An inspired leader, meticulous planner, talented coordinator, motivator and facilitator are among the many words that describe this woman of the North Coast, whose first love is early childhood education.
Eugena Leadora Robinson has dedicated her whole life to education, working in various capacities, locally and overseas, from classroom teacher to education officer and supervisor. Throughout her long tenure in education, her high regard for professionalism coupled with her indomitable spirit, have pulled her over rugged terrains to almost unreachable schools in Jamaica.
For over five decades, Mrs Robinson has educated several students, taught early childhood teachers, guided many primary school teachers, counselled parents, supported the work in teachers colleges and helped many parents and churches to carry out their functions as partners in the education of the nation’s children.
And even though she has retired, she has continued on her role of imparting knowledge to various individuals in not only the parish where she resides today, St Mary, but also across Jamaica.
“I know I was here for a purpose. I know,” Mrs Robinson said on reflection.
EARLY BEGINNINGS
Born Eugena Atkins in Berkshire, Westmoreland to Eugene and Mulvina Atkins, she reflected that she was well-loved by especially her father.
“I grew up in a Christian home and we were Anglican. I was very loved by my father. I got so much love from him. I was never flogged by him. I never flogged any of my children and I took very good care of them and they have taken good care of me,” Mrs Robinson explained in an interview with the North Coast Times.
Young Eugena learned to play the organ and from then the music side of her had blossomed.
She began her early education at the Dundee Elementary School in Westmoreland, but because she was afraid of the flogging being meted out to other students at the school, it impacted on her reading.
Her father took the decision of sending her to attend the Montego Bay Girls School for four years and she later returned to the Dundee Elementary School, where she completed her early years of schooling.
With the determination to achieve, a young Eugena studied and successfully passed all her three Jamaica Local Exams.
The woman, whose first love is early childhood education, never saw her eyes set on becoming a teacher initially as she said that her past teacher turned her off from teaching. She opted to go to Kingston instead to sit the nursing exams, which she also passed. However, the encouragement from a new principal of the Dundee Elementary School, stirred her in destiny’s path of becoming a teacher.
Young Eugena Atkins stepped through the doors of Mico Teacher’s College in 1959 and embarked on what would be the beginning of an illustrious career in education.
IMPRESSIVE EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
By 1960, she was awarded the Training College Certificate and a Teacher’s Diplomas in Elementary Education with distinction in teaching practice.
In later years, Mrs Robinson supplemented her studies by distinguishing herself in her relevant areas of study. She has received: a Certificate in Education from the University of the West Indies (UWI) (1978-1979) and a Bachelor in Education with a major in Early Childhood Education from UWI (1981-1983).
In addition, she has a Master of Science degree with a major in Early Childhood and Primary Education, from the Nova Southeastern University in Florida (1990-1992). An abstract of her outstanding research project in early childhood mathematics has been placed in the Nova University year book of outstanding educational improvement projects Vol. V11 1993. She has also the trainer certificate, among several certificates for participation in Early Childhood development courses from the Florida Department of Children and families in 2005.
THE EARLY CLASSROOM YEARS
After Mico she gained employment at the Jacks River Elementary (now Primary) School, St Mary.
She later met her late husband, Lincoln Robinson, who was also a teacher, at St Mary High School. Their union produced three children: Peter Robinson, owner of Books, Stationery and Supplies in Port Maria; Lancelot Robinson, electronic engineer in the United States and Jackie Robinson, case manager at Blue Cross in Florida, USA.
LIFE CHANGING DECISION
Mr Robinson later left and became a principal. As a result of this, his wife, Eugena taught at the Pear tree Grove Elementary School in St Catherine and Hampstead Elementary School.
However, a life changing decision was on the horizon for Mrs Robinson’s husband that would also impact on her life in a positive way. Her husband had decided to study law and the couple migrated to England in the mid-1960s, where her husband studied and she became a classroom teacher in London.
BEST PART OF HER LIFE
In London, Mrs Robinson explained that she became a graded teacher and a demonstration teacher employed at an infant school in a deprived area in East London for six years. During her second year, she was promoted to ‘teacher with special responsibility.’
Mrs Robinson success came when she managed a ‘demonstration class’ within a school which modeled the British Infant School Model. She demonstrated the success of teaching methods that some thought could not now work in schools in under-resourced neighbourhoods.
For four consecutive years 100 percent literacy was achieved in a class of 39 six and seven-year-olds. Mrs Robinson indicated that “this was the best part of my career.”
She continued by saying, “It was different from Jamaica, as I was in a first world country. I was not given a curriculum and I didn’t write a lesson plan for the six years I was there. You were not controlled by a curriculum. It was the development of the child that was most important and because of that I still find even now that I have a concern about the curriculum being used here., I took the children through their interests and anything that was of interest to them, I decided let’s do that and let’s find out.”
However, when Mrs Robinson was offered leadership of the school, her husband had finished his studies and decided to return to Jamaica.
WORK IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
When Mrs Robinson returned to Jamaica in 1974, she did not go back in the classroom. Instead, she took on the role of being a supervisor and trainer in the ministry of education and serving to implement several programmes and initiatives from 1974 to 2003. It was during this time period that her versatility and resilience were on show as she knew that each little child’s future was intricately linked to her ability to guide and support the process of teaching and learning.
Mrs Robinson worked in training and supervising educators in the early childhood unit and the primary unit in the ministry of education between 1974 and 1987.
She was later appointed as an assistant lecturer in Early Childhood in the North Coast Project (NCP) cited at Passley Gardens Teachers’ College, where she served in that capacity from 1987 to 1995.
Mrs Robinson has cited the North Coast project as still being the most successful early childhood training intervention ever done in Jamaica. She successfully completed the seven-year project and there were significant improvements in service delivery in basic and infant schools.
During that time, Mrs Robinson has authored “Understanding Mathematics in Early Childhood”, “Mathematics can be fun”, “Developing My Thinking Skills,” and “The Way to Reading.” She also co-authored: “A Training Manual for Early Childhood Trainers.”
Mrs Robinson later served in the education ministry in the secondary education unit as a senior education officer between 1995 until her retirement in 1996.
POST RETIREMENT ACTIVITIES
After giving several years of dedicated service to the Ministry of Education, Mrs Robinson still engaged in work with the ministry.
Mrs Robinson was contracted as National Integration Coordinator for the ministry’s Caenwood division from September 1997 to August 2003.
Mrs Robinson worked in a consultative capacity with the director of the Early Childhood Unit and the Integration Advisory Committee and UNICEF.
She also participated in the first meetings to consider the writing of a new Early Childhood Curriculum and planning strategies to establish an Early Childhood Commission.
For her outstanding performance s a national integration coordinator, she received an award from UNICEF.
Mrs Robinson later resigned and went to Florida, along with her husband, because her daughter had filed for them. However, she got involved in the education system in Florida and was the assistant director for a preschool and lead teacher VPK Early Childhood programmed. She additionally, successfully prepared the centre for the accreditation award.
“I really helped that school, because that school had failed their accreditation three times. They now had one final chance and if they did not pass, they would have to close. I worked with them and they got their accreditation. That period in Florida was a period of excellence, because I went there with all my experience and I really helped that school,” Mrs Robinson explained proudly.
Following her stint in Florida, she returned home to Jamaica when her husband, Lincoln suffered a stroke and died in 2009.
WORKING WITH COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Following the death of her husband, Mrs Robinson returned to the education sector for her final stint where she worked with the colleges and the universities as an external examiner.
She started working with the UWI Joint Board of Teacher Education (JBTE) in 2010 to undertake tasks set by JBTE to monitor and assess Teachers Colleges offering the Early Childhood Diplomas Programme..
In addition Mrs Robinson was a part of the team of assessors of the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ) to education institutions in the accreditation process of the Early Childhood programme.
Mrs Robinson said for her this was the crowning moment of her long profession, because she had the opportunity of to see and asses from the early childhood level to primary and then students at the college/university level.
Mrs Robinson has received the Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for her service in education which spans over 41 years.
PASSION STILL BURNING
Mrs Robinson still engages in writing articles on early childhood matters in the Gleaner and has in the past contributed articles on the topic to the North Coast Times. Among her hobbies are also reading education reports and church related activities. She is a proud member of the St Mary Parish Church, where she is a rector’s warden, organist, member of the church committee, lay reader and participates in organizing events at the church.
Mrs Robinson also serves the parish of St Mary as a Justice of the Peace (JP) since 1994 and is a member of the St Mary Lay Magistrate Association.
She is far from giving up her community involvement as she still responds to educational institutions at all levels, for consultation, guidance, workshop for teachers, guidance to parents and general support to the community of Port Maria.
“I am not out as yet. I still have that passion. My passion is there until I die. There is hardly a week, that I don’t go to the computer and write something,” Mrs Robinson explained.
