Insights for the Educator The Challenge The formal education system in the Caribbean is still largely eurocentric. It still has not come to terms with the fact that our Caribbean societies have evolved from a history of the decimation of our First Peoples, enslavement, indentureship and colonialism.
This history is characterized by the marginalization of indigenous cultures and the resulting loss of the sense of self of our people. This loss of sense of self, which can result in non-achievement, delinquency and low self esteem, is endemic in Caribbean societies and communities where there has been the erosion of cultural confidence.
As such, the child who knows the sound of every bird, the shape of every fish or the name of every plant may be deemed illiterate by our formal school systems. There is therefore a desperate need to find alternative metholodogies to help our youth find their sense of self and root them into the landscape of their birth and of their origins. We have taken a proactive approach to halting this demise by developing Culturally relevant, enjoyable and practical programmes for schools, organizations and community groups.
The Solution: Changing Communities through Culture
The IDAKEDA Group has perfected a series of intervention strategies based on the concept of Culture in Education which explore the use of the following:
- Art Forms Indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean
- Poetry and other literary forms
- Traditional Carnival Characters
- Storytelling
- Popular Theater methodologies and
- Mythology
Our intervention strategies have an internationally proven track record of success in empowering young people to self knowledge, self confidence, and helping them to focus inwards to find the strength necessary to face the awesome challenges which confront them.
The Training
Our Training Seminars and Workshops, have been crafted and honed through work with schools , educational institutions and communities both in Trinidad and Tobago, the wider Caribbean and internationally. These are specifically geared towards including indigenous cultural forms into the education system, providing educators with practical tools and techniques for an enjoyable, easy and sustained approach to alternative learning and for managing diversity in the classroom.
This insistence on Culture in Education in critical, not only because our youth flounder, bombarded by alien images from the popular media, but also because school curricula locally and throughout the diaspora, still have not faced this problem of lack of sense of self. Additionally, their history is still not presented from a perspective that can engender pride in self and a sense of achievement.
Eintou Pearl Springer has devoted over two decades of her life to enhancing the opportunities for young people through education. A graduate of the St. Georges College, Trinidad and Tobago, she later earned her M. Phil. from the City University of London, England. As an educator, Ms. Springer taught English Literature for several years. In the 1970’s, along with Devindra Dookie (deceased) and others of the Trinidad Theatre workshop and the Alternative National Theatre, she embarked on a project to take the work of local and international writers on the CXC syllabus throughout schools in Trinidad and Tobago. The script specially prepared by Ms. Springer, linked the works Shakespeare, Lovelace, Steinbeck and others, with relevant commentary. International Experience
From 1985 – 1986 Ms. Springer travelled throughout schools and colleges in the United Kingdom and then at different periods until 1992, using Caribbean Literature, History and the Carnival Arts in a programme for young people run by the Commonwealth Institute in London. This programme was aimed at giving Caribbean children a sense of self in order to minimize behavioural problems. As part of this programme, she used her considerable storytelling abilities both as catharsis and catalyst for change. She has since shared these skills with groups through the English and French Speaking Caribbean, the United States and Africa. In recognition of her work in this area she was invited by the University of London’s Goldsmith College to run a storytelling workshop. Playwright, Educator, Cultural Worker
Her award winning play ‘Shades of I-She’ which deals with issues such as incest, rape HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy and social values has been performed for students throughout Trinidad and Tobago, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, throughout the Caribbean region and for international audiences. Another of her original plays ‘Baby Doll Meets Midnight Robber’ has been shared with thousands of young people in Trinidad and Tobago, using the medium of indigenous artforms of Trinidad and Tobago to teach lessons and empower young people. This play has also had a tremendous impact on young people in urban settings in the United States. She has worked successfully as a Best Village Drama tutor in some of the more challenging areas in Trinidad and Tobago. She continues to work with young people in this area and has conceptualised and implemented the Junior Best Village programme and has served as Chairman of that Committee. Author, Child Activist
She has published five volumes of poetry, including one for children called ‘Godchild’. Godchild has been approved by the Ministry of Education for inclusion in the reading lists for primary schools and was introduced into the school system in September 2004. Ms. Springers’ experience with young people is vast, highly focussed and with a proven track record of success. It is the vision of IDAKEDA that her work remains relevant to the young people for whom she works so passionately. Given the severe present day challenges of our young people, it is clear that alternative forms of intervention are not only necessary, but critical.
To find out more about how our workshops and interventions can help you to achieve your learning objectives, please Contact us at info@idakedagroup.com or (868) 638-1553. Experience and benefit from Training Seminars for your school, organization or community. |
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