Retired teacher writes book for parents

DR PAMELA AMUN, a retired teacher/principal, recently published a book she wrote, Raising Children with a Capacity to Love, which she hopes will empower parents to build their children and every other child who comes across their path, with strong building blocks so they will love themselves and others and be builders of society.

The author says: “The book outlines the early life experiences that are imperatives for building emotionally strong children. These students are better equipped for classroom life and have the maximum capacity to love.” She said, too, the book also highlights the early adverse life experiences that engender developmental delays and damages in foundational building blocks, which result inability to perform in classroom life and beyond.

“This is vital information for parents who want their children to have the best life chances as adults. When children are built to have the best life chances, our society will have the best chance to be the one for which we are yearning. “Parents must remember it is easier to build a child than it is to repair an adult. The book gives the process,” said Amun.

Asked what inspired her to write it, she responded: “My inspiration for writing this book came from my 29 years of being with my students, both in the classroom as a teacher and in my office as a principal. I used to listen to students tell me stories of their frustration with always being the source of classroom disruptions, and their inability to sit still long enough to learn from what was being taught.”

She added: “They expressed feeling ashamed with their peers when they could not do simple tasks. They divulged finding it difficult to trust adults, teachers, principal, cafeteria workers and others on the compound. Some were loners and did not understand why they were never included in activities with their peers.

Other students disclosed feeling that their friends were better able to do school work and that made them feel bad about themselves.”

Amun taught 11 to 14-year-olds at Williamsville Junior Secondary and adolescence at Chaguanas Junior Secondary, before becoming principal of the school that later became Chaguanas South Secondary.

She said in her career as a teacher, vice-principal and principal, she kept journals. And reviewing them in her retirement years, she said she realised that these factors were outside the children’s academic capabilities, so she researched their origins and unearthed the fact that there were psychosocial factors which were inhibitors to children’s learning.

“I further explored how these psychosocial factors became part of who the children were as persons. In doing this I was able to arrive at the critical foundational building blocks for students to take full advantage of teaching and learning as the core process of schooling and become fully functioning adults.”

The book was launched on April 11, at the National Library in Port of Spain, with a mini launch the following day at Carnegie Free Library in San Fernando. The Tobago launch will be held on May 12, as part of Scarborough Library Facilities’ Mothers’ Day celebrations.