Success Laventille's Shirazudeen Mohammed: Much more than a devoted math teacher

For almost three decades Shirazudeen Mohammed has helped generations of secondary school students find the answers to mathematical problems and also their full potential.

While Mohammed has taught hundreds of children over the years, he insists that he has learned just as much from his students as they have from him.

Known for his no-nonsense demeanour and sharp wit, Mohammed earned a reputation as a strict but dedicated teacher at the Success Laventille Secondary School.

Speaking with Sunday Newsday at the school on Thursday, on the eve of his retirement, Mohammed, 59, reflected on his career, his advice for future teachers and the lessons learnt in and out of the classroom.

Born and raised in Central Trinidad, Mohammed learned the importance of discipline and hard work from his parents who had to support a family of 12.

His mother died when he was only 15 and his father when he was 20. Mohammed says he never forgot the lessons learned and adopted their strong work ethic and humility.

During his years at Presentation College, Chaguanas, Mohammed developed his passion for mathematics, largely through the tutoring of his older brother Zaman Mohammed, who is also a mathematics teacher.

"The time and patience he took when he was teaching and how he explained the work was what made me love mathematics.

"Some of the students he taught after A-Levels still had a bond with him because of his style and I always hoped I could be like that too."

Mohammed later attended the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine, studying chemistry and had hoped to get a job in the industry.

At university, he also registered for mathematics courses which later helped in his career choice.

After graduating from the UWI, Mohammed weighed his options and began teaching chemistry and mathematics at the Arima Senior Comprehensive in 1986.

He was originally expected to be assigned to the Success Laventille Secondary School, then known as the Success Laventille Composite School, but was reassigned on relatively short notice.

Mohammed says he saw this as destiny as he was meant to be assigned to Success where he would spend most of his teaching career.

When he was called to take up a teaching job at Success years later in 1993, Mohammed says that while he was eager to start working at the school, he did not know what to expect given the stigma of crime and violence in the area.

"When I came to the school at that time, I might have been apprehensive because of what I would have read in the newspapers about Laventille having no knowledge of Laventille before.

"I remember driving by the day before I started work to see where the school was located.

"It did look like an imposing structure or an imposing assignment but the principal at the time the late Horace Colthrust sat me down on my first day and gave me some advice which made me feel comfortable on the task ahead."

At the time Success had a student population of 1,200, divided up into six classes each from forms one to five.

"I met quality students who could run with any of the students from the so-called prestige schools.

"Contrary to what you heard on the news and read in the newspapers, my experience is quite different. It was an incredible experience."

Early in his career, Mohammed established himself as a disciplinarian serving as a teacher and a dean at the school.

Using a combined approach of a drill instructor, motivational speaker and father figure, he said his goal was to not only prepare his students for exams but also for life after school.

"I believe you have to have a certain level of strictness in order to let students know the seriousness of what is ahead of them in life."

Even while walking through the corridors of the school for the interview, Mohammed can be heard reminding students to wear their face masks properly and tuck their shirts in their pants.

For many people, the sight of complicated equations and graphs can stir anxiety.

Mohammed says he has seen firsthand how nervous students can become at the mere mention of the word mathematics and has dedicated his time to helping them overcome their "maths phobia."

From the meaning of certain terms to the steps needed to solve equations, Mohammed says it is vital that students be taught the basics to give them the confidence to spark that desire to learn.

"A big part of teaching is putting yourself in the position of the child you are teaching.

"Ask yourself if you were the student receiving the lesson at that particular moment, would you have understood it?

"If the answer is no, then that means you have to do something else to get them to understand it.

"Students teach you how to teach."

Mohammed also taught part-time at the St Augustine Community College and says getting a variety of teaching experiences from different schools has helped sharpen his skills as a teacher.

He also advised anyone considering a career in teaching to teach in as many different schools as possible as it opens them up to different types of students and develops lesson plans to meet their needs.

He says that while keeping up with the school's curriculum and covering the course material is critical, his time at Success has also opened his eyes to the harsh realities many of his students face.

Mohammed says experiences at Success have not only taught him to be a better teacher but also to be a better person as he tries to understand and help children in need of direction.

He says there have been instances where some students have had to deal with the responsibilities of looking after their siblings or becoming the family's breadwinner.

These children, Mohammed says, need understanding and compassion to help overcome their circumstances.

"When you hear what some children go through, the fact that they can make it out to school rather than find themselves in mischief, you have to thank God.

"But when you find them, you have to find a way to reach them because teaching them a subject is of no use to them because of the baggage they carry, the suffering they go through, the responsibilities some of them have."

For these reasons, Mohammed says the support of parents and guardians is crucial.

The school is located on the Eastern Main Road, Success Village, Laventille and Mohammed says he has never felt under threat while at the school even though clashes between rival gangs in the area have not been lost on him.

Recalling an instance where the father of a student was unable to come to the school for fear of his own safety, Mohammed says he made the time to meet with the man in a safe area to discuss his son's behaviour in class.

"I worked it out with a social worker and a former principal to meet the parent where he lives in Maracas because he couldn't come here.

"The young man's mother was fed up with coming in so I called his father and we arranged a meeting.

"I tried to encourage him to get a transfer for the young man to attend a school in Blanchisseuse as it was closer to home."

This concern for his students' educational and personal well-being has caused him to visit them and their parents at their homes across Laventille, sometimes alone.

While he understands safety is always a priority, he feels he has earned the respect of members of the community for his good intentions.

Mohammed says he has even noticed that the families of some children who admit that they are dealing with several problems want their children to do better.

"I never felt under threat from any of the elements around here.

"Even those who came to me as parents and introduced themselves as the 'badjohn' in the area and so on showed me great respect.

"Some of them have it very difficult, but they still try in their way to have their child come to school and hope they would do better in life than they would have done."

Through the dedication of Mohammed and other teaching staff at the school, some at-risk students were able to improve their lives and behaviour.

Recalling a meeting with a former student who is now an IT technician, Mohammed says the student thanked him for the care he showed in guiding him towards a better life.

Mohammed says while the school has made progress in turning around the lives of some students for the better there have also been instances where students lost their lives.

"We would have lost quite a number of our students to crime and all of those things hurts us.

"Whenever the news is on and you hear a young person passed away you always wonder, 'Is it one of ours?' because you're hearing a name similar to the name of someone you taught."

These instances and more have helped shape Mohammed's view as a teacher and a person.

Even after 29 years, Mohammed maintains the same dedication to teaching students, making himself available during lunch and recess breaks to explain concepts and formulae.

Before beginning the interview on Thursday he explained factorisation to a student.

While technological advancements have changed the platforms where students are educated, for Mohammed, some things will always be the same and called on teachers to meet the challenge in a demanding profession.

Mohammed's colleagues also recognise his dedication to the job and expressed well wishes to him on his retirement.

The school's acting principal, Stacey Lezama, said she was happy to know Mohammed and said his sense of fairness was his most recognisable quality.

"He has embodied the qualities that I tried to model to the students.

"He has always been very supportive of the school with regards to discipline as well as interventions to students so they can improve in their academics and behaviour.

"He is a man of principle, he definitely tried his best to be very impartial and objective. He treated all the students the same."

School librarian Rachel Sookhansingh also described Mohammed as a pillar of strength in the school community and said the difference he made in the lives of students and staff was innumerable.

"I think he was a literal embodiment of our watchwords discipline, production and tolerance.

"He was more than a teacher, for us as members of the staff he was a mentor and a confidante and I wish him all the best on his retirement."

Sunday Newsday also spoke to one of Mohammed's former students, President's medal and open scholarship winner Jamelia Harris who described Mohammed as a committed teacher who went above and beyond the call of duty for students.

"Mr Mohammed is a Success stalwart – a rare balance of disciplinarian, hard-working educator and kind and considerate ear."

As Mohammed returns the last of the school's textbooks and says goodbye to his classes, he also closes a significant chapter of his life.

But he maintains that the school and the community that accepted him will always hold a special place in his heart.

In mathematics, composite numbers are defined as positive numbers that can be divided by numbers other than itself and 1.

Using the analogy, Mohammed has taken on the role of multiple figures throughout his career, shifting from teacher, father-figure, mentor and even social worker, giving 100 per cent effort to each one.