Showing them the way

SANDRA DEAN is an extraordinary educator. Of Indian origin, born in Trinidad and now living in Canada, she has made a name for herself for her work in the field of education and reading promotion. Sandra will be in Chennai to participate in the International seminar on "Prioritising literacy and numberacy for the girl child through partnership", being organised by the International Partnership Network at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation on December 15.

Sandra was the principal of the award-winning South Simcoe Public School and was recently promoted to the position of Director of Special Programme, in order to implement the 'Together We Light The Way' model in other communities in Canada.

That was a core component of her approach when she was appointed principal at South Simcoe Public School in Oshawa, Ontario, where more than half of the Grade 5 students were unable to read. Within five years, the school had climbed the academic ladder, but this was much more than a return to the so-called basics; this about-face was founded on a restructuring of the whole community - students, parents, support staff, teachers, businesses, service clubs and police.

We say it takes a whole village to raise a child and in essence that is what Dean created in the heart of a transient downtown neighbourhood. Dean has detailed this journey in her book, "Hearts and Minds: A Public School Miracle" (Viking, 242 pages).

The secret of success, she says, was not a code of conduct with rules and consequences. Rather, it was getting everyone to buy into basics about everything that happened in school. Strengths and successes were celebrated and areas for growth, pointed out and worked on, laying a foundation for growth. The word "weakness" was banned from the school's vocabulary.

So successful was the programme that Dean is now implementing it in other schools with the aid of a grant from the Federal Department of Justice. "As adults, we wait until 40, then look at what makes us tick. Why can't the children know that from the time they are little?" asks Dean, who sees education as a tool to show children how to take their place in society.

For parents as well as teachers, Dean says, there should be only one agenda - the development of the child.

In 1998, the Justice Department awarded the Durham District School Board a $1.8 million grant for a pilot project for Dean to duplicate the programme model in schools across the country. So far, she says, the pilots are posting good results. Teachers are always being inundated with new ideas from emotional intelligence to behaviour management. In the face of all this, it would be easy to just give up. The programme has been broken down into "nitty-gritty steps" and schools are shown how to implement it. The programme appears to transfer to different school systems and across cultures, says Dean. "Justice Canada sees it as a proactive approach to keeping children on the right track. In the long term, it will have an impact on millions of Canadians, and people all over the world," she says.

Sandra Dean's efforts have won her several laurels. Her School was listed as a success story and a model for others to follow in the report of the Ontario Royal Commission on Learning. Sandra is a National Winner for Excellence in Business Education Partnerships, May, 1995, Ontario winner for Excellence in Business Education Partnerships, February, 1995, Educator of the year, 1995, for the Durham Board of Education (chosen by peers) and Bruce Mather Award 1994 winner for contributions to the professional growth of others... the list is very long. Chennai welcomes this gutsy lady with a vision...

V. R. DEVIKA

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