Liberation education’.
For many years principals and teachers have made the point, very vehemently, that the St. Lucia Education System is not truly liberating. It was mainly concerned with acquiring academic knowledge and passing Common Entrance to the schools which produce doctors, lawyers and professions that make parents ‘proud’. Subjects in the curriculum that made your hands ‘dirty’ such as Agriculture and fine Arts (painting) did not meet the approval of most parents.
Indeed, I am extremely happy to witness schools in Saint Lucia which now provide Technical and Vocational Education (TVET). The four schools that provide Technical Vocational Programmes are: The Anse Ger Secondary School which provides Innovation and Technology; The Piaye Secondary School provides Construction and Heritage; The Jon Odlum Secondary School provides Arts, Media and Design; and the Grande Riviere Secondary School provides Agriculture and Culinary Arts.
The government of Saint Lucia must be commended for its willingness to introduce Technical and Vocational programmes in our public schools.
I must reveal that I taught Agricultural Science at the Marchand Combined and Rock Hall Senior Schools for more than 20 years and I can tell you that this is an exciting area of any school curriculum. I taught the subject at a time when Agriculture was the mainstay of the Saint Lucian economy.
I must admit that I taught the subject without agricultural tools or implements, land for a practical area and seeds for germinating and transplanting. It was mainly chalk-and-talk. Fortunately, I was able to demonstrate some concepts by drawing on the board. Notwithstanding, I was able to produce a Minister of Agriculture who did an excellent job in that Ministry.
Very recently, Mareen Alexander of DBS highlighted the Grande Riviere Secondary School on her morning programme, which I thought was excellent. She could be seen, on the programme, interviewing both male and female students, in the school garden. I recall having heard a female student indicating how exciting the subject of Agriculture was and gave her the opportunity to excel and to reach her full potential.
I am hoping that Mareen of DBS would do the same with the other three schools in turn.