School’s Use of Time

In a school system or any organisation, it is sometimes easy to allocate blame to the obvious. In this case of MMPS, the shift system would be the element readily identified as the cause for the time constraint. Whilst the shift system carries with it what could be deemed an inherent structural „tight spot‟ and as such is the primary cause, a critical look at the school as a whole will reveal that there are other areas of time management which are „system produced‟ difficulties. The various factors in the school which disrupted instructional time (see Section 4.3.4.1.2.4) have serious implications for the overall reduction of the time spent on the teaching and learning process. These occurrences have the potential of having grave effects. Therefore, the school needs collaborative solutions on how to tackle these problems efficiently and effectively.

One of the practices observed in MMPS is that there are frequent meetings during contact time. In addition, there are fifteen committees in operation in the school which make a heavy time demand on teachers. This is also a contributory factor to the in-school absences, that is, teachers are in school but for several reasons are not teaching at the scheduled times. This was illustrated in a comment made by a class teacher:

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I can't deal with no more of the meeting meeting [repetition made by teacher], because at the end of the day you are the one being blamed. The meetings are important but I mean it's the time of the meetings. The children don't like it either when I'm away.

Inherent in this comment is what can be interpreted as fear of not performing. In Jamaican schools, like others, teachers are judged to a large extent by the performance of their pupils. If pupils fail, teachers are criticised, and in extreme cases their competence may be questioned. If pupils excel academically, teachers‟ competence is lauded and rewarded. It may be argued that the academic performance of pupils is one of the factors which contribute the teachers‟ sense of efficacy or the lack thereof. The time spent away from the instructional process impact negatively on pupils‟ education as well put teachers at a disadvantage in that they are judged and categorised as having failed. Technology could be used to reduce both the frequency and duration of staff and other meetings. Some information could be disseminated via school-based e-mail accounts. Other strategies could also be the increased use of bulletins and notice boards which could be placed in each of the two staff rooms at the school. „Pupil runners‟

from the shift that is not in session could be used to carry messages to teachers so that they don‟t have to leave their classes unsupervised to attend meetings that may be unnecessary and or too long. When it is critical, staff meetings should be highly focussed to conserve time and be as concise as possible.

In an environment characterised by such pronounced limitations of time, thinking outside the box as it relates to time management is critical. It should be acknowledged that it is not being suggested that the above observations made in Section 4.3.4.1.2.4 are not peculiar to shift schools, the effects in this context, are more pronounced. Factors which may have adverse effects in whole day schools may have a more negative ricochet in shift school due to the aforementioned marked time disparity between the two organisations of the school day.

Another area of school life that can be changed to facilitate general well being, health and critically, efficient time management, is lunch time. Fifteen minutes, even if well managed, at best is inadequate for a lunch break. With a pupil population size of 1,062 and 1,017 for X and Y shifts respectively, plus 31 class teachers and other staff members; if everybody gets 15 minutes lunch break at the same start times (10:30 am and 2:30pm) with everyone attempting to access the services of a tuck shop and a canteen with a staff of 2 and 3 respectively (along with a few volunteers on some days).

No matter how efficient these staff members are, it is simply impossible to meet the

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lunch needs of everyone at these break times. Even when the service of the vendors at the school gate is factored in, the food services at lunch time are just overstretched. The comment below revealed an administrator‟s concern about the impact of late lunches is having on the operation of the school:

I think we have [the school has] too short a break time and as a result of that- especially from the cooked lunch side of it we don't get it on time, because of that [it] causes the lunch to go into learning time because they have to eat so that it is one of the big weaknesses… (Administrator 2)

When a school‟s lunch system is faulty, there will be inevitable wasting of learning time with whole or partial classes waiting for their lunches. In some cases when pupils eventually get their lunches they cannot eat them because teachers choose to carry on teaching due to the time constraint. Some pupils in general and especially those with SEN may find it difficult to concentrate and accomplish given tasks when hungry.

There is merit in considering the idea of putting lunch breaks on a rota basis; grades 1and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6 in that order. For example, grades 1and 2 would get their break at 9:30 am – 9:45 am; grades 3 and 4 would get their break at 9:50 am -10:05 am and grades 5 and 6 would get theirs at 10:10 – 10:25am. Take note of the 5 minutes intervals between lunch breaks to facilitate smooth transitions and to cushion the effect of possible overruns.

The breakfast programme and the school day commence at the same time, that is, 7am. Although the primary function of the breakfast programme is for the improvement of the nutritional status of the pupils; it has also been used as a tool to improve attendance (Cueto, 2001) particularly the punctuality of pupils. With the limited time in a shift school the punctuality of pupil is critical as was expressed by Administrator 2, “you will find that we have children coming in late, so they will probably loose the first half an hour [of their learning time]”. Therefore, not using the breakfast programme as a strategy to improve pupils‟ punctuality by commencing it earlier that than the start of the school day, is an unutilised opportunity.

Pupils too engage in high rates non-instructional use of their time for activities such as distributing books and carrying messaging to teachers. Another area of school life that reduces pupils‟ direct learning time is pupil executing ancillary type tasks such as sweeping and wiping classroom floors. Understandably, since Shift Y uses the school site on the „heel‟ of Shift X‟s dismissal and there needs to be a clean classroom space (since there are 31 classes there would not be enough ancillary worker to do every classroom for the next shift even if there was the funding to do it), the frequency and

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length of time these ancillary-type tasks utilise, is a cause for much concern. For example, in a Language Arts lesson which began at 7:35 am there were two students who were engaged in the chore of sweeping and wiping the classroom floor. At 8:05 am the teacher instructed the pupils to stop the activity. However, only one discontinued and the other carried on until 8:40 am. It is important to note that the teacher was not in support of the length of time it took them to complete the task. It was observed on several occasions when pupils were finding their work difficult they picked up a broom and started „sweeping‟ at the most inappropriate times to avoid the challenge of the task at hand. This is in keeping with the finding of task avoidance identified by Van der Aalsvoort et al (2004). There needs to be proper management of the „ancillary role‟

carried out by pupils, so that it does not further erode their learning time. In fact, this management should be from a whole school perspective. For example, no pupils should be engaged in this function before 11:45 am and 4:45 pm for X and Y Shifts respectively (unless there is an emergency). A significant number of parents and guardians are unemployed. This could be an opportunity for the school (through the medium of the PTA) to solicit their help in volunteering to help the school in areas of taking over pupils‟ „ancillary role‟, doing lunch lists and giving back change and administering the MOE school feeding programme (that is, distributing the free food items provided throughout the school). This will expedite the teachers‟ and pupils‟ time and energy to focus on the teaching and learning process.

The ability of pupils with learning disability to keep up to the pace of their other classmates is one of the critical issues which surround successful mainstreaming (Bryan et al, 2001). In the case of MMPS (with the exception of grade 1 that is not streamed), the issue of pupils‟ pace became a largely „between streams‟ function especially in light of the fact that all pupils took the same internal and external examinations. It is critical to note that the single best indicator of achievement amongst pupils with educational disabilities is the amount of time they spend actively engaged in the learning tasks (O‟melia and Rosenberg, 1994 as cited by Bryan et al, 2001). With regards to maximising the limited contact time there needs to be critical analysis about how

„school is done‟. No school in these demanding and changing times can afford the luxury of operating schools in a taken for granted mode. It therefore means all stakeholders in MMPS should guard the time of pupils especially those with SEN as precious because it is on this resource that their academic success largely depends. The next theme will discuss the school's leadership and culture.

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5.2.2 Theme Two: School’s Leadership and Culture

The leadership of any organisation is like the rudder to a ship. School leadership has received significant attention in the research domain for the past decades. One of the findings is that the traditional peak hierarchy, leadership style with power being concentrated at the top in the hands of „the few‟ is inadequate and no longer meet the needs of schools in changing times (Rutherford, 2006). The multifaceted face of leadership includes achieving school excellence, instructional and community leaders and the day-to-day oversight of the organisation which often is very complex (ibid.).

The school leadership within a shift school context appears to be more complex in nature. In a technical sense, it is one person being the Principal for two schools which spans from 7 am to 5 pm. As was mentioned in the case findings the leadership style used in MMPS is distributed. Vice Principals, senior teachers and grade coordinators are used in the distribution of leadership. It has also used the vehicle of committees as a major medium for leadership distribution. However, the time available is juxtaposed for the effective operations of these committees. Although leadership style is distributed there is a common thread of achievement-orientation that runs throughout the school even at the committee level. Although the message of excellence and achievement is embedded generally through the school, it is the excellence in examinations that was

given primacy at MMPS.

Schools do not operate in a vacuum, rather it is contextually designed and defined. There are internal and external factors that bring to bear on the emphasis and priority placed on the elements in its operation. The philosophy which guides many schools is one of academic achievement and an entrenched orientation toward examination excellence. At MMPS, pupils with SEN sometimes were not given priority on the agenda in the learning environment. Luth (2001) argues that tension exists for educators in catering for pupils with SEN in mainstream classrooms and simultaneously fulfilling the public's expectation for increased academic performance. Below is an administrator‟s view with regards to the impact of pupils with SEN on the school‟s examination performance:

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Children that straight day schools do not want we [the school] take them and make them perform. But when you take so many of these children, hundreds of them in the school and they perform, they may not perform at the desired level that will create a national appeal but you know too many of them will affect your average when you compare your school average with the national average. For example, GSAT if you have too many of these children which sometimes happen, they reduce the average. We have to get the brighter students to perform at a higher level so that they can cover for the lower average (Interview extract Administrator 1)

The leadership and culture of a school have far reaching implications and help in the construction of the teaching and learning space. These directly influenced how staff is deployed and how other resources are allocated. It is so crucial because everything else hinges on it. A clear definition of the school‟s culture is therefore necessary and should dovetail with its stated vision and mission statements below:

Vision Statement:

is determined to achieve positive changes, growth and achievement in the lives of students by providing the requisites, skills, resources and strategies and by collaborating with agencies and stakeholders to achieve academic excellence and quality education as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and to meet the needs of the nation.

Mission Statement:

working with stakeholders to provide a positive learning environment that will cater to the holistic development for our students and at the same time

facilitating the growth of all players in the process

Whilst a part of the school‟s mission statement is academic excellence, its manifestation was out of balance and skewed significantly towards pupils of a higher academic competence. It is the “all” in the school's mission statement that is relegated to the fringes of school‟s operations (whether deliberately or inadvertently) due to constraints and philosophical orientation. Maple Meadows Primary School has committed itself to providing “a positive learning environment” and “facilitating the growth of all players”. These commitments include those pupils with SEN. Therefore, the definition of the school should be all-encompassing with every pupil and subset of pupils having a place. In addition, in an overarching goal as is cited in the Kendal Report on Education, Jamaica (p. 4) one of the national aims of education is “to fit our schools to the needs and capacities of the children … rather than to fit the children to our school”. This stance should not be in words only but in action.

One of the conditions which have produced the „exam-centric‟ focus is a wider performance culture in education. The labelling and categorisation of school has given

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rise (in part) to the viewing of education as just another merchandise to be purchased.

Whereby, packaging, school name brand and image are important sale tools which are often given primacy. The „bottom line‟ (a concept usually associated to business) in education is performance- grades speak. The facilitation of development should be aimed at „all‟, not particularly on those who are deemed to possess academic prowess to pitch the school positively for ratings. The integration of „all‟ is a matter of principle which take account of every learner; including those with SEN. In an interview extract below a gradual paradigm shift is revealed as the performance pressure took effect:

well initially I had brought a lot of focus to bear on helping children with special needs we try to make [the]school as inclusive as possible not just for children who are physically and mentally not well, but those with learning difficulties- Special Education programme going on. In fact one of the

designations was five special classes where we have trained special education teachers but over the years the American school system has attracted these teachers. Right now we don‟t have [specialist teachers] the children are again left in the doldrums, they are neglected. Some of the teachers that we have now are not capable of meeting these needs so we are at a disadvantage. In fact we are not happy we don‟t have the where-with-all to meet the needs to bring about inclusivity and the Ministry [of Education] – the government itself does very little, its attempts are theoretical, its more argument than substance and we are at the bottom especially shift system … We do not have the where-with-all to address these serious problems. As I said before where you have a large cohort of slow learners in the grade six‟s it brings down your GSAT [Grade Six

Assessment Test] averages (Administrator 1)

In the UK schools are placed in league tables based on examination results which feeds into schools‟ ratings and consequently school images are at stake. In responding to this competition schools are often more concerned for high achievers than any other entity of pupils (Boaler, 1997). Schools are embedded in their country's educational system and communities which are in turn implanted in society (Huber, 2004). Consequently, schools and their leaders have positioned themselves to respond to the wider societal expectations.

The societal impact on a school is reflected in this comment below:

In Jamaica the emphasis is really on the academics and if your school is not doing well academically you are in trouble. We feel encouraged even with the recent GSAT passes and to know that we have gotten the top boy in the country, but we know all along that we were doing very well, quite well academically and in many subjects in areas but because it is a shift school it is being stigmatised, you know shift schools are stigmatised as being bad schools (Administrator 2)

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What are the conditions that may have given rise to the MMPS being so examination focused? The following may be some of the reasons which have led to this:

1. Administrators were largely strongly against the shift system and as such may view the school as being at a disadvantage and were of the view that its abolishment would be of benefit to the school system. Therefore, the strong examination orientation may be the school's response of compensating for this perceived disadvantage.

2. It may also be that the standards set by the MOE have put pressure on schools to perform so this is how the school “pays for its pound of flesh” as asserted by Administrator 1.

3. As was previously mentioned, shift schools in Jamaica do not enjoy a high status.

Therefore, MMPS may be using outstanding standing examination passes as its currency of „buying‟ prestige and simultaneously earning the respect of parents.

Thus, making the school one of choice even though its school day is organised on shift basis.

4. It could also be that the school having an overtly Christian ethos the stakeholders may have a sense responsibility to give its pupils a chance to succeed and to aspire for excellence.

It appears as if pressure was brought to bear from the expectations of the wider society

It appears as if pressure was brought to bear from the expectations of the wider society