by Dr Neals Chitan
History was made on Friday, 14 October 2022, in Grenada as the Ministry of Education and its visionary District Education Officer (DEO) of District #5 Natasha Thomas and her team, facilitated the first Male Teachers’ Retreat at the Grenada Trade Centre, with teachers from District #4 in attendance also.
In my capacity as an International Crime Reduction Consultant, although consulting in countries across 3 continents, over the past 18 years I have always made time to return and respond to Grenada, my birthplace, to give back in a variety of workshops, conferences and programs all in the name of nation building. However, I must admit that despite all that I have done with the Ministry of Education over these 18 years, it is the first time I have seen a teachers’ retreat dedicated to the inspiration, bonding and empowerment of male teachers. And so, I must exuberantly shout “congrats” to DEO Thomas and her team along with Deputy Chief Education Officer Kathy Ann James for such an empowering event that was designed to add tools to the toolboxes of these 100-plus men in attendance.
In addition to the inspirational devotion and the exciting icebreakers, it was my pleasure to join legendary banker/economist Richard Duncan as a fellow presenter. Duncan delivered on professional ethics and inspired the men to always keep their professionalism up despite the challenges of the classroom, school administration and parents. And then it was my turn to add and build on the inspiration.
In my work, as I consult for various stakeholders and governments regarding the reduction of crime and violence in their regions, I have always presented a three-pronged approach to sustainable crime reduction. If we are to succeed in the war on crime, we must not only look at the enforcement, judicial and punitive aspects of dealing with crime, but it is imperative to engage the proactive aspect of prevention, while addressing institutional and community rehabilitation also.
If we are honest, we will admit that our jails in the Caribbean region are bulging at the seams and buildings that were designed for just over 100 are now crammed with as much as 4 times that number of men, while women in some cases make up as small as 3% of the prison inmate population. And so, it must be asked whether or not men are more genetically pre-disposed or possess a greater propensity to criminal behaviour. Of course, I have no problem conceding that the economic, environmental and socialising factors play an important role in producing men whose moral compasses are set towards a life of crime. However, from my vast experience of working in crime-ridden communities, many a man’s criminal behaviour could have been intercepted at school by genuinely devoted and caring male teachers who had the time and creativity to turn a life around.
Firstly, it must be admitted that in any given co-ed school, boys are profiled, suspended and expelled at an exponentially higher rate than girls. It must also be admitted that the records can show that the failure and dropout rates among boys are significantly higher than that of their female counterparts. This reality is further complicated by the seriously disproportional female-to-male teacher count on any given school staff across the OECS, where it is reported that over 70% of teachers are females. As a result, there is an acute problem of the lack of male mentoring and modelling in the classroom.
Many of these boys come from single mothers’ homes where the female voice is frequently stern, dominant and punitive, but they put up with it because they have no other option. However, when they are in school and the female voices of sternness, dominance and punishment are targeted at them, the results can be catastrophic, especially when female admired peers are present.
This dilemma further adds to the frustration of boys and quickly negative profiling, failure and frustration along with the increasing challenges of academics create a distaste for school, thus becoming a truant and finally dropping out. Without someone to mentor and inspire him, and with plenty of time on his hand, the boy is left to his own devise, and at the mercy of the gang sub-culture with all its criminal activity.
It was there that I focused my presentation “The Making and Breaking of a Criminal” to the male teachers of this historic retreat, helping them to see the deep need for male mentoring and inspiring of our boys if we hope to mitigate against school drop-out, thus helping to dismantle the downward spiral into a life of criminality.
Deeply inspired, the men spent the rest of the afternoon in comments and discussion as Duncan and I teamed up to answer their questions and concerns that followed.
Again, I applaud and take my hat off to DEO Natasha Thomas and the organisers of this unprecedented event as the Ministry of Education continues its transformation agenda, one that will not only inspire our boys to succeed but also guarantee a reduction in crime and violence across our nation.
Dr Neals Chitan is an International Social Skill Consultant and Crime Reduction Specialist who holds a PhD in Social and Behavioural Sciences and currently works in Grenada. He is the President/Founder of Motiv-8 For Change International a Toronto-based Social Skill Agency and can be reached from North America at 647-692-6330 and locally 473-416-8377 or at [email protected]
