Through these reflective episodes, the writer draws the reader into the real life of teachers who must move beyond the visible hopelessness and apathy that some students exhibit, and crack that veneer. In so doing, the teachers conjure up the potential that resides in those students. The narratives surrounding Ixora, John, Akeem and Victoria are developed against the backdrop of the evolution of the education system of the country. A Voice for the Children in the Back Row also represents the transformational process that the reflective educator undergoes. The author, Kathleen Robinson, has taken us along an episodic journey in order to arouse our consciousness and conscientiousness as educators. Our society needs texts like A Voice for the Children in the Back Row where the new teacher as well as the seasoned practitioner can identify with authentic experiences and see the hope that still exists in the midst of deep despair.
Lynette T. Noel, reading instructor, University of Trinidad and Tobago
Author, The Night Nopat was Left Out
In an examination-oriented, mass education system, where one size seldom fits all, the ubiquitous drive – obsession almost - to “complete the syllabus” conspires to ensure that some passengers are ultimately left sitting disconsolately in the back row. To get to their destination they must, invariably, either take another taxi or walk. Kathleen Robinson’s ‘A Voice for the Children in the Back Row’ mirrors, in many ways, my own experience in the classroom for more than three decades. The gifted and the disadvantaged suffer equally as the teacher struggles, virtually on his own, to fulfill mainstream societal expectations. In ‘A Voice for the Children in the Back Row’, I find solace in the fact that this issue has been so well articulated and documented but more importantly, I feel a renewed sense of hope that, with this latest insightful presentation, some authorized institutional engineers will finally assume the mantle to oversee meaningful, coherent and sustainable change at the systemic level.
J.Baisden, educator
