JC Teacher of the Year pushes for tailored teaching to help ‘marginalised’ boys
THERE IS a school of thought that boys are marginalised, and to some extent, endangered. Added to that is the view that girls are excelling above them not only in education, but also in the workforce. However, Jamaica College Teacher of the Year Latoya Cousins posits that boys are mostly misunderstood, and what is required are specially tailored teaching methods to get the best out of them.
“The fact is that our boys are in need of special attention. Boys mostly are go-getters, so even in the classroom, they are thinking they will not achieve what is needed by sitting in a classroom. They want hands-on experience,” she stated.
Cousins has spent all her life among boys. She is the only girl among twelve siblings and they were “the perfect study in how boys operate”.
Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday during a tour with several of her students of the newspaper’s North Street, Kingston offices, Cousins, who teaches business subjects at the Old Hope Road institution, said that boys are constantly thinking of fast money, something she believes is an innate thought process in males, given their “natural role as leaders”.
“Boys are thinking about quick money — how to get things quickly. So as a teacher, you have to be like a role model to keep the boys in a straight line. They need to know you care and show them love in a completely different way compared to girls,” stated Cousins.
“Like everyone else, I, too, think boys are endangered, but there are some great young men here at JC. Some are really brilliant, and for the rest, all that’s required is for us to identify them and keep track of them in order not to lose them.”