Remembering Ronnie, an exemplary educator

Debbie Jacob

This time of year Ronnie Chun Taite is doubly missed. Reports of his death on January 16, 2020 said Ronnie died of complications from the flu, but I always wondered if he was an early victim of the covid pandemic.

Ronnie was a Carnival party goer and mathematics enthusiast. He played hard and worked hard. Trini-to-the-bone, Ronnie loved this culture and he taught mathematics like no other teacher I had ever known.

He helped students rise to the challenges of maths, an intimidating and stressful subject for many. He created confidence in students who never thought they could pass a maths class. There’s a fine art to getting students to respect and like a subject they once hated, and Ronnie had that extraordinary talent.

I can’t remember who pointed me in Ronnie’s direction when my daughter Ijanaya struggled with CXC maths. Good maths teachers had always been hard to come by. At the time, Bishop Anstey High School had managed to hire a good maths teacher, but she was finishing her university degree and couldn’t teach classes regularly.

Ijanaya was failing maths so I caved to extra lessons, which I didn’t believe in. Finding a maths teacher was exasperating. We tried about five different extra lessons classes. Ijanaya rejected each class saying, “It’s just a lime.”

I was shocked when she finally settled on Ronnie’s class. After assessing Ijanaya, Ronnie said she had gaps in her learning because of not having a regular teacher.

He would make sure she kept up with her homework, but he needed to backtrack, address those gaps and build a solid foundation. This is important for good teaching and addressing students’ weaknesses so they don’t fall behind. A couple of months later, Ronnie had Ijanaya on track. When she got a 2 in CXC maths, Ronnie got upset.

He said, “I told you if you sent her for a few more lessons near the exam, she would get a 1. I assured Ronnie that Ijanaya and I felt over the moon with the 2. We felt like dancing in the street.

“My students get 1s,” Ronnie informed me.

When struggling students and desperate parents asked me to recommend a maths tutor, I gladly recommended Ronnie. He gave those students the tools to master a subject that frightened and frustrated them.

Ijanaya says, “Ronnie was an eccentric genius. I remember him sitting seriously in a chair in his living room with his curly red hair puffing cigarettes while helping students with complex maths problems."

Paradoxically, Ronnie was also the life of the party. When you bounced Ronnie up in a party he was moving through the crowd socialising with everyone. His social sphere was endless. He seemed to know everybody in Trinidad.

Ronnie had the gift of relating to students. That helped him make maths relevant for them. Not all teachers have that ability.

Over the 15 years I knew Ronnie I never once got any negative feedback from the students or their parents I sent to him for lessons.

“Just don’t be shocked when you see Ronnie,” I said. “He might have orange hair, but he is nice and knowledgeable. Real learning goes on there. A few times I suggested Ronnie get a job teaching in a school so more students could benefit from his teaching.

“I make more money with lessons,” he said.

He enjoyed teaching small groups of students with different backgrounds and from different schools, and he valued his independence. He wanted to be free to enjoy life on his terms.

Because of Ronnie, many students got the maths scores they needed to get public service jobs, continue with CAPE and attend university.

His students learnt that organisational skills, critical and methodical thinking and confidence could bring results. In many ways, Ronnie taught students to manage anxiety. Those are good lessons for life-long learning.

Ronnie taught at a higher level that our education requires teachers to function, and I wish more teachers would take a page from his book. He showed us all that maths ism’t about being mechanical or rote-learning. Fundamentals, laying a foundation and being systematic count.

Ronnie understood how students learned and he made it fun. This is why Ronnie’s students never forget him. We think of you every Carnival, Ronnie, and wish you were still here with us.