Educational Leadership and the Ethic of Care: The Experiences of Four Women Educators of Trinidad and Tobago

Full text

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND THE ETHIC OF CARE: THE
EXPERIENCES OF FOUR WOMEN EDUCATORS OF TRINIDAD AND
TOBAGO
by
Dennis A. Conrad
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in
Special Education Administration
Committee:
Jean B. Crockett, Ph.D. (Chair)
Elizabeth G. Creamer, Ed. D
Diane N. Gillespie, Ed. D
Stephen R. Parson, Ed. D
Ewart Taylor, Ph. D
November, 1999
Blacksburg, Virginia.

Educational Leadership And The Ethic Of Care: The Experiences Of Four Women
Educators Of Trinidad And Tobago
By
Dennis A. Conrad
Jean B. Crockett, Ph.D. (Chair)
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
(ABSTRACT)
As policy makers and educators from varying philosophical platforms develop strategies
for facilitating inclusive education, there is a subsequent realization that this involves
inclusive leadership. Such leadership may be addressed through ethical decision-making,
exceptionality in learning, equity, effective programming, and partnerships (Crockett,
1999). Related to the moral and ethical aspects of decision making is the issue of caring
leadership. Among the educational leaders who have demonstrated caring leadership, and
who have had transformative influences over followers are the four women who
constitute this study. To understand how they evolved as educational leaders, testimonies
of their experiences and perceptions were developed. These testimonies are presented as
reconstructed narratives. The discussion on these narratives explores relationships
between who these women are in character, their experiences of the ethic of care, and
leadership. The study directs focus on the lives of these women with a view to
documenting their contributions and sharing their voices about the education systems of
Trinidad and Tobago, and the broader Caribbean area. Oral history interviewing, within
the biographical tradition, is the methodology used for data collection. The data as
transcribed narratives and topical life histories were then content-analyzed to identify
common themes and link these with contemporary research on leadership, women, and
the ethic of care as discussed in the review of the literature. Findings from the study
revealed caring leadership as an evolutionary process, and the importance that
spirituality, community, and a sense of gender-equity and inter-relatedness played in the
lives of the participants.

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Dedication
I dedicate this dissertation to my family and mentors: To my wife Debbie, who loved,
fought, and supported me as her act of faith in us; To my daughter, Dyanis, in respect for
her own evolution as she reaches for the stars; to my parents Angela Hererra Conrad and
David Conrad, senior, for believing in me; and to my mentors and friends, male and
female, for the lessons taught and their caring.

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Acknowledgements
With humility and sincerity I thank my committee, in the persons of Drs.
Elizabeth Creamer, Jean Crockett, Diane Gillespie, and Steve Parson of Virginia Tech
and Ewart Taylor of the University of the West Indies.
I thank Dr. Crockett, as my chair and mentor, for her exceptional example of
caring leadership and competence. Words cannot adequately express my gratitude for
having her support and expertise.
I thank Dr. Gillespie and her “tough love” and her consistent confidence in my
ability and efforts. Appreciation’s are also extended to:
Dr. Creamer: who served as friend and consultant always having a question that
made me sit and think;
Dr. Parson: who from my first visit to Virginia Tech made me feel welcome and
comfortable in knowing that he will always be there for me;
Dr. Taylor: who spent many hours reading my work, reflecting on my ideas,
encouraging and teaching, by example, the challenges of higher education;
Kathy Tickle and Darlene Johnson for their problem solving and listening skills
during these years at Tech;
The women who constitute this study for their trust, openness and wisdom in
sharing their lives to improve those of others;
To my wife Debbie and daughter Dyanis for their love and lovingness; and
To those who seek to serve the interests of the “the Golden Child”.

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Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 1
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM .................................................................................................................... 1
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................................................. 1
Methods of Inquiry............................................................................................................................................2
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ..................................................................................................................... 3
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ....................................................................................................................... 3
Leadership .........................................................................................................................................................3
Women and Educational Leadership .................................................................................................................4
The Ethic of Care...............................................................................................................................................4
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF THE KEY WORDS....................................................................................... 5
ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE............................................................................ 7
CONCEPTUALIZING EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP, WOMEN AND THE ETHIC OF CARE ................................. 7
CURRENT STATUS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROBLEM IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO................................. 7
BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM ................................................................................................................ 8
THE CONTEXT OF EDUCATION IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ......................................................................... 9
REGULAR AND SPECIAL EDUCATION LEADERSHIP.................................................................................... 11
THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP, WOMEN AND THE ETHIC OF CARE ................................................................. 12
Educational Leadership ...................................................................................................................... 12
Women and Leadership....................................................................................................................... 14
Educational Leadership and the Ethic of Care................................................................................... 15
RESEARCHING THE CHALLENGE TO THE PATRIARCHY OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ............................ 18
CURRENT RESEARCH AGENDA ................................................................................................................. 19
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY................................................................................................. 23
MEETING THE PLAYERS ............................................................................................................................ 23
The Researcher.................................................................................................................................... 23
The Mentors ........................................................................................................................................ 24
The Mentors as the Participants.......................................................................................................................24
RESEARCH DESIGN ................................................................................................................................... 25
Research Questions..........................................................................................................................................25
DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................................................................... 26
Participants ......................................................................................................................................................26
Narrative Data Collection................................................................................................................................27
DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES................................................................................................................. 28
Quality Control................................................................................................................................................28
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY..................................................................................................................... 30
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS................................................................. 31
NARRATIVE I: INTRODUCING PATRICIA NEWTON, SPECIAL EDUCATION PIONEER ................................... 31
PATHS TO LEADERSHIP ............................................................................................................................. 33
POST-RETIREMENT CONTRIBUTIONS......................................................................................................... 35
Contributions and Awards ...............................................................................................................................35
EXPERIENCES AS A WOMAN IN LEADERSHIP............................................................................................. 35
MODELS AND MENTORS ........................................................................................................................... 36
OF CHALLENGES AND PERSEVERANCE ..................................................................................................... 36
CARING IS MOTHERHOOD ......................................................................................................................... 39
PERSPECTIVES ON LEADERSHIP, WOMEN AND THE ETHIC OF CARE ......................................................... 41

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Leadership is passion.......................................................................................................................................41
Women and Leadership................................................................................................................................... 42
CARING IS LIFELONG ................................................................................................................................43
GUIDING LIGHTS....................................................................................................................................... 44
NARRATIVE II: INTRODUCING ARIEL WYNNA, SPECIAL EDUCATION EXEMPLAR..................................... 45
PATHS TO LEADERSHIP ............................................................................................................................. 48
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT................................................................................................................. 49
CHILDHOOD LESSONS ............................................................................................................................... 51
DEVELOPING STYLES................................................................................................................................53
Jumping Rope..................................................................................................................................................53
Of Mentors and Models...................................................................................................................................54
SHARING THE GIFTS.................................................................................................................................. 55
THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING WOMAN AND EDUCATIONAL LEADER .......................................................... 56
CARING AND BEING CARED FOR ............................................................................................................... 57
PERSPECTIVES ON LEADERSHIP, WOMEN AND THE ETHIC OF CARE ......................................................... 58
On Gender and Uniqueness .............................................................................................................................58
The Ethic of Care.............................................................................................................................................60
THE SACRED TASK ................................................................................................................................... 61
NARRATIVE III: INTRODUCING KULTYA CALYPSO, EDUCATIONAL PIONEER ........................................... 62
SOME PAIN ............................................................................................................................................... 64
PATHS TO LEADERSHIP ............................................................................................................................. 65
EXPERIENCING LEADERSHIP..................................................................................................................... 71
BECOMING A COMMUNITY: LEADERS AND FOLLOWERS........................................................................... 71
Sharing Caring.................................................................................................................................................72
Mentorships.....................................................................................................................................................73
EXPERIENCES AS A WOMAN IN LEADERSHIP............................................................................................. 74
Caring Leadership............................................................................................................................................75
PERSPECTIVES ON WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP .............................................................................................. 76
Feminism: A Male Issue..................................................................................................................................78
Caring and Leadership.....................................................................................................................................79
REFLECTIONS ON HER LEADERSHIP.......................................................................................................... 81
On Success and Successors .............................................................................................................................83
The Importance of Smell .................................................................................................................................83
NARRATIVE IV: INTRODUCING DAPHNE JOHANN, EDUCATIONAL EXEMPLAR ......................................... 83
PATHS TO LEADERSHIP ............................................................................................................................. 85
EXPERIENCING LEADERSHIP..................................................................................................................... 85
Flexibility: A Key to Effective Leadership......................................................................................................91
Zigzagging the Line.........................................................................................................................................91
EXPERIENCES AS A WOMAN IN LEADERSHIP............................................................................................. 92
Lessons on Caring Leadership......................................................................................................................... 93
An Issue of Gender?........................................................................................................................................95
Leadership Training.........................................................................................................................................96
CLOSIN G A CHAPTER ................................................................................................................................97
SUMMATIVE OVERVEIEW ......................................................................................................................... 97
INDIVIDUAL LEADERSHIP CONSTRUCTS.................................................................................................... 98
Leadership as Achievement.............................................................................................................................98
Leadership as Influence...................................................................................................................................99
Leadership as Service......................................................................................................................................99
LEADERSHIP AS CATALYST..................................................................................................................... 100
CHAPTER FIVE: ANALYSIS AND REFLECTIONS......................................................................... 102
COMMON ELEMENTS PRESENT IN PARTICIPANTS’ TESTIMONIES ............................................................ 102
Mother Power................................................................................................................................................102
Educational Experiences................................................................................................................................103
Community Connectedness ...........................................................................................................................104

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Personal Responses to the Dominant Culture................................................................................................104
The Value of Caring......................................................................................................................................108
Attributes Across Constructs............................................................................................................. 110
Leadership as Developmental........................................................................................................................110
Caring, Mentoring and Preparation as a Community Member ...................................................................... 112
Equity, Interrelatedness, and Gender.............................................................................................................112
Moral and Spiritual Awareness......................................................................................................................113
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE AND FUTURE RESEARCH.......................................................................... 114
Some Lessons Learned ...................................................................................................................... 114
The Guideposts to Leadership .......................................................................................................................114
Voices and Narratives....................................................................................................................................115
Caring Leadership as Evolution.....................................................................................................................116
Building Community.....................................................................................................................................116
Uniqueness, Inter-relatedness and Spirituality...............................................................................................117
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ........................................................................................................................ 117
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................................... 119
APPENDIX A ........................................................................................................................................... 127
APPENDIX B............................................................................................................................................ 128
APPENDIX C............................................................................................................................................ 130
APPENDIX D ........................................................................................................................................... 132
VITA .......................................................................................................................................................... 133

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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Women are under-represented in policymaking roles and under-recognized for
their leadership skills at the national level in the education system of Trinidad and
Tobago (Morris, 1999; Taylor, 1997). This under-representation and under-recognition is
a reality not limited to education (Leo-Rhynie, 1997). It is evident in the broader
Caribbean society as well. The under-recognition exists despite women’s: (a) dynamic
roles alongside their men during slavery, indentureship, Spanish and British
colonialization; (b) sterling roles as surrogate parents; and (c) dominant pioneering and
“backbone” roles in voluntary institutions, churches, political parties and professional
groups (Cole, 1996).
Statement of the Problem
The pervasive non-legitimization of women's roles and contributions within the
education sector exists despite: a higher percentage of women in the teaching profession;
more equitable numbers at the level of principalship, particularly at elementary and
special schools; and higher levels of academic qualifications among women (Dove, 1999;
Morris 1999; Taylor, 1997). Male dominance is characterized in the education system of
Trinidad and Tobago through policymaking and documentation epitomized by
consolidated autocratic, cautious, and power-oriented traditionalist styles. There is a need
for more equitable gender representation in educational leadership (Morris; Taylor). The
maintaining of traditionalist bureaucratic systems clashes with the reform mandate, which
seeks to establish a unified and pro-inclusive education system for Trinidad and Tobago’s
educational policy.
When women's roles as leaders have been recognized, their contributions have
gone unrecorded by the dominant patriarchy. According to a senior male school
supervisor, there is a consolidation of patriarchy among educational policy makers
(Conrad,1998). The supervisor attributed this reaction of male executives to rapidly
changing governments, greater demands on education without adequate resources, an oil
and natural gas based economy--impacted upon by first world issues, and the perception
that women are taking over the society and its leadership. There are perceptions that the
bureaucracy has become more of a product of control and manipulation, than a process
for reform, and that woman in leadership are being marginalized. These views may create
a threat to educational reorganization and change, and the very foundation of our
democracy. The tendency to consolidate autocratic leadership styles, according to that
supervisor, poses a problem to teacher motivation, educational reform, academic
achievement, community dissatisfaction, and transformational leadership.
Purpose of the Study
This study explores the experiences and perceptions of four women educational
leaders from Trinidad and Tobago. The goal of the study is the sharing and
documentation of the voices of four women, well recognized informally as educational
leaders by the audience of teaching practitioners. I use qualitative methodology and oral

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history interviewing to collect data needed for penetrative qualitative analysis without the
constraints of participant observation or shadowing.
In this study, I develop narratives which seek to share and understand the
following elements: (a) the character and experiences of the four participant-
interviewees; (b) how they experienced and nurtured the ethic of care; and (c) their
leadership styles. A synthesis of literature on leadership, women in educational
leadership, and care theory is provided to relate relevant research to the narratives of
lived experiences.
This inquiry study comprises five chapters which include: (a) the
conceptualization and clarification of the problem, (b) the background and related
literature; (c) the design and methods used for investigation; and (d) the four oral history
narratives; and (e) implications for the practice of leadership and recommendations for
future research.
Methods of Inquiry
I used methodology based on qualitative inquiry. Qualitative research, according
to Merriam (1988), facilitates an inductive focus on the process, meaning, and
understanding of the narratives developed, and utilized fieldwork in a natural setting. The
nature of the problem--the lack of voice among women at executive levels of educational
leadership--warrants an approach to data collection and analysis that is explorative
(Morse, 1991).
In seeking to emphasize the practices and experiences unique to the participant
interviewees, I opted for a descriptive and interpretivist approach, characteristic of
qualitative methodology, using oral history interviewing (Reinharz, 1992). Oral history
techniques accommodated my objectives of sharing the voices and facilitating the
legitimization of the participants (Kramer & Masur, 1979). The sharing of these women’s
voices in a narrative style is intended to enable greater understanding of middle level
educational leaders at the school level, and executive leadership at the Ministerial level
(Hampsten, 1986).
Four main factors influenced my choice of methodology. Firstly, as a male and
protégé significantly younger than two of the interviewees, I needed to utilize an
interviewing method that might facilitate optimum participation and minimal restriction
to the sharing of experiences by the participants (Anderson & Jack,1991). Secondly, this
design accommodated the sharing of these women’s voices without having to reconstruct,
or risk diagnostic-interviewing (Martin, 1995). Oral history interviewing facilitated an
opportunity for participants to share self-determined, comprehensive stories. Oral history
methodology also provided a means for clarification and reflection by the participating
interviewees. This approach to interviewing limited intrusion on the participants’ time
and included opportunities for discussion and exploration of concepts and views as well
as thoughts and memories (Reinharz, 1992). Thirdly, qualitative interviewing gave me
room to be responsive to emerging issues and to follow the paths that emanated from the
stories presented. Fourthly, because of the small size of the population and the enormity
and personal nature of the data derived, qualitative methodology as the most appropriate
for managing and analyzing the data.

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Research Questions. The questions underlying this study solicited experiences,
insights and understandings of career memories, reflective beyond the evident (De
Jarnette, 1992). The guiding questions included: (1) what do the testimonies of these
women reveal about their evolution as educational leaders? (2) What are some of their
major experiences and perceptions? (3) How do they perceive, experience and nurture the
ethic of care in their leadership practices?
Significance of the Study
This study is important because it addresses the non-legitimization of women's
contributions to educational leadership in Trinidad and Tobago. Sharing the voices of
four women educational leaders from special and regular education facilitates a formal,
documented, and national verification of their commonalties and contributions. The study
thus seeks to legitimize the contributions of these women educators.
This study further suggests that educational systems can benefit from an
appreciation and understanding of the different ways women learn and lead (Shakeshaft,
1987). By sharing their experiences and perspectives on educational leadership, women
and the ethic of care, potential leaders may be guided in their own evolution. The study is
also expected to lend to discussions in leadership preparation programs that address the
changing roles of educational leadership, the contexts of special and regular education
leadership, and stereotypical views held about persons of different cultural, race and
socioeconomic backgrounds. Such discussions may better prepare school leaders,
administrators, and teachers at special and regular schools to deal with the diverse needs
of colleagues and students, particularly those in inclusive settings. This may contribute to
more collaborative efforts between special and regular education systems and the
humanizing of educational leadership as envisaged by Trinidad and Tobago’s Education
Policy Report, (1993-2003).
Theoretical Framework
The conceptual and theoretical frameworks supporting this inquiry include
leadership, women in leadership, and the ethic of care.
Leadership
Leadership is acknowledged by Algozzine, Yselldyke and Campbell (1994) as a
key variable associated with effective schooling and the establishing of educational
policies. As an interpersonal influence, effective leadership seeks a voluntary,
progressive change in the beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes of all participants towards the
realization of a common vision. Effective leadership recognizes that all participants are
leaders and that the common objective must be positive, empowering leadership, where
one dares to be caring.
The compulsory and involuntary nature of education and the ages of clients
further make schools particularly vulnerable to the influence of leadership. Sergiovanni
(1992) challenges the pervasive bureaucratic model of the school system in the United
States, noting the absence of value systems that call on personal experiences, insight,
empowerment, community/ professional and school norms, caring and emotion. Sage and
Burello (1994) urge educational leaders to reexamine the purpose of education and their
approaches to decision-making and urge them to own more responsibility for
coordinating the efforts of teachers. Education systems are facing paradigm shifts and

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related challenges. These demand flexibility, resourcefulness, and change from
educational leaders who, in bureaucratic roles as in Trinidad and Tobago, may prefer
maintaining the status quo (Sage & Burello, 1994). These organizational shifts
characterize and warrant a change from an era of dominance by bureaucracy to one of
greater fluidity (Mintzberg 1979).
The latter era is characterized by the emergence of a number of theoretical
approaches to leadership theory, which may be classified as the trait, behavioral, and
contingency models of leadership. Transformational styles of leadership, evidenced
among contingency approaches, as espoused by Bryman (1996) appear to be an
appropriate model for the challenges for an educational leadership committed to reform
(Bass, 1998). Transformational leadership addresses both the leader and follower’s sense
of self worth.
Women and Educational Leadership
The increasing number of women aspiring to and achieving positions of
leadership in education has resulted in studies which address the differences in
perceptions, styles and effectiveness between men and women leaders. Such studies are
often described as feminist, not necessarily because the subject-participants or
researchers describe themselves as such. The label of “feminist” also applies to the
objective of such studies, which might include highlighting the experiences of women,
identifying their meanings, and/or sharing their marginalized or submerged discourse
(Ferguson, 1984; Reinharz, 1992). Klenke (1996) asserts that there are differences in
leadership styles between men and women. She asserts that these differences are not
related to inherent personality, style or effectiveness, but to dichotomous and
stereotypical practices endemic in society.
Regan and Brooks (1995) acknowledge the differences in women and men in
leadership. They describe women's leadership styles as attributes of relational leadership,
which comprises collaboration, caring, courage, intuition and vision, and distinguish
feminist and feminine styles. Feminine leadership is portrayed as free from the need to be
self-identified as gendered or having primary political motives. Political motives are
identified as critical to feminist leadership.
Cross-cultural factors also have an impact on women’s leadership styles. The
perceptions, experiences, contexts, and issues of African-American, African, Caribbean
and other world groups may not be the same for European women leaders of developed
countries (Steady, 1987). There is a perception that the primary concerns of western
women are gender equity and economic oppression, whereas race, social class, capitalist
economics, educational attainment, religion, and color constitute the oppression of non-
Caucasian women, particularly those of African ancestry who were systematically “de-
culturalized” along with their men (Collins, 1990; Ladner, 1987).
The Ethic of Care
Gilligan (1982) raises the conceptualization of care, as a critical aspect in
leadership in her challenge to Kohlberg’s Theory of Human Development. The
development and application of models to reframe educational leadership and
administration as a caring profession has been urged through the efforts of various
scholars (Beck, 1994; Gilligan,1982; Noddings,1991; and Sergiovanni, 1992). Caring

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aims at developing relationships through networking and collaboration. To be caring
allows for wholeness to the “justice focus” of leadership (Regan & Brooks, 1995).
Nodding (1993, 1995) asserts that caring enables reclamation of education as
moral action, thus giving priority to relationships. This places caring in an oppositional
role to issues of power and competition. Tice (1995) advises against the notion that
caring must be reciprocated for it to exist and notes the ongoing need of students for
caring teachers and teachers for caring leaders.
In a caring environment, showing care for others is legitimized and encouraged.
Wolfgramm (1995) posits that the changes desired to create caring schools require
leadership styles characteristic and supportive of an ethic of care. Wolfgramm describes
caring as a critical disposition for our student-clients, which can be mirrored through
educational leaders who care and are committed to the evolution of caring school
communities. Such leaders, Wolfgramm posits, consider and respond individually to
clients, as well as to their parental and professional caregivers, by helping to create a
sense of caring and mutually agreed goals that addresses the following: (a) quality of life
for all; (b) interdependence; (c) cooperation; and (d) community development.
Operational Definitions of the Key Words
The following terms are defined and clarified to ensure that the reader
understands their meanings as used in this study:
Ethic of Care refers to a sense of responsibility to others, characterized by acts
done out of love, a sense of relationships and a commitment to empowerment (Gilligan,
1982).
Feminism applies to women sharing a common exclusion, socially, politically,
and economically. It is referred to as a perspective, not a method, which places women's
issues at the forefront, and includes the researcher as a person. (Reinharz, 1992).
Feminist perspectives view women as autonomous persons worthy of personal
freedom and equal opportunity with men (Acker, 1987).
Life histories/testimonies are reports by a narrative analysis on a person’s life and
how that life reflects societal themes. A life history or testimony engages in
understanding of the real person and his or her particular patterns of behavior, including
self-understanding (Creswell, 1998).
Oral history interviewing refers to the process of acquiring primary source
material through an approach of recording the spoken word by means of planned, tape-
recorded, structured or unstructured interviews of persons with information worth
preserving (Starr, 1996). These interviews may address personal recollections of
particular events or perspectives on issues, their causes, and the effects of identified
experiences (Reinharz, Clandinin & Connelly, 1998). The interviewee themes may be
topical or thematic, (for example “leadership styles”), biographical, or autobiographical
(Creswell, 1998; Gluck, 1979). Oral histories interviews may be presented as transcripts
or audio-tapes (Starr).
Organization of the Study
This study is organized into five chapters. Chapter one provides the introduction,
statement, implications and background of the problem, the research questions and an
overview of the methodology, the theoretical framework and operational definition of

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terms. Chapter two offers a review of the related literature as found in texts and databases
such as ERIC and H. Wilson Full Text. Major areas covered in chapter two include
details of the Trinidad and Tobago context, an overview of the literature pertaining to
leadership theory, women in leadership, and the ethic of care, and a synthesis of studies
related to educational leadership, women and the ethic of care. In chapter three, I detail
methodological considerations for data collection, analysis and presentation, whereas in
chapter four, I introduce the participants and present their topical life testimonies as
findings of the study. Chapter five concludes the study with a discussion of and
recommendations for future research, derived from the findings.

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CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
I take the position that within the Trinidad and Tobago context leadership, women
in leadership and the ethic of care constitute the main elements involving recognition and
sharing of the experiences of women educational executives who characterize caring and
transformational leadership. In this literature review, I will explore the following topics:
(a) conceptualizing educational leadership, women and the ethic of care; (b) current
status and significance of the problem in Trinidad and Tobago; (c) background of the
problem; (d) the context of education in Trinidad and Tobago; (e) theories of leadership,
women and the ethic of care; and (f) current research agenda.
Conceptualizing Educational Leadership, Women and the Ethic of Care
The under-recognition of women as educational leaders is not new. Many women
educators are perceived as soft and caring, not as “real leaders”. Somewhere along the
line, among the nation’s leaders, a notion emerged that leadership was about power, not
caring. As a student at primary, secondary or college levels, I have always been aware,
sometimes painfully, that “Sir” wielded the power and “Miss” shared the care. With
“Sir,” fear prevailed; with “Miss” there was a chance that I would be listened to, and
made to feel valued. Nor did this appear to change as the years passed, and my female
teachers outnumbered the males. In the schools I attended, if there was a male educator,
he controlled the “big stick”, often assuming the role of school disciplinarian. To me, it
was a continuation of the home situation, where Daddy, often unaware of the problems
his children faced, would, prescribe disciplinary judgments on arriving home from work.
Mommy, who knew, understood, and felt our grief, would stand silently in deference to
his manifest authority. As a teacher, special educator, and particularly as an
administrator, I experienced the initial misperception by my colleagues of my leadership
style, which includes negotiation and a readiness to work things out amicably, as atypical
of ëstrong’ leadership. Perhaps being male afforded me the recognition and license to be
both a respected and caring educator.
Current Status and Significance of the Problem in Trinidad and Tobago
The Report on Educational Statistics, 1996-1997, of Trinidad and Tobago states
that public education is provided in collaboration with a number of religious bodies.
There are 476 elementary (primary), 101 secondary, three technical-vocational schools
and seven state-coordinated special schools. The overall teacher population comprises
12,758 teachers, serving 284,869 students. At the elementary school level, there are 7,802
teachers with a student population of 181,003. From the perspective of leadership,
women held 238 of 470 principalships at the primary school level. At the secondary
school level, the teacher population was 4,956, with 3,156 of these holding at least a first
degree. Of the number of secondary school teachers holding at least a first degree, the
1998 Report on Education Statistics identified 1,956 of these as being women. When
contrasted with the elementary school sector, there are significantly fewer women
holding principalships at secondary schools, despite their dominance as university

8
graduates with teacher qualifications. In the special education sector, of the seven state-
coordinated special schools, women hold four of the leadership positions, most of which
are acting appointments. It should be noted that in the area of mental retardation, where
there is only one position of principal, there are actually four different physical facilities
providing day schooling. Each of these are led by a teacher-in-charge, all being women.
The women in these positions of special education leadership have M.Ed. qualifications.
Of the male principals, none hold master’s level qualifications and one has a first degree.
The Division of School Supervision oversees the work of all schools. The division
has always been and is currently under the leadership of a male director. No woman has
ever held this position. Twenty-one of 40 school supervisors at three different levels, with
Level 111 being the highest in status and responsibility, are held by women (Dove,
1999). Thus, on-going efforts at educational reform must recognize that women
educational leaders constitute a critical component of Trinidad and Tobago’s resource
and their contributions are pivotal to the success the efforts of educational reform.
The increasing recognition of the uniqueness of educational organizations and
their required leadership, has contributed to an acceptance of the importance of an ethic
of care, and transformational leadership styles--despite their possible conceptual conflict-
-as well as the contributions of women leaders. Taylor (1999) notes that there is a
probability of conceptual conflict between transformational leadership and caring
leadership. Care seems to be consistent, enduring, and worthy of conserving whereas
“transformational” is about relevance to the short term and to reform. He contends that
transformational leadership may even be perceived as endangering the ethic of care.
Despite this possible pitfall, there is a growing need for educational leaders, regardless of
gender, to remain educators and reformists, characterized by transformational and caring
leadership styles (Marshall; Noddings, 1995; Parks, 1995; Patterson, Rogers & Steele,
1996). This warrants leadership preparation programmers to explore the evolution of
these characteristics and to identify what and how experiences may contribute to such
leadership styles.
Background of the Problem
In 1994, I attended a conference for prospective school supervisors in Trinidad.
The then Permanent Secretary for Education appealed for the reins of educational policy-
making and authority to be assumed by professionals as educators, and not bureaucrats.
The bureaucratization of educational leadership was blamed as the major cause for the
slow pace of educational reform and the poor optimization of human resources.
In November 1998, a well-recognized educator cum public servant expressed
frustration to me about being expected by State officials, even directed, to perceive
himself as a bureaucrat, and not as an educator. School principals were to be “brought to
heel”, and authority had to be established to ensure effective schooling. More recently,
during a meeting with an educator at the University of the West Indies, concerns were
shared with me about the challenges of educational leadership at the national level
following changes of government. Too often, the policies of one regime are “here today
and gone tomorrow.” There is no continuity of policy implementation. The case was
made for the need to develop educational leaders with greater commitment to education
as liberation and empowerment. I share these concerns. Following that discussion I

9
reflected on the models of educational leadership, which in my opinion had the most
impact on my own evolution as a leader. I appreciate the contributions of my male
models, but recognize that the greatest influence were mostly women who characterized a
caring disposition and a leadership style that placed people first. This realization, of who
were the persons that impacted most on my evolution, was not new to me. I have always
been more comfortable in a caring environment and motivated by collaborative and
personable interactions. However, I never before perceived the phenomenon as a matter
of individuals or gender. In the days during and weeks following that Thanksgiving trip
to Trinidad, I spoke with many friends and colleagues about their mentors. The vast
majority of persons I spoke with, these being in teaching and leadership, linked caring
and transformational styles to women as mentors. Three women (two being special
educators) of the four participants in this study were referred to repeatedly in those initial
discussions. Consequently, I considered researching the relationship between mentorship,
transformational leadership and women. Nevertheless, I found myself returning to the
issue of why are these women and their contributions not celebrated and legitimized by
the society. Why are their contributions and roles under-recognized?
The Context of Education in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago is a twin-island state of 1.3 million people--the most
southerly islands of the Caribbean archipelago. The total areas of these islands are 1,850
and 182 miles respectively. Trinidad lies some seven miles from Venezuela and faces the
Guianas’ of the South American continent. Trinidadians and Tobagonians, are proud of
their heritage, and of being one of the most cosmopolitan, culturally diverse, and literate
countries of the world. Approximately the size of the U.S. State of Delaware or one and a
half times the size of the State of Rhode Island, Trinidad and Tobago's economy is
founded on oil, natural gas, agricultural produce and related agricultural, petroleum and
steel-based industries.
The origin of education and by extension educational leadership is associated with
the emancipation of slaves. Prior to emancipation in 1834, slavery and formal education
of the African majority were considered incompatible. There was no need to address the
dangerous exercise of formally educating a population, which provided the laboring class
for the Spanish colonizers from 1492 to 1797. It was of particular concern when it was
realized that the African slave “showed a high level of group solidarity and was led by
men who could sign their names in Arabic” (Campbell, 1992, p. 7). The governing
Spanish population ignored the local populace, and referred the educational needs of their
children to Spain.
With the British capture of Trinidad in 1797, formal education became a more
important part of the local tapestry, as free colored (mixed parentage) men, mostly
landowners sought political and social equality. It should be noted that Trinidad, unlike
Barbados or Jamaica, was largely an immigrant population without the rigid race and
class distinctions of those islands and the general Caribbean. There were significant
populations of French, Spanish, English and related mixed parentage or mulattos, also
called free coloreds. Education was largely realized by going to France or England, since
free coloreds were not permitted to organize independent public schools (Campbell,
1992). There is evidence however, of least two attempts to provide education for some

10
urban local whites (Creoles) and free colored persons. By 1828, there were three such
schools administered by the Catholic Church and at least one by the Anglicans.
According to Campbell (1992), Post-1884 emancipation saw the emergence of
public schooling through the allocation of the Negro Education Grant and increased
facilities by the Roman and English Catholic churches and the Protestant based Mico
charities. The Presbyterian Church came into focus as it addressed the needs of
indentureship, when persons from India were brought into Trinidad as contracted servants
from 1845, created by the refusal by the emancipated slaves to work on the plantations.
In 1849, the British government started to invest in the establishment of secular schools
and matched the number of denominational schools by 1857. There remains to this day a
dual system of education based on the English Model, the denominational and secular
school. These are both resourced by state funds.
The education system of Trinidad and Tobago as established in the post
emancipation years survived, with some changes, through both the First and Second
World Wars, and included Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, Baptists, Hindu, and Moslem
schools. There were also programs addressing trade and technical education. The number
of secular elementary and secondary schools rapidly expanded after the Second World
War. There began a shift of educational platforms by the policy makers from one where
education was a tool for personal advancement to one of national social reconstruction
and progress from the 1930’s and continuing through the William’s era, 1956 – 1981.
Education was a major item on the agenda of Dr. Eric Williams, who was unofficially
titled “Father of the Nation”. Williams, born of the country’s education system, and an
internationally renowned scholar, left his position at Howard University to serve as
Premier and Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, for 23 years. He sought to use
education as a means of developing a national identity through three phases. The phases
included: (1) expansion of the education system, including free secondary education and
greater emphasis on teacher education; (2) reorientation of the education system through
extensive planning and expansion of tertiary education realizing the University of the
West Indies; and (3) simultaneous re-orientation and expansion of the education system.
The third stage focused on the development of junior and senior secondary schools,
expansion of technical-vocational education, provision for school feeding, transport,
medical services and resource development (Campbell, 1992).
Trinidad and Tobago’s education system is at present being reviewed. Provisions
are aimed at: (a) establishing an ”enabling policy” environment and policy reform
capability, inclusive of public participation; (b) broadening access to and improving the
quality of education; (c) unifying the system for enhanced commitment, performance and
productivity and; (d) providing a humane, caring and well disciplined system of
educational delivery (Education Policy Paper 1994-2003 p.ix).
The Special Education Unit of the Ministry of Education coordinates service
delivery of special schools. By December, 1998, these included four facilities that serve
students with mental retardation, two for students who are deaf and hearing impaired, one
for students with physical disabilities, one for students who are blind and visually
impaired, one for students who have emotional and behavioral disabilities, and one for
students who are multiple-handicapped. The estimated school population of students with

11
special needs is 25,000, according to the 1984 Marge Report on Handicapping conditions
in Trinidad and Tobago, with 68% of these students located in regular schools. It should
be noted that there was always inadequate provision of special education services, so that
the majority of students with special needs were always within the regular school sector.
There are 120 teachers serving in the special schools, with about one-third holding the
Master of Education degree and 60% holding special education qualifications (Conrad,
1989).
Regular and Special Education Leadership
The establishment of the Special Education Unit in 1980 placed the organization
and administration of the more established special schools under the aegis of the Director
of School Supervision, alongside regular elementary and secondary schools. The Unit
assumed the responsibility of teacher recruitment, security, and tenure for special
education personnel. Since the vast majority of teachers are recruited from the regular
schools and regular educators teach the majority of students with special needs, special
education is generally perceived as the business of both regular and special
schoolteachers. The Pilgrim Report (1990) which followed a National Consultation on
Special Education, proposed a unification of special and regular education where service
delivery would be afforded along a continuum from institutional care to full inclusion.
This proposal was accepted and documented as policy in the Government’s White paper
on Education. The establishment of Diagnostic-Prescriptive Centers in each of Trinidad
and Tobago’s eight educational districts (Education Policy Paper 1993-2003) evidences
this policy. These Centers would provide support services through multi-disciplinary
teams, the success of which is based on the readiness of both regular and special
education leaders to collaborate and work as team members. Success is also linked to the
readiness of regular school principals to envision and address the organization and
administration of school-based systems to address special educational needs within their
respective schools. The responsibility of ensuring successful inclusive practices and
appropriate education for students with special education needs is thus one not limited to
special education leadership.
The Education Policy Paper (1994), also called the White Paper, aims at
minimizing the collision course between regular education ‘s efforts to raise the level of
achievement and accelerate learning, with special education’s mission of appropriate
education that addresses student development in the least restrictive environment. Its
aims at an education system that enables the “special needs child to overcome or
minimize the effects of his/her disability and develop to his/her fullest potential. It should
also prepare all others in the society to accept and to interrelate positively with the
disabled” (Education Policy Paper, p.62). It appears to me that this necessitates an
educational leadership that is both transformational and caring.
There is a common view in Trinidad and Tobago that special education teachers
characterize an ethic of care, evidenced by their choice of career. Regular education
teachers who become special educators, do so primarily based on goodwill, pity, and/or a
sensitivity to special education and disability issues that may be related to family or
friendship ties. Income and resource allocation do not apply, since there is no significant
distinction in salaries, benefits or school equipment between regular and special schools.

12
The history and development of special education is associated with pioneering spirits--
not litigation or legislation--and identified with empowerment, advocacy, personalized
attention, and relationship building. No law mandates special education services in
Trinidad and Tobago. The Minister of Education “may” establish such services.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the mission of special educators is accepted as one of
transforming the school and community’s response to students with special needs.
Special education is seen as a process not only of enhancing individual student
achievement, attitudes and beliefs, but also of enhancing the community.
The special education leader is expected to epitomize this. In the regular schools,
the need for proactive, transforming leadership is just as critical. The White Paper seeks
an educational leadership cadre that affords school-based, autonomous, participative, and
facilitative responses to increasing and justifiable demands for a more humane system.
With the perception that transformation styles of leadership best serve organizational
reform and improvement, there is a muted acknowledgement of the relationship between
many women educational leaders and transformational leadership styles. The
international research community has endorsed the reality and implications of such a
relationship, as for example: Bass (1998); Dunlap and Schmuck (1995); Gilligan (1982);
Irby and Brown (1995); and Shakeshaft (1989).
Theories of Leadership, Women and the Ethic of Care
Educational Leadership
The term “leadership” is rooted in the Anglo-Saxon word "laedere", which means
leading on a journey. With over 75 years of research, and some 350 proposed definitions,
there is yet no clear unequivocal understanding or definition of leadership (Stogdill,
1950). Stogdill opts to describe leadership as a process, which influences group activities
regarding goal setting achievement. Bennis and Nanus (1985) refer to it as something
known to exist, but indefinable. Pfeffer (1981) along with Smircich and Morgan (1982)
propose a move away from leadership as a process, to a product-oriented interpretation,
where the leader is an identifier of the important, a facilitator of change and consensus.
DePree (1989) links leadership to communication, storytelling, and intimacy as an art-
medium. Senge (1990) equates leadership with developing vision and values, servicing
by modeling, and teaching through fostering learning for all. Bolman and Deal (1991)
describe leadership as a relationship based on shared vision, purpose and values, stressing
commitment to passion, trust, flexibility, interpersonal skills and understanding of
followers.
In Trinidad and Tobago, effective school leadership is seen as a corollary of
successful education, where high academic achievement and positive morale are evident,
and the school’s administrators and policy makers judge the institution to be satisfying
related laws and policies. Educational leadership at the national level often appears to be
handicapped in its efforts to accelerate reforms. The organizational model of the Ministry
of Education is based on traditionalist bureaucracy, developed in the early 1900’s. The
term “handicapped” is used to epitomize the failure of the education system to adjust to
changes in organizational models, that reject autocratic top-down systems, with related
assumptions of “underlying hierarchical order, its emphasis on rank, boundary, and
division” (Helgesen, 1990, p. 271).

13
Traditionalist models are based on the notion that administration and leadership
are male issues, as characterized by bureaucracy and deductive reasoning, and based on
empirical research (Blackmore, 1989). Sergiovanni (1992) challenges the bureaucratic–
traditionalist model, noting the absence of value systems that call on personal
experiences, insight, empowerment, community/ professional and school norms, caring
and emotion. Schools and their governance represent special systems, primarily because
they serve as transitional places between home and the larger society. In this context,
“relationships between educators and students are characterized as being in loco parentis
teachers and administrators are “in a collective practice that resembles a shared
stewardship” (Sergiovanni, 1996, p. xii).
Bailey (1991) urges a shift from the administrative bureaucracy of the traditional
educational leader to a more transformational style, where one serves as a social
architect, facilitator, and coach. This is supported also by Kanter (1993) who argues that
“Empowerment, a vital component of transformational leadership, must rest
fundamentally on . . .flattening the hierarchy” (p. 276), to develop better, more
autonomous and powerful leaders.
Positive leadership of educational programs is viewed as a critical factor in
administration, influencing and negotiating inherent moral, instructional, political,
managerial, and social or interpersonal role demands (Hoy & Miskel, 1996). Such
leadership involves a complex set of processes and activities undertaken to improve a
school's effectiveness through voluntary changes in the preferences of others. These
processes are initiated, stimulated, guided, and supported by formal and informal leaders,
and especially by the school administrator.
The compulsory and involuntary nature of education and the ages of clients make
schools particularly vulnerable to the influence of leadership. Such influence involves
extensive active and reactive interpersonal communication. Effective leadership demands
just, spontaneous, crisis-oriented decision-making to unpredictable problems, frequent
interruptions, and episodic work patterns (Secumski-Kiligan, 1993). A pervasive pressure
to maintain harmony and peace, in an ethos of traditionalism, ambiguity and uncertainty
epitomizes effective leadership (Blumberg & Greenfield, 1986).
Transformational leadership thus represents a contemporary, progressive, and
widely accepted leadership theory. Its advocates suggest that it offers a less hierarchical,
flexible continuum of leadership, which is more accommodating to educational reform.
School administrators, and educational leaders are being asked to reexamine the purpose
of education and their approaches to decision-making (Sage & Burello, 1994).
Progressive educational leaders are expected to review the implications of inclusive
schooling, the dismantling of the traditionalist regular -special education dichotomy, and
alternative arrangements for students with disabilities (Council of Administrators of
Special Education, 1993). School leaders are mandated to own more responsibility for
coordinating the efforts of teachers, support staff, students, parents or caretakers, and the
community. Preparation programs seek to ensure that administrators acquire the requisite
skill and knowledge to locate information, assess the impact of disabilities on student
performance, monitor referral-to-placement procedures, manage records and
confidentiality issues, employ assistive technology, facilitate parent involvement, and

14
engage in successful collaborative efforts (Crockett, 1998; Goor, Schwenn, & Boyer
1997).
Women and Leadership
The objective of this study, sharing the marginalized voices of women, places
gendered experiences and contributions center-stage. The centering of women’s
experiences, according to Reinharz (1992), warrants its consideration as a feminist
inquiry. Feminist theorists believe that women: (a) are less valued and have less power in
a male dominated world; (b) are committed to working to empower women and improve
their status; and (c) acknowledge women’s ways of knowing, experiences, and values as
meaningful (Acker, 1987). Further, not only may the inquiry be “feminist”, but it
articulates the stories from within a Caribbean context, which is related but not limited to
mainstream western European, Black, Afro-American, or African perspectives (Leo-
Rhynie, 1997).
Steady (as cited in Terbory-Penn, Harley and Rushing, 1989) contends that
African women, particularly from West African cultures, were the first feminists. These
women led the struggle against racism, sexism, economic exploitation, and social
inequity. She distinguishes between the established feminism of white European and
American culture, asserting that the struggle for class equality, which is a major focus of
western feminism, is impossible without racial equality. She maintains that the ideology
of racism is a very potent and expedient method for maintaining class inequality. She
contends that:
The oppression of the black woman is complex, structural and sexual. For
the majority of black women, liberation from sexual oppression has
always been fused with liberation from other forms of oppression, such as
racial and class, as well as liberation from slavery, colonialism,
neocolonialism, and imperialism. (p. 20).
Surdarkasa (as cited in Terborg-Penn et al., 1989) asserts that in pre-Diaspora
West African cultures the feminist movement was evidenced, as women held positions of
warriors, chiefs, queen-mothers, and supreme monarch. Women were largely
autonomous, independent, recognized as parallel partners in the economic life of their
societies, and valued as healers.
From the Caribbean viewpoint, it is argued that Caribbean women have unique
issues and struggles from those of the “sisterhood” in other regions and cultures. Sutton
and McKeisky (1981) take the position that there is a relationship between the experience
of slavery, West African sex-roles, and gender role allocation in the Caribbean. They
assert that the Caribbean context is unique. There, women are expected to be
economically independent; and accepted as leaders within the community, with strong
supportive kinship and family relationships. Caribbean women have great variability of
socially acceptable conjugal relations, (not necessarily seeing marriage as a preferred
option); and they represent and take care of themselves and the family, if necessary.
Morse (1981), in another Caribbean study, supports this position, suggesting that Afro-
Caribbean women are essentially autonomous and more highly regarded than women in
many western-industrialized societies. She identifies two main factors why, despite
having capitalist economies and a pronounced division of labor, Caribbean societies have

15
not replicated the western patterns of sexual stratification. These factors are: (1)
historically, there was no sexual division of slave labor on the slave plantation that
limited the economic participation of women; and (2) social distance of free whites and
enslaved blacks “minimized the imposition of the dominant class ideologies and
permitted the slaves a degree of autonomy in retaining and developing distinct cultural
patterns and concepts about sex roles and attributes” (p. 495). Morris notes that education
in Trinidad and Tobago is an example of occupational segregation, in that, whereas
women’s leadership and dominance may be acceptable in the classroom, they are
underrepresented as policy makers.
Regarding more generic perspectives of women in leadership issues, Bell and
Chase (1995) describe three strands of feminist critique. These strands include those who
suggest: (1) the existence of clear gender-leadership differences and the encouragement
of collaboration; (2) that such recognition or assertion of difference only exacerbates
gender stereotyping and limits the evolution of leadership change; and (3) that there be an
acceptance of one integrated model of task and interpersonal oriented leadership.
Irby and Brown (1995) recognize the role of bureaucratization in limiting
women’s aspirations to leadership, asserting that there is a need for re-conceptualizing
leadership theory to incorporate the contributions of both genders, and to limit the white
male stereotype manifested in most traditional research. Helgesen (1990), Rosener
(1990), and Shakeshaft (1987) similarly posit that men are perceived as exemplifying
power, dominance and control, while women are perceived as exemplifying
collaboration. According to Klenke (1996), such differences in leadership styles between
men and women are not related to inherent personality, leadership styles, or leadership
effectiveness, but to their learning experiences, power and position, which have too often
fallen victim to dichotomous and stereotypical practices.
Research on women in educational leadership suggests that educational systems
can benefit from an appreciation and understanding of the different ways women learn
and lead. Experiential learning models afford these insights and allow important life
experiences to provide a foundation for leadership and significant organizational
contributions. Astin and Leland (1991) are among those researchers who hold that
women leaders more typically form networks with talented personnel, and highly value
listening and interpersonal skills, along with collegial and consensual styles. These
values, according to Bass (1998) are strongly associated with Transformational
Leadership styles. Male administrators, usually the higher percentage in schools, are
described as generally more "aggressive, independent, self-sufficient, forceful, and
dominant” (Eagly, Karau, & Johnson, 1992, p. 79). Women leaders studied by Eagley et
al.; were identified as more democratic and less autocratic than their male counterparts,
treating staff as colleagues or equals. The orientations rather provokingly labeled
masculine and feminine by Eagly et al., are not intended to stereotype behaviors but to
differentiate between two leadership orientations and administrative styles.
Educational Leadership and the Ethic of Care
The uniqueness of the school culture has been cited as a major factor in caring
leadership (Beck, 1994). Schools are recognized as being unlike other organizations, and
thereby being more difficult to effectively administer (Hoy & Miskel, 1996). Sergiovanni

16
(1996) distinguishes education leadership from other administrative models for the
following reasons: (a) the unique moral character of the work environment; (b)
autonomous, educated, and permanent workforce; and (c) both the regularity and
unpredictability of variables affecting the school milieu. According to Sergiovanni,
leaders with positive attitudes, as manifested by those who value diversity generally, are
more likely to support programs targeting individualization of instruction or intervention;
to recognize the principals’ central leadership role and the influence on this by their
prevailing attitude; and to facilitate programs which target attitudinal change. This
requires time; it is a process, not a “one and done” specific event.
To be effective, educational leaders must consider the dignity of each individual
and the uniqueness of each situation. Thus, whilst striving to create a positive and caring
educational environment, leaders must also foster a sense of belonging and
interdependence (Pazey, 1995). The processes of making education an opportunity for
success for all, of keeping followers motivated and the community of schooling positive,
is no easy task, especially when it includes the linking of special and regular education
programs. Indeed, Goor et al. (1997) suggests that leadership attitudes and behaviors
toward special education are significant factors in influencing the success of special
programs. Crockett (1998) went further proposing a framework across the leadership
curriculum that would prepare educational leaders through collaborative practice. An
ethos of care and concern for others serves as a spirit that eclipses self-centeredness and
subversion (Brendtro, Brokenleg, & Van Bockern, 1990).
The development and application of models to reframe educational leadership and
administration as a caring profession has been urged through the efforts of Beck (1994),
Gilligan (1982), Noddings (1991), and Sergiovanni (1999). Scholars and educators
continue to appeal to leaders to be cognizant of, and to practice, an ethic described as
"caring" (Anfara & Miron, 1996). This is characterized by acts done out of love and
natural inclination (Noddings 1988), with the goal of helping each student optimally
actualize socially and academically.
Traditionalist leadership models are identified with masculinity, and challenged
by feminist researchers. Research on the constructs of an “ethic of care” and leadership
styles are not synonymous with issues of feminism, and are associated positively with
educational reform (Pazey, 1995). These constructs offer a new morality of leadership
involving reflective practice about purpose, values and beliefs (Sergiovanni, 1992). They
alter customary roles through decentralized decision making, broadening of power,
authority and accountability bases (Elmore & Fuhrman, 1994); and enhance inter and
intrapersonal relationships, a key supportive factor in positive teacher-leadership (Zinn,
1997). Caring leadership also contributes to authenticity, positive intentionality,
spirituality and sensibility (Bhindi & Duigan, 1997). These authentic, intentional,
spiritual and sensible aspects are described as essential to “realizing the true potential and
tapping the diversity of talents of those who work”. These essentials are not pertinent
only in terms of productivity but also in terms of the quality of life and constituents”
(Bhindi & Duiga, 1997, p.119).

17
An ethos of care and concern for others serves as a spirit that eclipses self-
centeredness and subversion (Brendtro, et al., 1990). It employs a continuous search for
competence.
To have as our educational goal the production of caring, competent,
loving, and lovable people is not anti-intellectual. Rather, it demonstrates
respect for the full range of human talents. Not all human beings are good
at or interested in mathematics, science, or . . . literature. But all humans
can be helped to lead lives of deep concern for others, for the natural
world and its creatures, and for the preservation of the human-made world.
They can be led to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to make
positive contributions, regardless of the occupation they may choose
(Noddings 1995, p 677).
Witherell and Noddings (1991) posit that building, sharing, and exploring
narratives are the primary vehicles for teaching caring. Kohn (1991) proposes that the
place where caring dispositions will best be learned is where leader and peer interaction
is intense and regular, and where learning is evident. Leaders need to make and take time
to talk and listen to their subordinates and colleagues, and to attend to their needs. They
need to encourage the development of constancy and continuity through shared rituals,
routines, and interpretations. Educational leaders, as care-givers should consider and
respond individually to both clients and their parental and professional caregivers, and
help create a sense of caring and belonging for all administrators, teachers, and students.
Kunc (1992) laments the tendency of many school administrators to perpetuate the
philosophy that student achievement, conformity, and normalization as measured by
academic and standardized testing, are all that is valued. He asserts that school leadership
must seek to enhance other values as quality of life for all, interdependence, cooperation,
and community development. Systems that emphasize individualism and competition as
key factors in the preparation for society should reexamine their positions. Relationships
are as important as rules and rights in decision-making and policy implementation.
When educational leadership is characterized by care for others, participants as
educators, parents, or clients will see and reach beyond themselves. However, as Lipsitz
(1995) warns, without caring, “individual human beings cannot thrive, communities will
become violent battlegrounds, the democratic experiment must ultimately fail, and the
planet will not be able to support life” (p.665). Caring allows unity in diversity and
minimizes the dangers of competitive performance and administrative efficiency,
traditionally touted as characteristic of better educational administration (Hoy & Miskel,
1996).
Beck (1994), supported by Gilligan (1982); Newmann, (1993); Noddings, (1993);
Sergiovanni,(1992); and Starratt (1991), continues to appeal to educators and
administrators to be cognizant of and to practice this ethic characterized as "caring".
Anfara and Miron (1996) go further. They call upon educational leaders to “recognize
that there is more involved here than caring . . . (that) there is the need to reevaluate the
very philosophy that has governed education” (p.304). The values, which serve as the
foundation of educational leadership, need to be publicly debated and tested, so that we
can actually establish caring and move onwards to educational reform.

18
Researching the Challenge to the Patriarchy of Educational Leadership
The Caribbean perspective. There has been no systematic attempt by the State to
address the non-legitimization of the role and contributions of the women educational
leaders of Trinidad and Tobago. Campbell (1992), Morris (1999), and Taylor (1996)
address issues of recognition and under-representation of Caribbean women in
educational administration.
The legacy of Colonial Britain--handed down through the education models in
Trinidad and Tobago--had characterized schools as agencies of social control, facilitated
through a small male elite. An important objective of education was the realization of the
large majority as a compliant working class. Curricula addressed religious and moral
values of the "motherland" England, where boys were prepared to the natural leaders and
girls "to be better wives and mothers" (Morris, 1999, p. 3). In such a context, men served
as the missionary educator and administrator. Limitations on the evolution of women in
educational administration were realized through "through deliberate as well as
unconscious attempts to exclude and isolate" them (Taylor, 1997, p. 184). These efforts,
according to Taylor, comprised socialized personal agendas that might include
perceptions of women as nurturers or the role of leadership being too rigorous for
women; under-representation of women; income inequity income; and deliberate
attempts to make them powerlessness.
Campbell (1992) notes the presence of women since the inception of public
education in the late 19th century in Trinidad and Tobago in denominational schools. This
presence of women in the education system became more evidenced with a shift, from
primarily a traditionalist industrial male-biased and male-dominant system, to one more
characteristic of the interests and needs of the broader population. Concurrent with this
change was the inclusion of needlework in the curriculum and women in the infant
department, compared with a one-teacher one-school model.
By 1897, the Teachers’ Certificate Examination was being completed
predominately by women, and in 1970, women exceeded men as qualified teachers,
providing the maternal care associated with the presence of children in the classroom,
particularly in the infant departments. Campbell also notes the attractiveness of women
teachers to the state, being persons who may be paid less, even with qualifications
superior to those of their male counterparts.
Taylor (1996) explores the phenomenon of exclusion and isolation associated
with a perception of gender discrimination against women in educational leadership. He
recognizes a trend towards increased representation of women in educational leadership
at the elementary school level in Trinidad and Tobago. Taylor proposes “conscientisation
and mobilization of women” (p.196), the establishment of mentoring relationships, and
more incisive research as key strategies for effectively addressing the trivialization of
women’s contributions.
Morris (1999) investigates the career experiences of 13 secondary school
principals in Trinidad and Tobago. A significant aspect of her results is the importance
these participants place on relationships, attachment, and caring to their successes as
administrators and leaders. An ethic of care is portrayed as a foundation, not only their to

19
relationships with subordinates, but to curriculum implementation, discipline and their
roles as mentors and models.
The U.S. perspective. In the United States, Restine (1993) contends that the
fundamental tasks of educational leadership have no gender identification, but are about
what has emphasis in priority and practice. The notion that caring is a moral attribute of
women should not be used as a construct to avoid its application as a valid factor in
effective leadership (Gilligan, 1982). Indeed, according to Lyons (1988), we should
incorporate both the feminine voice of care and the masculine voice of justice, equality,
reciprocity, rights and logic. Glazer (1991) suggests that caring transforms education,
forming an "alliance between feminism and professionalism, restructuring the public and
private spheres of human existence to be more responsive . . . and to build non-
bureaucratic, non-hierarchical systems" (p. 338). It is accepted that both women and men
know, and can use, the ethic of care (Gilligan & Attanuchi, 1988).
Current Research Agenda
In a study that reviewed male and female leadership styles, Shakeshaft (1987)
identifies differences between the motives and activities of male and female leaders. The
study took the form of a meta-analysis of over 200 dissertations and 600 research articles,
combined with the researcher’s own data and experiences. Shakeshaft’s results reveal that
women more readily: (a) exhibit behaviors illustrative of an emphasis on relationship
building and caring; (b) focus on the needs of their subordinates; and (c) characterize a
less dominant authoritative style of leadership.
In her personal account of experiences as high school administrator cum feminist
administrator, Regan (1990) highlights the benefits of such caring, collaboration and less-
aggressive behaviors. She further acknowledges the atypical nature of such
characteristics among the traditional leadership culture. In her study of women’s ways of
leadership, Helgesen (1990) determines that women administrators are relationship
oriented, as characterized through caring, cooperation, relationships, and intuition,
fostering creativity and innovation. Inclusion and group affiliation were engendered over
individual achievement. Bureaucracy and authority gave way to empowerment,
responsibility, and human development.
In Astin and Leland's (1991) study of women’s leadership styles, they find similar
values with female change-agents. Their study profiles and compares women educational
leaders from 1960-1980 to document their experiences, perspectives, and
accomplishments. They use a qualitative descriptive format comprising case studies and
in-depth interviews. The targeted population comprised 77 women educational leaders,
spanning three generations. Interviews addressed five main areas: (1) social and historical
context; (2) issues and legacies of the women’s movement; (3) peer and work relations;
(4) personal and professional development; and (5) the leadership process. The results of
the study showed three major elements in the accomplishments of the leaders studied.
These accomplishments consist of collective action, passionate commitment, and
consistent performance. The data also identified that the leaders: (a) formed networks
with talented personnel; (b) highly valued listening and interpersonal skills; and (c)
extensively used collegial styles to reach consensus.

20
In their meta-analysis of 50 studies that compared the leadership styles of male
and female principals of public schools, Eagly, Karau, and Johnson (1992) note that male
leaders, who represent the higher percentage of leaders in schools, were described as
"aggressive, independent, self-sufficient, forceful, and dominant. Women principals in
contrast were perceived as "kind, helpful, understanding, warm, sympathetic, and aware
of others' feelings" (p. 79). The orientations are rather provokingly labeled as generally
masculine and feminine. This, Eagly et al. insist, is not to standardize behaviors but to
differentiate between two leadership orientations and administrative styles. Differences
were not limited to perceptions but were found also with actual behaviors. Women were
observed to be more democratic and less autocratic in treating staff as colleagues or
equals compared to their male counterparts. Women also scored higher in task-oriented
styles.
Segal (1993) expresses concern about the probability that caring and sensitive
transformational leadership could be associated with women, and itself become a
stereotype. Irby and Brown (1995) ignoring such fears, apply an in-depth interview based
study aiming to contrast male and female perspectives of effective leadership skills. This
study represents a shift from biological conceptualizations of gender differences to those
based on perceptions. The study comprises 120 leaders equally classified in four groups
representing men and women from education and business/ government. Results reveal
significant gender differences pertaining to perceptions of effective leadership attitudes
and skills, expectations of supervision, authority, and the origins and influences of
leadership style. Bell and Chase (1995) contend, however, that these differences between
leadership styles and gender might be more related to stereotyping. In their interviews of
27 women superintendents over a three-year period, combined with a review of the
research literature, they conclude that women do not develop uniquely feminine
leadership styles, but that they integrate both bureaucratic and relational orientations. The
researchers accept that sex differences, along with race and the prevailing educational
system, have roles in shaping leadership practice.
In an investigation of the relationship between care and transformational
leadership, Parks (1995) determines that women more typically exhibited these two
constructs. These conclusions, from a study of 63 women student leaders, were based on
a quantitative research methodology, using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the
Student Leadership Practices Inventory.
Marshall et al. (1996) through a secondary analysis of 50 career assistant
principals identifies their leadership practices as typical of an ethic of care, and how
traditionalist leadership and organizational practices subvert such an ethic. The
researchers conclude that “caring is a necessary condition for transforming schools into
successful living and learning environments” (p. 291). They acknowledge that caring
leadership is too often constrained by “bureaucratic models, structures and policies” (p.
282).
Without limiting concerns to the ethic of care, but seeking to describe the
experiences of successful women educational leaders, Saranchock (1996) utilizes
narratives in her study. This qualitative study identifies the importance of collaboration in
women’s leadership styles in general and Hawaiian women educators in particular. The

21
analysis of the narratives highlighted a number of recurring themes that were color-
coded. In her results of the study, she concludes that the women studied all possess
leadership qualities that are typical of leaders generally, demonstrated nurturing through
caring and compassion, and characterized high levels of professional dedication, the
rights of others, and democracy. The researcher took the position that the issue of gender
was not a significant factor in the study.
Wright (1997) also uses narrative as methodology in her study of two black
women school principals. She sought to identify the activities, attitudes, characteristics
and circumstances unique to and those perceived as contributing to the successes of these
leaders. Additionally, she collected data from the scrapbooks, albums and miscellaneous
memorabilia of the participant-interviewees. Data were analyzed using constructs as
childhood influences, personal and educational opportunities, teaching experience, and
career challenges. Results of the study reveal the importance of: (a) parental guidance; (b)
the adequacy of resources to facilitate non-interruption of post secondary education; (c)
the ability to transcend racial class and gender concerns; (d) having positive human
relation skills; and (e) a drive to make a contribution to their educational communities.
In her study of the life histories of two female superintendents, Clay (1997)
claims that the use of narratives best allowed her participant-interviewees to bring out
“their personal life stories, views, thoughts, feelings and accomplishments”(p.79) thus
illuminating their stories from their perspectives. She acknowledges that it even became
necessary to reduce her targeted population from 10 to two, due to the realized enormity
of the exercise, which covered a seven-month period. She opted for pseudonyms and the
subsequent destruction of her tapes following her final paper in order to gain the
confidence of her informants. Data analysis comprised the identification of common
themes, the development of constructs, cross-case analysis, and the personal reflections
of the informants as well as the researcher. The results of the study emphasize the
importance of developing individual images of effective leadership, which are reflective
of one’s own experiences, personality, and context. The contributions of mentors and
flexibility in coping with adversity emerged as two important features contributing to the
leadership styles of the women studied. This recognition, of personal experiences,
contrasts with traditionalist nature and nurture theories.
Owen-Kitchen (1997) explores the considerations, perceptions, reasoning styles
and experiences of six educational leaders. She concludes that there are differences in the
perceptions of men and women educational leaders that may be associated with gender.
These differences are linked to their perceptions of leadership roles and power. Women
educational leaders are characterized as evidencing more caring, empowering, and
interactive styles. The three men, of the six superintendents studied, characterize a higher
incidence of command, control, and power-oriented strategies. The study concludes that:
(a) personal values and philosophy affect conflict resolution and decision making styles;
(b) there were no evident gender differences in the moral reasoning of superintendents
studied and (c) women superintendents tended to see their roles differently from their
male counterparts.
In her study, Arrington (1998) uses narratives as autobiographical reflections to
explore the key factors contributing to the development of leadership styles. Participant -

22
interviewees are four African-American women leaders of differing professions, two
being in higher education. The themes emerging included the positive impact of
supportive, affirmative and interactive relationships with significant others, and
collaborative and inclusive decision-making practices. Strong kinship bonds,
achievement orientation, the ability to deal effectively with racist and/or negative
attitudes, multicultural teaching experiences, consciousness of equitable and inequitable
treatment and the ethic of caring are also identified as significant factors in the evolution
of these women leaders.
The Way Forward. Given an ideal research situation, I would be guided by the stages
of research into women in leadership as identified by Shakeshaft (1989). She identifies
six phases. The first three constitute research characterized by: survey generated
descriptive data; comparative statistical data, which identify exemplary women leaders;
and information on the status and barriers facing excluded and disadvantaged women.
The fourth stage illustrates where I am located in this research proposal. It seeks to
describe the experiences and lives of identified women and to share their experiences. A
fifth stage involves challenging and deconstructing traditionalist male theories of
leadership and illustrating the inappropriateness of using male models to identify or
evaluate feminist/feminine contributions. The sixth stage of research aims to reunite and
transform leadership theory to include feminist/feminine perspectives.
The current study shares the experiences and perspectives of four of those women
educational leaders, who have contributed to educational leadership in Trinidad and
Tobago, and who represent caring attributes and transformational leadership styles. The
methodology for this inquiry will be addressed in Chapter three.

23
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
In this section I describe the design of the study and the methods used to collect,
manage and analyze the data. The study aims to explore, share and document the
experiences and perceptions of four women educational leaders of Trinidad and Tobago.
I begin with a clarification of who I am and the perceptions and experience that lead and
relate to this inquiry.
Meeting the Players
The Researcher
This study was inspired by my personal experiences as an educator, spanning 29
years from student teacher to special education administrator. I entered special education
in 1980, on invitation from the foremost pioneer special educational executive and the
‘mother of special education’ in Trinidad and Tobago. At that time I was pursuing
information on how to prevent behavior problems at elementary schools. My first
position was at a psychiatric hospital school, where I served as an assistant special
education teacher for three years.
Following my return from special education studies at the University of London, I
became very active in cross-categorical special education issues. I was awarded a second
scholarship to the University of Sheffield to pursue the M.Ed. in special education. I have
served as: (a) a member of the Advisory Committee on special education; (b) president of
The Association for Special Education of Trinidad and Tobago; (c) chairperson of the
Special Education Committee at the Teacher’s Association; (d) board member of the
Association for mentally retarded children; (e) lecturer at the teachers, and nursing
college respectively. My service extended to the establishment of a Distance Education
Program involving the teachers association, the special education association, and
Sheffield University, which continues and accounts for more than 200 graduates with
Certificates, Diplomas and the M.Ed. in Special and Inclusive Education.
I was also very involved in various national efforts for public special education
sponsored by the state in collaboration with CIDA, OAS, UNICEF and UNESCO, and
was commissioned by UNESCO to do an evaluation of special education services in
Antigua, Belize, and Guyana.
Prior to the start of studies at Virginia Tech, I held the position of principal of a
special school and advisory/resource center for students with emotional/behavioral
difficulties for seven years. I have received a number of awards, including the National
Award for Excellence in Teaching granted by the government of Trinidad and Tobago in
collaboration with the teachers association.
I am the first of seven children, born, when my mother was 16, to parents who
had dropped out of school. My father had learned a trade as a welder and struggled to
meet the growing demands of the family. We all suffered academically because of marital
and economic challenges. I always felt that I had a mission to family, my community and
myself and, as a professional, to my nation. I suppose that this evolved from my on-going

24
search to understand the inequities and different worlds of my schoolmates, and the
reality of my world. I had attended a “prestigious” boy’s school during my secondary
school years and was very close to my friends. I often spent time in their homes and even
shared their lunches. I was always very aware of their being of middle and upper middle
socio-economic status. I was jealous that their parents had no pigs requiring them to cut
grass, as I had to do, nor did they have water-barrels to fill at 5.30 a.m. before school.
Further, even within my extended family we were the "poor ones down in South
Oropouche. I hated this and I remember the insults and negative inferences when I visited
other family members for vacation.
The Mentors
In the following introductions and descriptions of the participants, I use
pseudonyms. The story of my teaching career begins as an assistant teacher in the
Catholic school system. Within three years of teaching, I met one of the participating
interviewees, Kultya Calypso. I served as an elementary school teacher with the state-
school system at senior, middle and infant department levels for six years. Whilst
completing the Licentiateship of the College of Preceptors, a United Kingdom (U.K.)
based post-teacher college qualification, I moved into the special education arena serving
as an assistant special education teacher for persons who were intellectually and
psychiatrically challenged. I held this position for three years. Among the many pioneers
I grew to know during these early years in special education was Patricia Newton. I then
received a scholarship to the University of London to pursue training in special
education. On my return to Trinidad, I was introduced to my third participant when, in
1987, I became acquainted with Ariel Wynna.
The Mentors as the Participants
The population comprises four women educators, three of these having attained
the highest positions of public education executive leadership within their fields. They
are Patricia Newton, Ariel Wynna, Kultya Calypso and Daphne Johann. Patricia Newton
and Ariel Wynna made their contributions as leaders in the area of special education. The
other two interviewees, Kultya Calypso and Daphne Johann served in the regular
education system. Patricia, Kultya and Daphne are identifiable as Caribbean educators.
They are all active in different sectors of social, religious or professional levels in
Trinidad and Tobago, and the Caribbean region. Three of the four women are primarily
of African ancestry. The fourth person of the study is of mixed ancestry, with Indian,
African, and Portuguese roots.
Although I had other mentors, several of them male including a former Minister
of Education, a Chief Education Officer, and two special education supervisors, the
mentors who went beyond advice were the women who constitute this study. I have often
reflected on the uniqueness of their perspectives and the power of their experiences in my
life. As a first-born of a young and unhappy mother, I am interested in how women with
other options became successful. I am also interested in how they achieved leadership
positions, and, once there, how they were able to maintain influence, institute change and
sustain success, be it by choice or chance (Young, 1990).

25
Research Design
This study explores, shares, and documents the experiences and perceptions of
four women educational leaders of Trinidad and Tobago. I opt for a qualitative inquiry
and oral history method because it accommodates my objectives of exploring and sharing
the testimonies of four women educational leaders with a view to understanding their
perceptions and experiences of leadership and the ethic of care. Qualitative methodology
and oral history interviewing also facilitate the collection of detailed testimonies of
participants in their natural settings, maintaining their distinctive “voices” and values,
whilst allowing me opportunities to close the researcher-participant “distance” (Guba &
Lincoln, 1988, p. 84). As a researcher who sees himself as an active learner, and who
appreciates and celebrates the message of the “elders”, this approach further allows me to
present the stories of these women in much detail while recognizing my own subjectivity.
I am also able to use an informal style of writing, which I believe to be acceptable and
engaging to the audience of special and regular education teachers, and potential leaders
that I serve, and the research committee to which I am accountable (Creswell, 1998).
The study is a qualitative inquiry within the biographical tradition, based on oral
history interviewing, transcription, and the analysis of the edited narratives. Baum (1995)
defines oral history as a process of recording reminiscences by means of a tape-recorder,
not random reminiscences, but planned interviews, in a subject of historical interest about
which the narrator can speak with authority. [The interviewees] can be someone who was
in an influential position at the time of the event . . . or an observation post . . . or
articulate representative of a class of person . . . or an old timer who can describe a past
way of life (p.4).
Reinharz (1992) notes that oral history may be used interchangeably with such
terms as case histories, in-depth life interviews, biographical interviews, and personal
narrative. Martin (1995) suggests that oral history supplements data sources on behalf of
underrepresented individuals and groups. She contends that oral history is especially
important to integrating human values, helping to shape the lives of and empower people,
developing the skills of practitioners working with diverse populations and giving value
to the lives of women. With less emphasis on Stone’s first two criteria, I propose to
utilize all of the above. Oral history is guided, but not determined, by an interview
protocol (Creswell, 1998).
Research Questions
The research inquiry comprised three guiding questions and a set of prompts,
which were used sparingly to keep the inquiry focused. The guiding questions were based
on my objective of sharing the experiences and life stories of my participants as they
apply to educational leadership. The study addressed the following questions: (1) What
do the testimonies of these women reveal about factors which contributed to their
evolution as educational leaders? (2) What are some of the experiences and perceptions
that characterize these women educational leaders? (3) How do they perceive, experience
and nurture the ethic of care in their leadership practices?
More detailed information might be elicited from the following prompts, which
were sometimes used during the interview, depending on the context. These evolved from
my experiences with interviewing a retired principal, as part of an oral history project at

26
Virginia Tech, and the oral history pilot interview commissioned by my doctoral
committee:
Prompts regarding guiding question 1:
Tell me about yourself as an educational leader?
How do you think your childhood prepared you for a career in education?
How do you feel about your contributions to education and the education
community?
Prompts regarding guiding question 2:
• Tell me about the person who had the most impact on your development
as an educational leader?
• What role models did you rely on to maximize your leadership styles?
• How has your professional training contributed to your evolution as an
educational leader?
• What are the major obstacles or challenges you faced?
• How do you think your being a woman has hindered or contributed to
your evolution as an educational leader?
• Can you think of an experience that had a significant impact on your
development as a woman educational leader?
• What are your views about the perception that there is a unique leadership
style, attributable to women?
Prompts regarding guiding question 3:
• How have you experienced “care” in your life?
• Have you had any exemplars of caring leadership?
• How have you nurtured caring leadership?
• How can we facilitate caring leadership?
Data Collection
The following sections serve to clarify my strategies for the selection of
participant-interviewees, and the collection and analysis of the data.
Participants
The first phase of methodology involved the selection of the participating
interviewees. The selection of participants was based on my generating a list of women
educational leaders who represented the following characteristics: (a) were experienced
teachers; (b) demonstrated an ethic of care and a leadership style which placed people
first; and (c) served as mentors and contributed to the development of emerging leaders. I
then ranked members of this list based on the following criteria: (a) my knowledge and
experience of them and their impact upon emerging leadership; (b) the contributions each
made nationally; and (c) whether they had previously shared formal written or oral
histories with an audience of educational practitioners.
Following the pilot study, commissioned by my committee, I included its subject,
Ariel Wynna, making four, the proposed number of participant interviewees. This fourth
person was among the generated list and was chosen as a complement to participants who
characterized the two sectors of special and regular education leadership. Having four
participants, two each from regular and special education, allow for bridging the

27
experiences of the participants in these two sectors. This possible relationship is
important also in the light of the government’s plan to establish one unified education
system.
In the second phase, I contacted prospective participant interviewees in rank
order, identifying myself as a doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech., informally stating my
case and inviting their collaborative involvement. The first three women who were asked
to participate agreed to do so. The interview protocol was then developed and
arrangements were made to meet with participant-interviewees to clarify any questions,
address any concerns, and to initiate the process of acquiring the main data. Before this
preliminary interview, I searched available archives or contacted sources that could
facilitate biographical data. Following this step, interviews with each participant were
scheduled to last approximately one hour. Transcripts were made from these taped
conversations, which allowed for collaborative editing of the narratives. Next I formally
began studying the narratives to determine if further clarification was warranted. Detailed
plans, which note the purpose of the study, its time frames, interview protocol, and ideas
for a mutually determined location, are found in Appendices A, B and C.
Each interviewee's permission as a participant was required prior to the study. I
explained to each interviewee her right to withdraw from the study to discuss any
concerns, and to read the interviews before they were finalized. The clarification of these
issues contributed to an important level of trust between the participants and myself. I
remain committed to protecting the interests of my participant-interviewees.
Narrative Data Collection
Data collection was realized through tape-recorded oral histories, where
interviewees shared their stories as “fully, completely, and honestly” as they desired
(Nielsen 1990, p. 101). Each of at least two interviews, per participant, was scheduled at
the convenience of the interviewee and audio-taped. Interviews lasted approximately one
hour and allowed the participants to reconstruct their experiences in a natural and relaxed
manner. This first interview focused on further clarification of concerns, establishing
rapport, and consolidating trust. The interview protocol comprised questions aimed at
exploring the childhood, family background and professional experiences of these
educational leaders. Each participant-interviewee was encouraged to answer freely, and if
necessary to deviate from the proposed interview protocol, and to append any further
information or make corrections to the data, following their reading of the transcripts.
The second session encouraged the participants to discuss their professional
experiences. These interviews focused on their university years, reasons for choosing
education as a profession, years in graduate school, leadership aspirations, and their
individual paths to executive leadership. This second interview also included questions
aimed at recording the perceptions of the participant-interviewees, the contexts in which
they worked, relationships, leadership style, educational and supervisory platforms,
gender related challenges that they might have experienced, and how they perceived and
demonstrated the ethic of care.
Following collection of the data, I developed the narratives, through a process of
transcribing and editing the data. Copies of first-draft manuscripts of the both interviews
were shared with participant-interviewees to accommodate any amendments.

28
Data Analysis Procedures
Edited narratives evolving from the transcripts and refined in collaboration with
participant-interviewees served as the unit of analysis. According to Creswell (1998),
data analysis in qualitative research begins even with the first set of data collection. In an
analysis of the strategies of Bogdan and Biklen (1992), Huberman and Miles (1994), and
Wolcott (1994), Creswell identifies phases of data analysis and representations applicable
to this study. These phases included the following: (a) an ongoing review of all
narratives, including reflective and field notes; (b) corrective feedback from the
participants; (c) data reduction through coding and construct development; (d) the
development of analytical frameworks to facilitate the search for meaning; and (e) the
reconstruction of the narratives. In using this synthesized model, I encouraged the
narrators to highlight their major epiphanies and to relate these to the theoretical bases of
leadership, caring, and the experiences of women. The collaboratively edited transcripts
of their oral histories were analyzed to present the experiences of the interviewees, and to
describe and explain the norms and values underlying their behavior (Rubin & Rubin,
1995). This analysis also identified recurring themes or constructs found within their
experiences or the theoretical data.
Data analysis in this study comprised three stages: (1) coding of the transcripts to
reflect the major emerging constructs; (2) identifying and establishing links between
constructs; and (3) critically analyzing constructs to identify messages pertaining to
educational leadership and feminine leadership.
Quality Control
I believe that my extensive experience of 29 years in education, knowledge
gained as a teacher and emerging leader, knowledge of the educational system and
leadership in Trinidad and Tobago, and my long established relationship with the
participant-interviewees facilitate my--and the data’s--trustworthiness.
I have confidence in the trust and candor of participants. This confidence is based
on my personal knowledge of them, their concern for effective educational services and
personnel preparation, their commitment to the optimal development of the community--
that is for Trinidad and Tobago--and the collaborative efforts made to facilitate their
confidentiality and anonymity. There were, however, other challenges I faced. For
example, my personal knowledge and experiences with the participant-interviewees,
although facilitating trustworthiness and access to “insider status”, presented me with the
challenge of applying to myself verbal and body language restraint. During the pilot
study, there were numerous occasions when I found myself so involved in conversation,
or sharing my own experiences, that I risked losing my managed subjectivity. I did
identify with the perspectives of the interviewees, and felt quite comfortable with them.
LeCompte, Millroy and Preissle (1992) address the challenge concerned with maintaining
insider and outsider status, describing it as a schizophrenic task. We risk losing the
“outsider's” perspective by over identifying with participants, and we risk losing the
“insider” perspective by being too detached. Another challenges I faced related to issues
of credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability of the findings, typical of
qualitative methodology (Lincoln and Guba, 1985).

29
Confidentiality and anonymity. While undertaking the pilot study, I was made aware
that there is a high probability that participants might wish for anonymity, exclusive of
my role. This I had not anticipated, although I was very much aware of the importance of
confidentiality. As a consequence, I have used pseudonyms as descriptors for all
participants in the study and in the narratives. Confidentiality was afforded to participants
through a signed statement from the researcher, pertaining to their references, full access
to notes, and use of recorded interviews. Oral history interviewing was used only for data
collection. Limiting oral history to an interviewing technique allowed greater freedom of
expression, whilst reducing the vulnerability that some participants may have felt,
knowing that audio-taped conversations were required for archiving. The methodology
did not mandate the archiving of audio-tapes, or anonymity-threatening memorabilia, and
facilitated anonymity to participant interviewees.
Credibility. Lincoln and Guba (1995) recommend five major techniques for ensuring
credibility: (1) member checking; (2) field based activities; (3) peer debriefing; (4)
negative case analysis; and (5) referential adequacy. This study used member checking,
peer-briefing and referential adequacy techniques. Member checking in the study is
characterized by having participant-interviewees review the accuracy of the transcripts,
agreement with initial constructs, and make final additions and clarifications to the
transcripts. I also used peer debriefing, which according to Lincoln (1985), is having a
critique of the study done by a “disinterested peer in a manner paralleling an analytic
session and for the purpose of exploring aspects of the inquiry that might otherwise
remain only implicit within the inquirer's mind" (p.308). Referential adequacy was
accomplished by having the verbatim and edited narratives available for scrutiny so that
data analyses and interpretations could be tested for adequacy against the raw data.
Triangulation may be of three types: (1) time, space, data, and person
triangulation; (2) investigator triangulation; and (3) methodological triangulation
(Denzin, 1978). I addressed data triangulation by using four participants (rather than one)
from differing areas of educational leadership, namely special and regular education.
Triangulation was addressed by combining data from the interviews, biographical data
where available, and my field notes. Triangulation affords thick description of the
participating interviewees and contexts, important for interpretation and explanations.
Transferability. The extent to which the findings of this study might be applied to
other situations or individuals is addressed by the concept of transferability which is a
direct function of the similarity between contexts (Lincoln, 1985). Through “thick
description”, I have provided detailed information about the contexts, the data, the
participant interviewees, and myself. Anyone wishing to apply the findings to another
context has enough information to make such a judgment.
Dependability. Dependability concerns itself with determining the acceptability of the
process of inquiry, whereas confirmability is concerned with the quality and acceptability
of the findings and its interpretation. I used an audit trail to meet these concerns, and, as
such, I made a record of raw data, data reduction and reconstruction, synthesis products
and analysis.

30
Limitations of the Study
I believe that there are three limitations to this study characterized by restricted
generalizability, researcher influence and bias, and the fact that the study is not
completely inductive.
The first limitation to this study might be its generalizability, since the study
focused on the stories of four women, who all worked within a 50-mile radius in a twin-
island state. I do not aim to generalize beyond the lives of the identified women, but their
messages may be transferable to similar contexts. Secondly, I recognize the potential
influence of my choice of questions, style of questioning, gender, age and non-verbal
cues. Thirdly, although qualitative studies are essentially thought of as inductive, this
study was not completely so. I have been influenced by the research literature on my
choice of questions, although my questions were not limited to any specific issues in the
research literature, and I let the questions take second place to the views and stories of the
participant interviewees.

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CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS
This chapter presents the reconstructed narratives developed from the topical oral
history interviews of four women educational leaders: Patricia Newton, Ariel Wynna,
Kultya Calypso and Daphne Johann. These lives of the women cover seven decades
starting with the birth of Patricia in the early 1920’s. Patricia and Ariel served their
professional lives primarily in the area of special education, with Kultya and Daphne
contributing through regular education. Kultya worked in teacher education and college
administration and Daphne advanced the cause of curriculum development and
educational reform. In this chapter, I introduce them in that order, and seek to provide
answers to the questions: Who are these women? What are their experiences and
perspectives on leadership, women in educational leadership, and the ethic of care?
Narrative I: Introducing Patricia Newton, Special Education Pioneer
Patricia Newton is a former head of special education services, and a pioneer in
a myriad of philanthropic efforts. She has served at the highest executive positions in an
extensive range of associations involved in women, social welfare, childcare, and special
education issues at home and in the Caribbean region. Patricia has been honored in
varied ways, which include: Caribbean, and World editions of Who’s Who publications;
the Presidents’ Committee on Mental Retardation in the United States; the Caribbean
Award for work in Mental Retardation; the National Public Service Medal of Merit
(Gold) for Community Services; the Principal of the year Award (Special Education);
Individual of the Year Award, and the Woman of Caribbean Award. Patricia is the only
honorary women’s member of a prestigious men’s association and was also recognized
and honored as a pioneer by a host of women, business and voluntary organizations.
There are a number of institutions named in her honor, which include one special school,
one primary school and three nursery schools.
She is well recognized in the Caribbean and among audiences in her interest
groups in Europe and the United States. She remains active in a number of related
agencies at advisory and executive levels. She has contributed to the national community,
through the presentation of papers and participation at regional and international
seminars and conferences. She was keynote speaker at a number of international
conferences in Europe, South America, the United States and the Caribbean region.
Patricia has engaged herself in a prolific production of articles, papers and books
on topics of serious concern to society. Some of her work makes useful resource material
for students in varying fields. Her publications cover a range of topics that include:
Leadership Training in Organizing Meetings; Mentally Retarded Children and
Educational Development; The Role of Non-Government Organization in Health and
Education; Women's Organizational Issues; Aging; Social Work; Violations against
Women; Women and Crime; Abused Learner in The Classroom; Crisis Intervention in
dealing with AIDS; and Child Care issues.

32
Patricia Newton is an impeccably dressed woman, in style and deportment, and
one in whose presence, I feel pervasively honored. She “awes’ me, despite her very
congenial and sincere style. She shares her experiences and perceptions precisely and
concisely.
Patricia Newton was born to Myra and Norman Unitted in August 1922. Her
father was a traveling businessman and legislative councilor. She was born as one of eight
children, the only surviving girl of twins. Although she lived away from her socially
conscious mother, they enjoyed a “beautiful and supportive relationship”. She attended the
Church of England Girls' Grammar School, which was started by her maternal
grandmother, and later experienced the “finesse and formality of boarding school.” The
Newton family on the advice of a maternal aunt, who was then the First Secretary of
Trinico Incorporated, migrated from Grenada to Trinidad, when Patricia was 18 years old.
The family took up residence in Port of Spain where she completed her high school
education and subsequently attended the College of Administrative and Secretarial
Studies.
Patricia attributed much of her leadership style to her parents, and her upbringing.
I think my leadership style came from my mother and to her from my
maternal grandmother. My leadership style comes right back to my
childhood and it went through the family. My mother, on the whole, was
always determined that one’s effectiveness as an adult would only be
realized through a good education. All of us at home were guided by that
fact. The mere fact that we left [Grenada] when the boys’ school was
closed down is evidence that my parents were sure. They had to come to
Trinidad to ensure that the boys would be able to get their secondary
education with ease rather than waste time. It was all right for me at the
English Catholic Girls Grammar School, but when the boys had to go to
Grammar School [Grades 5-12]--two of the boys had already gone in--the
school was closed. The principal resigned and came back to Trinidad and
so they did not know when the school would reopen. To that situation my
parents said, “No, the boys had to be educated,” and so they came here
and got [the boys] into secondary school. My parents were just as
committed to my education. My mother was very determined and she
carried that through even in her later years while I did the MBA. I spent
weekends from campus at Pace [University] and she instilled into me that
idea that I must do my very best. A lot of the work I was able to do was as
a result of her influence.
Patricia was encouraged by early memories of her father’s philanthropy, which
influenced her aspirations to a career in social work and special education. His generosity
to the surrounding village families “knew no bounds.” He gave freely out of love for the
people, sometimes to the annoyance of his wife. As a young girl she liked working with
people and helping others but her parents ignored her interests. They wanted her to do
law and although she had no real interest in it, she did study Constitutional Law for three
years.

33
Patricia also credited her evolution as a leader to being a sister “growing up in a
family dominated by boys”, but where she knew she always had their support. It afforded
her an early appreciation of men as supportive persons. “A lot of what I had done was
influenced by the challenges they presented. I also felt equal to them in that we all were
expected to do well.”
Paths to Leadership
Patricia Unitted became Mrs. Leighton Newton and mothered four children. An
era of her life ended with her husband’s transfer to England, but along with the
responsibility for caring and bringing up her children, she was able to address her
professional development.
I entered the work force upon passing the Public Service Examination and
applied to do Social Work in the Social Welfare Department. During the
early 1950’s, I became aware of the challenges facing children patients of
Grand Islet and Petit Vale hospitals. I journeyed every Wednesday
evening to both venues to teach these children. I was appointed to a
position in Social Work in 1953, after completion of the Certificate in
Social Work at the Universite Sans Souci. Later I was awarded a Colonial
scholarship to study in London, England, initially in Occupational
Therapy. I had long leave and my husband was in England, so I decided I
am going to Dr. Langley, who was here from Swanson. He was in charge
of the course in the US and that was where we did Social Work. They
chose seven of us to do Social Work. And he said, “I'm very interested in
the things you want to do and I am going to recommend you to go to a
London school but I think the best thing for you to do is Occupation
Therapy.
Patricia’s involvement in working with the children at the hospitals influenced her
so much that she changed her plan of studies from Occupational Therapy to Special
Education, more specifically the “Education of the Mentally Handicapped,” as it was then
called.
But I then had problems with the Colonial Office because they would only
pay for the things that they approved. So I fought Dr. Thompson who
became knighted. But Dr. Thompson really was good to me. I kept going
to him at least once a week until they decided--and then one day in the
classroom in school, we were doing psychology and the clerk said to me,
“After the class I want to see you.” I went to her and she said: “Look, the
Colonial Office has approved what you want to study they will pay for it.”
Patricia noted the power of people with high political profiles to influence
governmental advocacy; especially as it applies to persons with disabilities.
Mr. Plummer . . . [of] the House of Lords, and his wife, who was a screen star, had a
child with a learning disability, who was also deaf. I had aligned my self with the deaf
and with the blind. One day every week I went to the blind and the deaf, my [learning]
sign language and all that. They named me to help with the child. That is a job I could do
on afternoons, and I said, “It was free. It didn't matter.”

34
When I graduated, I did so well [that] they recommended that I do
a tour on the continent and look at the Montessori workers. That is how I
went to Austria, which was paid for by the Colonial Office. So I went,
looked at Maria Montessori’s program in Austria and Ainsbrook. Then I
went to Leningrad in Russia, five places I did and then I came back to
London. I got permission from the . . . government to spend extra time,
which I was doing looking at services. And then I worked at the Mulberry
Bush which is a school for mentally handicapped children at Oxford
University and that’s how I met President Kennedy’s sister. That is how I
went to the first Special Olympics that was organized in America, Mrs. K.
invited me.
She included among her professional accomplishments: (a) the Senior Certificate
in the Residential Care of Children, from the Central Training Council in Child Care; (b)
the Diploma in Social Policy and Administration; and (c) the Master of Business
Administration. Patricia was accepted at two American universities within a five-year
period to pursue doctoral studies leading to the Ed.D. in Social Work and Special
Education. A traumatic experience confirmed her dedication to social reform and
philanthropy when she became paralyzed for two and a half years.
I was sent for tests and medical assistance to England and the United
States of America. As my condition worsened, I suffered auditory and
visual impairment, as well as hair loss. Eventually, after much prayer and
care, I not only walked again, but also regained my hearing and vision,
and my hair grew back.
Perceiving this phenomenon of healing to be “a miracle of faith”, Patricia
increased and extended her philanthropic efforts, becoming one of the foremost pioneers
in social work, volunteerism and special education in the Caribbean region. As indicated
earlier, Patricia was a major conceptual architect of the special education services in
Trinidad and Tobago, and the wider Caribbean. Her major interests initially were in the
areas serving children with cognitive disabilities and behavior disorders. She was
involved directly and dramatically at the Grand Islet Hospital and the Lord Clarke
Schools for the Intellectually Challenged. “I served as a foundation member of the
Association for Retarded Citizens and the Caribbean Institute for Research on the Mental
Handicapped.” This was in the 1960s.
It was Patricia Newton who, in the late 1950s, organized the first special
education seminar for primary school teachers, which was titled “The Teaching of
Backward Children in the Normal School.”
Many other seminars targeting issues in special education were held, and I
was successful in having student teachers from the Teacher Colleges do
their internships there [at the special education facility she was responsible
for having established]. These efforts sought to facilitate optimum benefits
of a good education to all children by minimizing the ignorance of and
miseducation about children with special needs. The vast majority [above
70% by 1984, according to the Marge Report] of students with special
educational needs are in the normal school system.

35
As a special educator, Patricia journeyed from volunteer to first principal of a
hospital based special education facility; to Director of the Center for Child Care and
Education, under the Ministry of Health; and then to head the Division for Special
Education Services in the Ministry of Education. This was her last assignment in the
public service.
Post-retirement Contributions
Patricia advised that one must have a full life, and so her energies were not
directed on behalf of any single cause. Following her official retirement from the public
service sector, the Universite Sans Souci and the Ministry of Health recruited her to serve
the broader community. Under their auspices, she taught courses in Management, looking
at its functions within the health system. She also acted as Head of the Extra Mural
Department and up to the period of this interview serves as counselor for the Society for
Abused Women and Children.
Contributions and Awards
Patricia was modest, even evasive about her contributions to the community and
the recognition, afforded to her largely from voluntary agencies. I, however, was allowed
to peruse a biographical document done by a student in social work, which listed her
many accomplishments. Patricia permitted me to visit her “Memoirs Room,” the walls of
which were covered with awards, certificates, honoraria and artifacts from all over the
world.
Patricia also represented the government of Trinidad and Tobago as Director of
the first Caribbean Conference on the Mentally Handicapped. She represented the
Caribbean region on the Presidents' Committee on Mental Retardation; and at another
related conference in Norrkoping, Sweden organized by the European Association on
Special Education. She has traveled extensively: “ applying and developing special
educational strategies, observed from visits and work in Canada, the USA, England, and
Scotland”, and looking at the services offered at programs in Austria and Rome. These
experiences proved invaluable to her as she had a keen interest in education for special
children.
Experiences as a Woman in Leadership
Patricia’s contributions to women and leadership “emerged primarily through
opportunities gained through her participation in a number of key organizations and
conferences” in the national, regional and international arena. She has addressed
international audiences on topics that include “Women in the Family” and “The Debt
Crisis and Its Effect on Women Contributions to Teacher Education”.
Patricia claimed a late awakening to appreciating the role and responsibilities of
women as leaders. She attested that it was not until after thirty years of social
involvement that she recognized herself as a woman with leadership attributes. This
realization came as a result of having to do some reflection as she prepared a paper on
“Leadership as Part of Development of the Self.”
As a leader among and on behalf of women, she gained the respect of men, and
did not recall any significant experience where she felt threatened or intimidated because
of gender. The men she worked with were usually friends, protégés and/or mentors. She
contended, with vigor, that her experiences were positive.

36
I had no negative experiences involving the male mentors or male
dominated system I worked with. As a matter of fact I celebrated their
involvement with me. I considered them my main supporters. Actually, I
like working with men. I understand a lot of their feelings. Too often we
women subvert male leadership and men in general, rather than enjoy the
reciprocal dimension of male /female relationships.
Models and Mentors
Patricia had no shortage of mentors or models. They came in either gender, but
she identifies two for special noteworthiness. Of these two persons, she ascribed the
greatest role as mentor to her mother who she described in the following manner:
My mother went to university at aged 60 and she was a person who
always did things [with us]...when we went to Canada...and then we went
to England . . . Oxford. She was always doing things. I always pay tribute
to my mother for the strength she had. She kept us going. My father [had]
kept his business in Grenada while we were receiving schooling here. She
had to be very strong. She died in ë74 [1974]. [On] the day I graduated
with the [American] MBA, she was so satisfied. She had felt that I needed
to do studies within the American system, so that my brothers knew that I
was equal to them. They had studied and done well there; I had studied in
England. She was very strong on that, and so we were both moved when I
actually graduated. And would you believe that the day that I did my
exams for admission to Columbia University to do the Ph.D., that night
she had a heart attack and died? I could not even come back [to Trinidad;
her mom was residing in the United States], because she had asked that in
the event that anything should happen, [I] take responsibility for managing
things. So I was committed to that.
Of Challenges and Perseverance
Being a pioneer, the first of many, there was an abundance of challenges for
Patricia. She described her greatest challenge as the force within herself propelling her to
address an almost insatiable hunger for knowledge.
As soon as there was something going on, I used to take the children with
me--that was the amusing thing--they put me out of Kings College one
evening because my children were making noise.
Another primary challenge came with her attempts to have special education
facilities established for students with intellectual and emotional /behavioral difficulties,
which at that time were described as the “Mentally Retarded” and the “Mentally
Handicapped.” Up to that time, Patricia’s voluntary efforts at the hospital were limited to
providing “schooling” under a tree. One day, she called upon a prominent political
activist, who was soon to become a government minister, and asked that he visit her at
home to discuss the matter [of educating children who were mentally handicapped]. He
accepted her invitation but was puzzled as to why she was so involved with children who
were the mentally challenged “Why are you at GIH?”, he asked [referring to the
hospital]. “That’s a place that people are afraid of! Why are you there? You are not
comfortable in your work?”

37
Patricia responded to his concerns by inviting him to visit her at work. She
recalls: “Eventually, he came and he stood up, he looked at me and he said: “I'm going to
think again.” Not long afterwards, Patricia got permission to use part of the girl's ward for
her classes.
I subsequently went to England where I managed to change my sponsored
program of study from occupational therapy to special education, and
while there gained permission from the . . . Government to spend extra
time looking at the policies and practices of a number of related
institutions and services.
A further challenge awaited her.
When I came back [to Trinidad, after completing studies] I had problems.
They wouldn’t pay me [my] salary although I was appointed to the Public
Service. They garnished my salary because they didn't know what
[position] to place me in. And Cabinet had to decide and they sent me up
to the GIH without any post. Then, they were doing the restructuring of
the Public Service, and the Secretary for Health said he was giving it
[special education services] a name, just to help me get a salary. He called
it “Special Instructor”. I was then committed to teach the [psychiatric]
nurses two days a week and then to go the General Hospital and do a
lecture [there] once a week.
It was one thing getting a position and remuneration for her efforts in
establishing [special education] services, but she also had to face other barriers.
Never mind what you were qualified in, Trinidad didn't accept the fact that
you were a teacher in a psychiatric hospital.
It was very difficult even when I went to the principals’
conferences. One good thing about that was that the Union [of Teachers]
always respected the fact that I was trained. I used to go to [the Teachers]
Training College and lecture, and the fellows there also supported what I
was doing. And call it luck, call it good fortune, I don't know, but they
supported me and realized I had something I wanted to give and I was
ready to give it. So I got the kinds of support that I am looking for now. It
is not as it was then. People are not so ready to support [now]. At that
time I was very fortunate; even when I wrote the Prime Minister to do the
training program with teachers. I trained one teacher, from every primary
school, in special education. He [the Prime Minister] got his secretary to
say there was no funding, so he couldn't accept it [the proposal] but that he
would take it to Cabinet. Then the letter that came said that he would give
the funding from his money if I would report, as I go on, what the
successes were and that was how it started. He gave the money. That’s
how we started and the Minister of Education said they would also support
the program, because they couldn't do otherwise. I started the program and
involved them; the Secretaries of Education and Health together opened
the program every time. The strategy I used in involving them was putting
my cards on the table for exactly what I wanted to do and probably they

38
thought to themselves, since I was so brave and bold about it, there must
be something in it and they went with it.
Of the many challenges she faced in her professional evolution, however, Patricia
singled out that of getting the established special education service accepted as “part of
the Ministry of Education and attracting teachers to be part of it.” She also sought to have
assigned teachers gain “additional salary for what they were doing and [making] them
traveling officers.” By this time, she was championing the cause of another facility for
students with Mental Retardation.
But I took longer to get that [School for the Mentally Retarded]
established because [prospective administrators] had problems with the
religious situation. They [the prospective administrators] wanted to
maintain it there, like they did the prestigious denominational girls schools
as denominational; and just get the money. The Ministry of Education
didn't want that. Education wanted the teachers trained so that they would
come under the System. That was my main challenge of life to get the
special education service under the administration of Education. Of course
I know Health. It was all right with Health. They had me teaching at Petit
Vale [Hospital] with the children who had tuberculosis . . . for eight years.
A contributing factor to the problem, she explained, was that the Ministry of
Education “sort of accepted the fact that I had a mission, but a mission they were not
prepared to work on.” This contrasted with the position of the Department for Health
which held taking responsibility for special education was worthwhile since it projected
positively on an otherwise under-addressed aspect of their overall responsibilities.
Every time the Secretary in [the Ministry of] Health invited me to so some
work or to see something or to go to Geneva or to do something, they were
showing me that they accepted the fact that this unique thing that I was
doing was worthwhile; and that Health was ready to promote it. But
Education didn't see that. Education felt if you had to go to school, you
had to go at a certain age and you get into the system. If you're out of that
then you should be in a home where you don't have to have an educational
experience. I fought that. What I was trying to portray was yes, some
children can be in institutions but they need to have this exposure of
education as part of their training within the institution. It was very
difficult for [the Department of] Education to accept this. I have to give
credit to Jay Dee. He had seen some of the schools in England and he was
Minister of Education. He got Mr. Lexton as Permanent Secretary to see
with him. Jay had already seen that in Health as Permanent Secretary and
he was going to go with it. But it was difficult and I had to sell that. So I
had to do things that would sell the program [special education]. And one
of the first things I came up with was [having] teachers come to do their
training.
Another significant challenge in the special education chapter of Patricia’s life
emerged toward the end of her service when she was faced with the dilemma of choosing
to complete her doctorate or take charge of special education services nationally.

39
Special Education was very important to me so if I had to move . . . that
directorship situation . . . I had to make up my mind then it was very
important for us to have a Division for Special Education Services. If I
thought of my personal self then, that would have imperiled the whole
thing. So I stayed. I was determined all my years that there should be a
division in education and if I believed that then I must prove it . . . and I
felt very satisfied with my self. It doesn't matter. It was too critical! I
couldn't think of me going to get a PhD. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter
at all. I lived all my life for it to change. Let it change and personally it
doesn't matter to me. What is going to happen is . . . I will die knowing
that it [the delivery of special education services] became effective! So I
was not worried.
Her realization of this dream “that children with a learning disability will have a
place” in education and her subsequent appointment as Head of Special Education
Services at the Ministry of Education, presented further challenges.
I had to move all the books and papers from [A] Street to [F] Street. That
was a challenge. I had to pay $10.00 a day to park my car and I did that for
11 months. But I had to do that. Salary was a matter of $400.00 or
something different to what I was getting. I still retired without getting
that because I lost some of it for taking no pay leave. That is the position.
And that is why people are yet to appreciate why that intensity [regarding
her contribution to special education] was there! I needed a committed
person . . . yes that was what my whole goal was--somebody who would
be so committed that they would take the baton and run with it.
This pervasive need for trustworthy support she associated with her being born
one of a set of twins:
There is always the feeling that you need somebody to be with you. My
twin sister died but I always had the support of my brothers. That made
me not see this void. But twins have this kind of feeling that you want to
reach out and that you want to, you know, always have somebody there as
a back up. I didn't have that.
Caring is Motherhood
Patricia recognized caring as a major construct, one, which is linked to one’s past
experiences as well as philosophy. She reflected that: “In terms of nurturing that care that
comes from my background, and has a lot to do with home, family life, and then social
work.” Patricia contended that caring for her is often unconscious but recognized
through her own intensity. It was her caring for the children at Grand Islet that prompted
a “sit down strike to gain the girls and boys” units and the never ceasing lobby for
improved special education services.” As far as she was concerned a caring spirit stays
with you.
I take that with me now, I still carry this with me, you know, like I spent
the whole of yesterday morning in that situation where I am looking at
social workers at hospital and a woman who was raped at 70 years old,
and you know I had to deal with it. I had to get through, get to Dr. Moses,

40
why is it he doesn’t want to perform the eye operation because he and
others are afraid of people who have A.I.D.S. and this woman had
contracted A.I.D.S as a result of being raped. And I had the whole of
yesterday working on that. But that is part of me. I am comfortable with
that because I feel I have to.
It’s the same way I feel with families who come to me, husband,
and wife. On Thursday I had three couples until 6 o'clock. I left work late.
But when the man got up after, he cried and all that, and he said “But
where do you get this caring from?” and I said, “I don't know. I don't see
myself as a caring person.”He said, “Yes, you are.” But I don’t see that,
which is part of my make up, my nature. I just go on. I don’t see it as
something I have to nurture because I am not even quite conscious of it. It
is there.
When asked about an experience of hers that reflect an ethic of caring, Patricia
spoke of a time when she shared her name with two institutionalized children; because
they were left with no names: “There were no records with anything about them . . . They
were just there. I needed a [personal] history to put in progress books and I didn't have
that.”
Another experience that stayed with Patricia was when she was given an audience
with the Queen Elizabeth 11 of Britain. As she remembered it the Queen asked: “Why is
it that you are so interested in these children ? How did you get into that? Do you have a
child . . . a child who is sub-normal? Is it not easier to teach normal children?” Patricia
having no intellectually challenged children responded “No, No. It is easier to see the
light in a child's eye when they learn something that you wouldn't get in a normal child's
eye. They are expected to know it.” She remained proud of that statement and articulated
philosophy.
Patricia claimed that caring is a natural attribute, which she linked to motherhood.
She stressed, however, that motherhood is not, in her understanding, synonymous with
childbearing, but to taking a responsibility for another’s optimum growth.
In motherhood, you had a responsibility to children. You were not a
mother until you proved it with the way you treat a child; it has nothing to
do with just giving birth. So that enabled or was where the woman part of
it came in.
Patricia recalled the circumstances that fertilized her sense of responsibility and
motherhood for students with disabilities.
I had been, in the deep south, [of the island] . . . where children get
Public Assistance. I was always interested in education because I went to
a school where--I went to Church of England Girls High School --where
English teachers prepared you for teaching . . . and I loved teaching. I
came from a family that loved teaching and couldn't understand how
these [children] were in homes not even going outside because there was
no place for them in the school system. I remember a particular child
deep in the south (of the island). Her father was a good fisherman. This
child used to be lifted up and put to sit on a table everyday. And every

41
time I went there, she was put to sit there to pick rice. She was 14 plus
[years]. She knew nothing about the alphabet. If they called her "She",
that was her name. If they call her "Hi", that was her name and it
bothered me that this girl would eventually probably go and get pregnant
for somebody and she didn't actually have a clue. I remember looking at
her hands and saying you have ten fingers and she looked at me in
amazement that she had ten fingers. She was one of those children. Then
there was another child in Carapia who used to sit on a box. She was 10
plus [years]. She used to tell me "only licks, only licks, only licks," and
they were getting $3.00 a month public assistance and that was all. And
there is no hope for them even to go outside and play with other children .
. . Then I went on the other side [of the island] working towards
Cumacao, Vegaville. There was a girl who actually at 15 had a baby for
her father and nobody cared. I saw children as if they were animals
running on the grounds there and I wanted to go up there and see if I
could help. And a prominent politician said “For what? No body is
interested in that. Why do you want to do that?” And I said “Well let me
see, there might be some way they can learn . . .”
Perspectives on Leadership, Women and the Ethic of Care
Leadership is passion
Patricia conceived of leadership as the acceptance of a responsibility for a cause
that transcends ordinary love, where “a passion develops”, and where it seeks to bridge a
gap between a need and a resource. For her, such a passion was so strong that she was not
even aware that she was leading.
You know when I recognized that? In 1983! Yes! When I went to Cairo
and did a leadership program for the National Alliance of Women and I
had to write the paper on leadership as part of development of the self.
And then I thought I must have been leading. I didn't recognize it. No I
never recognized that.
Patricia asserted that leadership is about relationships and the achievement of
mutually satisfying goals. She believes that leadership must address this by education and
discussion. She appealed for leaders to recognize the importance of partnership, shared
goals, and identification of responsibilities.
It’s a partnership and our children must see that. Otherwise they are
getting the wrong signals. You know, last Christmas, I took out of a girl’s
bag a knife with which she was going to stab any man she saw because
she was raped. I said, “What about your father?” She said “I hate him!” I
said, “Why?” “Because he doesn’t give enough money to the house and
mummy is always telling me the wrong things he has been doing us.” The
child gets that and she goes out there and gets raped and she now wants to
violate any man because of that. So I say, “You feel everybody in the
world as a man is going to rape you or have intentions of so doing?” “Well
all of them bad!” I said, “No way!”

42
Women and Leadership
Patricia did not identify any special attributes of her leadership being due to the
fact that she is a woman, and rejected the construct of “feminism” which appears to be
about competing with men.
I am not feminist, if feminism means dislodging myself to the extent that I
feel that equality is a power consciousness I will have because I am
woman. No, I don’t have that. I want to dance with a man, and I'm not
dancing with a woman. I feel you should share equally and I see a lot of
the things we talk about that men do that we women are responsible for
them doing. And we don’t look at that part of us; we look at how bad men
are, how they don’t care for women, how they beat women. But we never
ever talk about the women who violate men. We don’t see that as
important. I had women that I offered to take to prison for the way they
treat their boy children, woman who have become sexually committed to
their sons . . . No body talks about that. We talk about all the things men
do, but we forget, too, that in the [discourse with men for equity in sharing
and responsibility] we have tried to take away . . . try to take away from
men what is . . . the head. And this is not really what equality meant.
Equality didn’t mean you will work for more salary as a woman so you
[can] get him out of the house. Or because you work for more salary you
don’t wash, you don’t cook, you don’t do anything and you don’t care
what he does. Then you're annoyed because he has another woman where
he finds his comfort.
Speaking from the perspective of a Caribbean women’s leader who has been on
the front-lines as academic, and social liberator, Patricia shared her perspectives on
feminism in the Caribbean.
What feminism seems to have done is to look at women in a way as if they
are apart from men and that they must be strong enough to compete. I am
not in that. I need to be a woman. My femininity is the fact that a man
would respect me for who I am as a woman that a man would want to
dance with me and that I would want to dance with a man. A man would
respect me as a woman and I would respect him as a man. I would be able
to enjoy him doing the things I believe a man should do and vice versa.
Women must look feminine, they must smell good and do the things that
men need and appreciate of women. I cannot be what I think feminism is.
Expressing concern about what she perceived to be an evolving gender war, she
added:
The generations after us must not see us as women who feel that we are
stronger than men and we don’t need them. Because if we are honest, we
[would] realize that we all need each other. All the women who are
unmarried and make you believe that they are so comfortable . . . I have a
problem with that! Same thing dealing with homosexuals, they confess to
you that sometimes the little nitty-gritty things that are feminine they miss
(you know women would not admit that and they need to). You miss the

43
relationship because that’s how it was from the beginning. God did not put
Eve and Eva.
Recognizing the increasing number of women in the professions and their
eventual assumptions of leadership, Patricia warned that a position of leadership is not
synonymous with effective leadership.
Some of us who are trained in leadership skills are not able to get people
to follow us, even in a professional sense. I recognize this . . . I did a
program in Cairo some years ago looking at leadership skills and women
as leaders. It was there that I started looking at what women feel about
themselves as leaders. As leaders we have to be very objective, even able
to accept people for who they are and you have to be strong enough for
people to want to follow you. So then the skills of leadership are
something you have to be continually reviewing, determining what it is
about you that makes people want to follow you. Gender is real
straightforward. I have no problem with that. There are issues that are
important to men and those that are important to women. These are issues
that warrant attention and continuous discussion since they are always
changing . . . even in my lifetime it has completely changed. In
yesteryear, the gender issue for women meant that as a woman, you had
things to stay home and do. Today it does not have only that connotation.
It suggests that women as well as men must be part of what the world
needs. You go out there and make your contribution. So gender today, that
is why we need to have a Ministry of gender affairs. We need to have
discussion on what men feel about women and what women feel about
men so that we could work together. So that genders unite for the benefit
of the community. Until we reach there, we are just wasting time.
Patricia lamented the apparent decline in women’s voices as collaborative
contributors to social reform.
I think, today, that that has fallen short. I, of my self, feel that the men . . .
they may not think that we want to be part of what is happening in the
region unless it has to do with feminism, which they are not sure they
understand. It is a pity.
Suggesting that there should be greater emphasis on gender as opposed to the
more circumscribed women studies, she reminded us that there is more to gain through
empowerment, rather than the acquisition of one of power.
Caring is Lifelong
Patricia valued the ethic of care as a feature of humanity. She continues:
More and more these days caring is critical. We need to consider the
feelings of people as we try to get them to adjust and cope with the
challenges they face. The same applies to students with special needs. I
cannot serve if I cannot care and I cannot care, if I do not feel. I must feel.
I must care.
For her, caring in leadership is a lifelong process, which is best facilitated by
modeling.

44
We need to encourage young men to get into the classroom and show the
young boys that: look, we are here too. They have nothing now that they
can look at. So when they come out of the system as bright as they are
they are, not going into teaching.
She hypothesized that caring is being perceived as a feminine attribute related to
careers, such as teaching and nursing that offer non-competitive salaries. Addressing
these inequalities through discussion and career counseling, Patricia’s made two
proposals for contributing to caring leadership.
Whenever I go to classrooms and I talk to boys and girls in school, I say:
“Here, look, put up your hands and let me see how many of you will do
teaching.” And the boys, you know, they are hesitant and I say, “Well how
many of you will do social work? So . . .well . . . what you all going to do
just walk about? You have to do something.” “Well Miss we prefer to
teach.” Nobody is encouraging them. I talked with J, I think once we
talked about that. We need to get there and encourage the young students,
male students to come into the system. Let them see. We have a problem
in terms of remuneration. The women can work for the salaries but if the
men are going to be head of households with families, you need to
upgrade. They are not going to go and do a degree and come back and
work for that amount of money. We have to get out there into the boys
schools, particularly the prestigious ones and help them to see that it’s
important for them to be leaders. For instance, what is happening with
boys now, like its happening with girls, they don’t want to go into politics.
They are good leaders, a lot of them are. A lot of our boys, who make
good leaders, leave our country and go outside and become great leaders,
because they get the opportunities and they get a zest to be able to do
things. We are not concentrating on that here and we need to.
Guiding Lights
Patricia Newton shared a concern about the young people in our society:
It is imperative that we leave them a heritage of standards and values.
Should we fail to do this we would have wronged them and there will be
retribution. The action of youth is a direct result from the examples shown
to them. It is therefore incumbent on us to carefully display behavior that
would influence desirable traits.
Patricia considered necessary that we look at education and development of our
young charges, not in terms of occupation, per see, but in terms of offering fulfillment
through job security and job satisfaction. As such, a persons’ special skills and peculiar
likes must be considered in employment placement. “We need to have people who care
and not people who just want to earn a living.”
She described herself as “firmly grounded” and “deeply spiritual”, and she spoke
of seeing God reflected in everyone. Patricia identified with her maternal grandmother's
saying, “God gave us two hands because He wanted us to embrace each other”, which
she interpreted to mean, "Sharing is loving. I need to share to live.”

45
Narrative II: Introducing Ariel Wynna, Special Education Exemplar
Ariel Wynna is the second of our two participants who are special educators.
Ariel has taught at elementary, secondary, special and teacher education sectors of the
education system. Her primary contributions have been in special education where she
has developed and directed courses at undergraduate and graduate levels, her leadership
of a national special education association, and on various policy making projects with
the teachers’ association and with the Ministry of Education. She was honored for
outstanding service as a teacher. She is a very popular person and professional. She is in
her late forties.
Ariel Wynna is the youngest of our four participants and has served the
community as an educational leader in the area of special education. Ariel is an
attractive, garrulous and bubbly person of mixed ancestry. She was born in the early
1950’s, in a southern part of Trinidad and Tobago. She may be described by many as a
"dougla”, which refers to persons of essentially mixed Indian and African ancestry. Her
maiden name suggests that her ancestry extends to Portuguese roots. She is the second of
four children, two younger brothers and an older sister. Her mother was an only child.
Our interviews took place at her apartment, where in the minutes prior to the
interview she drew my attention to her many photographs and statements of recognition
from friends and other professionals. Ariel expressed satisfaction with the evolution of
her siblings and herself. She attributed their success to their character and the “strong
love” and care of her grandmother. Indeed she described herself as having strong values,
which she credited to her early upbringing in the church:
[From] very early in my life I was introduced to the church, I spent a lot of
time with my grandmother who was a strong Christian, she lived for her
church, and taught us, her grandchildren, to have a strong belief in the
power of God. We would go to church all the time. I mean all the time.
Then, when I was eleven, I went to high school. I went to a convent; more
church, and more prayers to learn. Now, I often say I have enough religion
to last me a lifetime. What stayed with me, however, was the ability to
pray and have great faith that someone, out there, loves me, and will see
me through anything at all.
Ariel credited much of her survival through those turbulent early years, which
saw the death of her mother and the desertion by her father, as related to this strength.
I often feel that if I did not have this inner strength I would have been
devastated a long time ago, you know. I think also that my emotional
being has also, been strengthened by this love of God, and it takes a great
deal to move me. You know I have gone through many emotional
hardships in my life but I am still here.
She was very close to her grandmother who also lived quite near and "would run
away from home many days to sit on her lap so she could tell me about the old days.” At
age eight, Ariel’s father had migrated to England and "never come back . . . my mother
would die soon after he left.”

46
Our father had migrated with great dreams, which never materialized. He
told me just before he died, that when his wife died he took the river of no
return.
Ariel began living with her grandmother upon the death of her mother. One of her
earliest recollections of her grandmother was her strength.
She worked hard to bring us up when our mother died. Well, my
grandmother was my father and mother; she was so strict, almost to the
point of sometime sounding tyrannical. Well, you know one day I
remember distinctly [was] when I was going to write the National
Examination. She [my grandmother] was a vendor in the market at that
time, [and] I went to get her good wishes as I was going to write my
examination. She looked straight at me and told me: “Child, you better
pass that exam if you don’t want to sell in the market.” I was so
disappointed at her statement to me, I felt so let down, but that motivated
me to pass with a very high score to gain free books and to be placed in
the second form at the high school. I placed seventh in the whole island, a
great achievement. As I look back now I can truly say she motivated me to
succeed, in her own way, the way she felt worked. She is gone now. I
loved her and I do miss her . . . [You] know I think I am a lot like her. My
sister often reminds me of this.
Ariel shared her fondness of and closeness to her older sister, who she implied,
has not been successful in her personal or professional life, but who continues to provide
emotional support. Her sister, she claimed, visits her frequently, often staying for
extended periods cooking and house managing. This relationship, Ariel rationalized,
flows that sense of being cared unconditionally by her older sister: “[She] sought to
protect me. She would fight other children for me”.
Despite this supportive role on the part of her sister, Ariel saw herself as the one
with the moral responsibility of family leadership.
My brothers are proud of me; I know that because they often refer to me
when they speak to their kids about education. They do have much more
money than me, because they are both businessmen. My youngest brother
is also a clergyman, again showing our grounding to the church.
By age 18, Ariel was a mother and wife. She described those as tough years,
blessed with its triumphs, as she determined an interest in teaching as a career. At this
time, Ariel served as a teacher of English and History at a private secondary school. By
age 26, she was a single parent with three children, and she returned to teaching,
following a stint in residential work as a house-mother in one of the nation’s institutions.
During those years, her children were her purpose for living.
You know it is not easy being on your own. I have felt very much alone
for most of my life. That is to say, without a partner who shared the same
kinds of . . . ideal . . . and goals with me. I gave my children everything.
That is not to say it is only material things, far from it. There are so many
treasures and pleasures that we should enjoy as a family, like a walk in the
park or a song together. You know, I reminisce on the times my children

47
and I sat down together and sang so lustily that my neighbors would say I
was training a choir. I mean those kids could sing!
Ariel spoke with great pride of her children, one boy, Tyrone and three girls,
Michelle, Semona, and Jeanette.
My children mean a lot to me; sometime I feel they are my world; I often
think and act in ways that seems to show this. At least people often tell me
to let go. I think I have. Look at where I am today, very far from them! My
son, he is a wonderful young man. He is a wonderful, wonderful young
man. He has become quite a high achiever. He is 29 years old and already
he has a great job. He has been promoted to upper management and he has
just informed me that he has bought a house. Isn't that great! You know he
told me when he went for the interview for his job years ago he was asked
who was his mentor, he said "my mother.” I asked him why, there were so
many other people in his life who he could have called. He told many
things but what I remember most is that he said I had taught him to work
hard and to strive for excellence.
My daughter, Michelle, is probably my secret challenge. She was
the middle child and often compared herself to her brother and sister; they
were the bright ones, she was not. I had to work very hard with her to help
her remove this concept that she carried around for a long time. She was
not an instant success . . . at exams, but . . . but I persisted by sending her
back to school to redo examinations more than once. She did succeed in
the end, and you know what? She was able to land herself a great job,
which pays well. Her paycheck is sometimes more than her brighter
siblings, and she boasts about this now. Well I knew she was also great
with her hands. I did a lot to encourage her to build those skills. Now, she
makes lots of money doing the projects, different projects.
She has also given me my precious little granddaughter Karla,
whom I love so much. She has come to light up my life. Then there is
Semona. I call her Sweetie. I firmly believe that she is the person I wanted
to be. She is very brilliant, has . . . been awarded many academic prizes.
She is also an artiste and an entertainer, not to mention that she is also a
radio and TV personality. Oh, this young lady started to perform at four
[years old] on my dining table where she would make me tape her voice
over and over again, as she sang. She started performing for the public at
age eight and is still doing so. She is a recording artiste and has performed
calypso and other contemporary music all over the world. Shouldn't I be
proud of her? I feel so good . . . when she gets on stage and recognizes me
publicly in the audience . . . She has made my life more enjoyable,
exciting and one worth living despite the challenges. I feel truly blessed to
have her.
Ariel identified Semona as most typical of how she was as a child and would have
liked to be, as an adult. She characterized her relationship with Semona as one where:

48
A lot of time is spent socializing, attending shows, and giving support only
a mother can give. I am especially proud of my daughter who is in the
public eyes in the areas of entertainment and theatre. She is quite a lady.
Then came my little Jeanette, eight years after Semona, [who] is now
sixteen. I certainly wasn't expecting her, you know but she came. I had
just met her father and fell instantly in love, I really believed in love at
first sight then. Jeanette is the baby of the family, a bright young lady, and
I think very much . . . and I think she thinks that she is like her father. She
came at a time when I was older, wiser and making money, so she got
everything. I mean everything. You know her daddy spoils her and she
just goes merrily along. She was recently successful in her high school
examination and I have to get her here with me because I know she misses
me and she is not doing too well without me. You see her father and I are
separated and she took it very hard, now she sees us as both (as) out of her
life and I know how hard that can be for a child.
Ariel considered the provision of a basic education as her most important family
responsibility, since it served as catalyst and a gateway for the children that:
. . . will help them go forward to achieve greater accomplishments. My
first three children are all paying to continue their education in the fields
they have chosen and I intend to see my last child receive a college
education. I think if I want to look at a personal triumph, it would be the
bringing up of my four children single-handedly; with each contributing to
the society with a large degree of success in their various ways. I have
always been there for my family.
Paths to Leadership
Ariel took the position that knowledge is power and that it is a life long
journey.
I have always been a learner. You know I can't remember when I was not
doing a course at some university. I have taken the various roles in which I
find myself over the years very seriously. As a teacher in the elementary
school to becoming a lecturer at the Teachers College, I worked very hard.
I still meet my students from elementary school and I am always greeted
fondly. I know that I will move from one position to the next. That's the
way it is in my country. As soon as you get another qualification, you are
moved up. That may not be the best thing . . . from educational and
pedagogical point of view . . . but it is financially rewarding to move up
the ranks. I hope however to continue to make changes in whatever role I
find myself. Secretly I have come to believe that I am a good teacher, ask
any of my hundreds of students [proudly].
Ariel Wynna employment with the public education system began in 1977, when
she was 25 years old; the mother of three beautiful children; and dealing with the failure
of her first marriage. Her professional journey had already taken her to teaching at a
private school and serving as a housemother and assistant matron at the residential school
for special education students.

49
I had started working at this special school in the post of Assistant Matron,
because there were no teaching posts available. When a position did
become available, I was overlooked because “they wanted a man” to fill
the post. The decision-makers at the school felt there were too many
women teachers in the school.
[Six years later] I was working as an assistant teacher at Eagleys
Girls School. This was my big break to get into the profession I love. I had
been given a raw deal in the school I had worked at previously. Well, the
placement at Eagleys Girls' as an assistant teacher did a great deal for my
self-esteem and confidence. I spent two and one half years at this school. I
was encouraged to take this position by my dear friend Shanti Gopaul,
who was an exchange teacher at the [special school] . . . where I had
worked previously. She showed me the long-term benefits of leaving for
less money. You know, I am glad that I listened to her. She believed in my
potential and often shared her experiences with me. Those times have
remained with me and she is still my mentor and friend. Personally, taking
the teaching position at Eagleys Girls' did not help me financially, in the
beginning, because I was starting at the lowest salary range, but it did do a
lot for my growth as a teacher. I had a great mentor teacher whom I
worked next to, and I learned many teaching and management strategies,
from her that I still practice today. I was able to accomplish so much at
this school. I was well respected by my principal who put me in charge of
a department, and would put me in many leadership roles. She often said
that I had great potential as a teacher. I learned a great deal from my
experiences at this elementary school. I also made life-long friends there.
Professional Development
Ariel's journey to educational leadership began despite the challenges of being a
single-mother and raising four children. [She claimed that this was with very little
support from the other significant person in her life]. She attributed her development to
her desire to do better and to be self-sufficient.
I also sought to develop myself professionally along the way, so it meant
working and studying; I even took on extra jobs to make financial ends
meet. So I developed an assertive nature and took many risks, which have
paid off for me.
After serving two and one half years as an assistant teacher, Ariel was accepted
into the Teachers College for training towards certification as an elementary school
teacher. She was sent to an elementary school for the next four years. The opportunity to
return to special education came when the principal of a psychiatric hospital special
school visited her at the elementary school where she had been placed after her initial
teacher training.
She came asking for me, and told me that my former principal from the
Teachers College had recommended me to her. I paid a visit to the school
and the rest is history.

50
Ariel remembered her excitement on being given the opportunity to work in
special education where she had developed a love for students based on her early
experience working at an institution for students with disabilities. About her position as a
special education teacher with another category of disability, she said:
My work at this special school involved teaching, advisory-support, and
administrative duties as the years went by. I worked at this school for
about five years with some transition taking place. I was requested during
my time at the special school to help in a pilot integration program of
students [with other special needs] at [a] secondary school.
She explained that selection for that pilot project was based on her experience
working with students with the same classification of disabilities that she had worked
with at the residential institution.
They had no one else to put in the secondary school. I had just completed
my Bachelor of Arts Degree, which I had taken part-time while working. I
would do this for two years at the secondary school. During this time
however, I was awarded a scholarship by the Government . . . to complete
a Masters degree in education. Half way through this program I received
another scholarship to pursue a Masters [degree] in special education. This
I took up without hesitating since my first love was special education. I
spent one year at the University of Long Beach [where] I worked
throughout the year taking courses in first and second summer. I was told
that this Master’s degree could not be done in one year. I did it, primarily
because I had left my children who were at different stages at school and
wanted to get back home to them. In March of that year, while I was doing
this Masters, I received a telephone call that my father had died in
London. I was very sad because I had planned to see him. I was unable to
attend his funeral for personal and financial reasons. However, I worked
steadily on, holding down a student job at the human resource department
of the university. In November, my grandmother died, but of course I
would return to Trinidad for her funeral. The great Lady in my life was no
more [close to tears]. You know when my grandmother died of course
nothing could be done until I got there.
Following the burial of her grandmother, Ariel returned to Long Beach and
completed the Master of Science degree in education. She graduated in December and
returned home for Christmas.
There was much to celebrate with my family. Well, I then returned to the
special school and I was eventually transferred to the Teachers College as
a lecturer in the Foundations of Education, Special Education and the
Principles and Practice of Education.
She is enjoying her classes as a doctoral student at a major American university.
She has just completed her first semester and is considering doing her research on the
efficacy and models of Community College. Despite the thousands of miles between
Trinidad and Brooklyn University, she worries a lot about home, paying for it by her
telephone charges.

51
I have left my family at home and this is a source of worry at this time,
especially because I have left my 16-year-old daughter who I think needs
guidance at this time. I am working on having her here with me. I am the
mother of four children, one boy and three girls. I am at present separated
from my husband. I think I am a strong, very strong woman in more ways
than one. I have a very strong spiritual and psychological base upon which
I thrive.
I have been there [Trinidad] until recently, when I was afforded
this opportunity to pursue the Ph.D. in education. My friend . . . had left
Trinidad two years ago; this I thought was great, he had accomplished a
great deal in T&T, and was well respected by all. I was totally happy that
he got a chance to do this [doctoral studies]. It was like the icing on the
cake. I remember encouraging him to go, to get away from Trinidad. He
had done so much for the country; it was now his time. Well I guess he
felt the same way about me so he urged me to fill out an application, and
the rest is history. Needless to say I think he was very instrumental in
getting me here. You see why he continues to be my mentor.
All along my professional journey I have been involved with
teacher development programs; whether it was with the University, the
National Training Board, the University of Maintanoba, the Ministry of
Education and in recent years the University of Stelee and the Teachers
Union. I developed, coordinated and taught numerous teacher
development workshops, courses and seminars too numerous to mention. I
believe in very positive ways to achieve the goals I have set for myself.
You see I love life and all that goes with it. Anyone who knows me, if you
ask them, they would tell you just that.
Childhood Lessons
Ariel readily accepted the descriptor “leader”, and asserted that her leadership
skills began in her early childhood when she was looked upon to be the spokesperson
when she and her siblings had to go to her parents for anything. Her experiences “playing
concert” also contributed to that confidence. She recalled being told that even at six years
old she was a very eager learner and performer, of songs and poems, for all who would
lend an ear.
. . . very early in my childhood I had to make decisions for myself. When
my mother died, I went to live with my grandmother who could not read
or write. At 11 years old I had to write the national examination to go to
High School. I had to fill out the parental consent forms and put in the
choices of school I wanted. I also had to do a great deal for myself
because my grandmother worked very hard and left home very early
every day. I was also put in a position to take care of my grandmother's
home and did all the chores, which included cooking from a very early
age. So when others around my age were enjoying their early adolescence
I had already taken on the role of an adult and I dare say a leader. I think
I have always cared for others in my life. I was always the one to be

52
sympathetic to anyone who needed help at home or school. I also became
a mother at 17 plus so I had to care of my son and his father. I think I was
always a loving person who care[s] about human beings. I think that is
why I leaned towards special education very early in my professional life.
I felt that I could give more to individuals that others did not care about. I
see myself as having always led any group with which I was involved. As
far back as an assistant teacher, I was made department head of the Infant
Department. When I was a student teacher I was the secretary of the
Students' Guild. I moved on and became a trained teacher again being in
charge of a department, and other positions in the school. I was the
president of The Association for Special Education for a number of years.
I was chair of many committees in education circles and I could go on
and on. At home I was the head of my family, even though my kids are
all grown they still seek my advice on any decision. My leadership style
is one, which is of a transactional style and involves dialogue and
collaboration with others. I see myself as charismatic in my approach to
people with whom I work. You see I am a sweet talker. I think I can get
anything that I want because of who I am and how I set about getting it. I
believe that we must respect each other, regardless of the positions we
hold. I see decision making as collective for the good of all. I believe in
firmness but fairness . . . fairness . . . [more reflectively]. I believe I am
by nature an emotional person and have to be very careful not to allow
my emotions to impinge on my problem solving skills. I believe there are
solutions to be found if we take time to deliberate on matters of
importance. Problems are always there but solutions do come with
reflective thinking. I remember on many occasions when things seemed
dim, I would develop a plan of action and do whatever needed to be done.
When I was at the elementary school, the courtyard facing the classrooms
needed to be paved. The students and teachers were getting sick. Well, I
called a meeting of the teachers. We stopped classes, students went home,
and we decided that classes could not be held under those conditions. The
Ministry of Education stepped in paved the yard. In another situation, we
were preparing for a board of examiners meeting, and some papers had
been left uncorrected. What would we do? Well we stayed up and
corrected the papers until 3A.M., and had results ready the next day.
I have found myself in close association with teachers who had the
vision and foresight for a better education system, you know. I call us
“the reformers”; we are that group of visionaries who have steadily
worked with principals and teachers for a better system. These people
include people like Ronaldo Hererra, Shortlee Grey, Kay Taitt and June
Soo Ting. I have been involved in teacher training programs, which
placed me in decision-making roles. I have been instrumental in
implementing new programs and validation and recognition issues of
these programs. I sat on many education committees with the policy

53
makers of educational innovations in the country. I worked on the
curriculum review committee. I worked with the Chief Personnel Officer
and other officers of the Ministry to develop job specification for the re-
grading of lectures. I worked with the committee for the recognition of
the special education programs; I also worked with the Director of School
Supervision to work on the creating of new posts in special education.
Developing Styles
In terms of her leadership style, Ariel described herself as having "a big heart",
full of love for her charges and colleagues, and always ready to lend an ear. She shared
that she has always been very assertive professionally, sometimes to the point of
aggressiveness.
I never had the time to develop fears, at least not for any length of time. I
was just out there doing what had to be done. I consider my greatest
strength to be my love for people, which has guided all my actions as an
educator. I have always been interested in people, their lives were
important to me. I felt connected to others because I felt privileged to
share their life stories with them. I was always sought to give some advice,
or to listen to someone’s sad tale. I was sought out to provide solutions for
the problems of teachers, parents and friends. I have always been
committed to the task and will not leave anything unfinished, even if it
meant putting in extra time. You know, I am also committed to the
development of the nation's children and teachers of my country. I see this
as the driving force in all that I do as an educator. I believe that I must be
the best that I can be so that I can be a positive role model to my students.
I believe in leading by example. I also feel that as a true leader one must
be able to facilitate growth of others and lead by consultation and
collaboration with those with whom you work.
Jumping Rope
There were many times of struggle, risk-taking and challenges to face that
may have hindered many, but with the help of friends in education and
people of like mind I was able to succeed and reach to my present
position. There were many challenging times when I felt that I was
unfairly treated by the policy makers in education; who used my
experience and expertise, but gave others the job, stating that I was young
and that my time will come. I never waited, however, I moved along
trying to make changes wherever I could for the betterment of my people.
I believe that change is necessary when a system is failing, not just to
reorganize the existing system but fundamental changes that would
include the revisiting of the mission and the setting of new goals and
objectives. You know education needs to evolve to suit the ever-changing
demands of the new millennium.
As Ariel reflected on her journey into special and regular educational leadership
since 1986, she acknowledged some major achievements and elements.

54
I met some of the most dynamic and influential people who played a
positive role in my life even up to today. I grew personally and
professionally as a person and became quite strong. I evolved in my
leadership role and was able to accomplish much in education in my
country. You know, if you ask someone . . . when they think of special
education in my country, my name would surely come up and so would
yours. That is because I have interfaced in many different situations, with
all the supervisors, principals and teachers in nearly all of the schools. I
have also sat with policy makers to make decisions and put policy in place
for regular and special education systems and, up to recently, teacher
education. I was part of the committee that developed the job
specifications to upgrade teacher educators. Many would say that I rose
quickly as an educational leader but it was not an easy road.
Of Mentors and Models
Ariel identified the role of mentors as an important aspect of her evolution. She
spoke of six mentors, at different phases of her professional growth; four women and two
men.
As a young teacher I met Ms. Eileen Wrongg. She taught the class next to
mine; in my mind she was the greatest. I modeled her teaching and
management style. She was wonderful with the kids. She was firm but
fair. I was going to be just like her. Another [mentor] is my former
principal of the Teachers' College, who influenced my life when she
recognized my potential and encouraged me through words and deeds to
continue my studies. And then, a few years later, the principal of the
special school; who showed how much she valued my professional
development by continuously reaffirming my abilities as a good teacher.
You know, I also recognize--as my mentors--two very special
friends. [One is] a long time friend of 22 years, who was a teacher. She is
now an attorney, Ms Shanti Gopaul. [It is she who encouraged me to leave
the Barnsley Home in the early days to pursue my dreams as a teacher.
Shanti was very brilliant and could mingle with the teachers and other
important individuals in the school. Yet she chose me as a friend. I felt
honored and I admired her humility. She also saw [my] potential and made
so many positive affirmations to me, which have stayed with me. In fact
she still does. She is now an attorney doing family law. She told me that
she uses me as an example for other women, who feel they can't make it.
She told me once this woman came into her office, and said she could not
go on. She said to the woman, “Sit down, let me tell you about a woman
named Ariel." This sounds quite flattering, but if I can be used as an
example to others then I am happy. Shanti has been urging me to write a
book about my experiences. I haven't got around to doing it.
Ariel chatted about the men who served as mentors:
I have also had a male principal during my time as a teacher. I remember
[him], Mr. Eddy Oldsonn. He is now retired, but I remember him because

55
he had a very special place in my life and decision-making, at that time.
He said to me “Ariel, we would miss you because you are contributing a
lot to this school; but go if you must, because you would be able to
develop yourself professionally.” So he was instrumental in helping me to
evolve and move on (sigh).
In another part of my life there is Mr. Shortlee Grey: friend and
colleague, very strong gentleman, sometimes too strong, but I've learnt a
great deal from him. He 's the one who sees things from a logical point of
view. He's the one who is quick to find answers; he's the one who helps to
find solutions. I've learnt a lot from him. More recently--about 15 years
ago--I met Mr Ronaldo Hererra, who had returned to Trinidad with his
Masters of Education degree. He was a visionary who saw me in things
that I did not envision myself. With his encouragement, friendship, and
persistence, I became involved in so many enlightening experiences and
innovations in education. He started projects, and allowed me to continue
them as he moved on. He demonstrated confidence in me. (He) has been a
very important part of my professional development, and I think he
continues to be. He continues to see me through difficult times
professionally, and I think that this is a continuing journey with him. He
has also facilitated my continued professional development. He is truly my
greatest mentor.
Sharing the Gifts
Ariel was very involved in professional development, primarily in the area of
special education. As the president of a national association involving teachers with
special needs; as director of a distance education program in special education, and as
lecturer at a Teachers College, where;
I was part of curriculum review over the last four years and introduced a
module in Special Education as part of the Foundations of Education
Course. I also restructured the Elective Special Education course and
developed a course on Effective Teaching, all of which I taught over the
last three years. I have also been involved with the university where I
[taught] a special education component to teachers once a week over the
last three years.
I also just gave up the Project Directorship of a Distance Learning
Program with the University of Stelee, one that I held for six years. I have
also been part of the course team lecturing and supervising teachers in a
Certificate, a Diploma, and Masters Programs. You know, I have been . . .
chairperson of the Tertiary Education Committee of the Teachers Union. I
could go on. I was involved in teacher training with the Ministry of
Education up to the time I left Trinidad. Now you see all the people I left
behind, you know there were a lot of tears for me, and many appreciative
gestures made to me by all these people. I know that I have touched many
lives, by my involvement and commitment to all these various ways I
served my people. However, I had to decide what I thought was best for

56
me at this time in my career. I had to put the priority, which I have set for
myself, years ago, first . . . That is, to continue to develop myself
professionally. This entailed feeling guilty at leaving unfinished work but
moving on in my best interest. I was involved in some educational
innovations and reforms in my country, and did play an active part in the
institution of these reforms. The reforms that I talk about are really very
significant for my country. You see the university still does not have a
program of studies in special education. We are moving to inclusive
education, and they have no choice but to include special education
curriculum. I was a part of an initiative to bring a special education
program to the people. My good friend came back from the University of
Stelee, with a vision I believed in. He involved me in many ways in the
initial stage and continuation of that program. The University because of
monetary problems did not accept this program, they said. The University
of Stelee validated the program and it is still continuing. As the project
director of this program, I wrote the proposal to have the recognition of
this course of studies by the Ministry of Education. It was recognized. I
was also responsible for the revalidation of the Program by the Board of
Collegiate Studies in England. It has been duly revalidated. In another
sphere, (I) was responsible for the inclusion of special education module
for all teachers at the teachers college. This course is now done for one
semester in the program. Many beginning teachers because of the many
sensitization workshops now seek the elective course.
About artifacts. When prompted to identify the special memorabilia or artifacts of her
life, she proudly pointed out the many certificates, cards, posters and plaques on her wall.
Her greatest treasure, she states, more than all her certificates, medals and awards, is the
way in which her children see her, particularly as expressed in poetry.
In my professional life I have all the certificates, diplomas and degrees
that I have gathered over the years. I was also given an award for my
contribution to the teaching profession in my country. I have in my
possession many tokens of appreciation from the many students and
educators I have worked with. They include plaques, jewelry and cards.
(Smiling now and more relaxed) Personally, the poems I have received
from my daughter Semona, are some of my greatest treasures, I have
collected them over the years, and I hope to have them published one day.
I am reminded of a poem she sent me recently, which says: “You have a
spirit that can never be broken; a heart that is filled with all the treasures
that they speak of in the Bible; a mind that never stops marveling at the
wonders that exist, and a soul filled with joy, beauty, energy, life and
love.” Don't you think that those are powerful words?
The Experience of Being Woman and Educational Leader
Ariel was asked to share whether being a woman has facilitated or handicapped
her evolution as a leader. She concluded that her gender handicapped her growth.

57
Being woman lots of time hindered my journey in education. You see I am
considered by many men to be a sensual, attractive woman. I also look
younger than my age. This has served to keep me down in certain
positions. Of course I fought back. Once I was told in an interview: "You
are young, your turn would come" in a condescending manner. This mind
you was said amongst other women, who I suppose, had to wait their turn.
Another event is that I was once asked for a date with a top
Ministry official. I had to tell him that I never slept with anyone to get to
where I was, and that I was not going to start now. So as a woman I was
faced with disturbing situations, however I never let that bother me for any
length of time. I was always at the forefront. [T]he men in my life, both
personally and professionally have contributed in one way or the other to
my evolution as a leader. Positively or negatively but they did contribute. I
have had two husbands. I may not have been very successful in my
marriages, but I have been taught great, very strong lessons. As I said
before in this interview, I am a woman, and I think sometimes my strength
frightens the men away. I am probably seen as a threat by the men I
interact with. I feel that in my eagerness to be independent, to be strong,
and to make decisions I probably did not give the men in my life . . .
{struggling with her feelings} the chance to grow and develop along with
me. I may be wrong, but it's the way I feel. In some instances, I would say
that there were men who served as barriers. Not the men that I mentioned
before (referring to those she described as mentors). If I want to
generalize, it would be . . . {reflectively} that there have been some men
in decision- making positions, who were barriers. Not that they wanted to
keep me down, but that they felt that I had to, you know, play a part to
facilitate them [before] they would be able to assist me. You know, I don't
want to sound very negative, but I have had instances where I was told
“Should you do this, then this would be OK”; or “I will help you if you do
. . . whatever.” So that, in that way, some of the men that I’ve been
involved with professionally, served as barriers.
Caring and Being Cared for
Ariel celebrated the fact that she has been cared for by many, as friends and
mentors, who rallied on her behalf “when the chips were down.” Many decisions were
made in her best interest.
For example, when I was in college as a student teacher, my principal
knew I had three kids and would bring foodstuff for me. She did not have
to do that. She would also listen to my personal problems, and help me
work them out. Also, in another instance, another principal would take me
home every day so I could save money, not to mention, the time off to
attend to emergencies with my sick child, or any other crisis I had to
attend to. The persons who have helped me were mainly women, but I also
recall a male principal I had who was always willing to listen and help me,
so caring may not be significant only to women. Although I have always

58
seen myself as being a kind and generous human being, in one way or
another, in my role as educator, I have turned around to assist my students
whether children or adults, and I will continue to do so.
Perspectives on Leadership, Women and the Ethic of Care
Ariel shared her perspectives on a number of issues, related to educational
leadership, gender and the ethic of care. She started with a description of what leadership
was.
I consider it [leadership] to be in a position of power, whether it is defacto
or dejure, you know many of us forget that we are placed in positions of
power by others, and we become too powerful. As they say power
corrupts. Well, when we are given the reigns of leadership, it is because
we are seen as visionaries, and [as] having the requirements, whether
academic, political or otherwise, to move the institution along. Leadership
can be seen in terms of groups whether formal or informal. We lead our
families as the "head” of our homes. We lead our friends as in gangs or
peer-groups. Some leaders are born, while others are made. What is
important though is that there will always be need for leaders.
On Gender and Uniqueness
Ariel Wynna recognized the many contributions of women in and to educational
leadership, and the lack of formal recognition accorded them. She referred to her
awareness of the literature on gender.
Women have always been at the forefront of educational leadership,
however few have been respected for their contributions, and those that
have been somehow always follow the patriarchal model. To answer your
question women can bring a unique contribution by their style of
leadership that is caring and nurturing. In
these times of turmoil, everyone needs someone to listen to and empathize
with. Women are most times willing to lend an ear and assist persons in
difficulty. Men are more inclined to use justice in meeting out decisions,
whereas women tend to use moral judgments in their decision-making.
You know the research has shown that men and women have different
moral development stages. If this is so then women will be different in
their leadership style. Who knows it may be a style that works better for
most. In the area of ed. reform, I think women may be more flexible in
terms of change. For too long, men have been the leaders and in many
instances they have led us down the wrong path. I also feel women can
bring a different dimension to a leadership role. I am not talking about
those women who assimilate the male's role and try to be like men. I am
talking about ruling with sensitivity, with different moral standings.
Women bring a softer side to leadership; they bring caring and nurturing
with them. You see, this is natural to women and this can be used
positively in their role as leaders. Everyone wants to be cared for, even the
males in our society. You can get people to work if you care.

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On feminism. Ariel admitted to having had a problem with the notion of feminism,
despite her readiness to identify with it:
I must confess, I used to think that it was when you wanted to be like a
man. I am wiser now, so my view of feminism is that it is the development
of women’s issues from the perspective of women. It is important to
recognize the voices of women. For a long time we have heard about who
we are from our men. Who can best talk about us but we ourselves. We
have a voice that has been silenced too
long. It is time for women to take a stand and be accountable for
themselves, and the things that are important to them. Women, all over the
world, are speaking up now. Of course in [some] cultures it is more
widespread, while it is not so in others. For example, in my country, little
is heard of feminism, except in small pockets. Women are still silent by
and large, and follow the male hegemony. Women who lead, do so
passively, by doing what is expected; that is continuing the status quo, that
of male hegemonic ideals.
The Caribbean woman. Ariel asserted that there is a unique role and perspective
of the Caribbean woman.
Women are women everywhere...and we have something in common; no
matter where in the world we come from. However as a Caribbean
woman, I am one of a few women who have been in the forefront of
education. I also believe that feminism may be a bit different for me. For
example, from the U.S., there are both black and white feminists, so issues
of race will come up as well as gender, class etc. In the Caribbean, we are
all black, so I guess we would view ourselves in terms of class and gender
issues. I would like to think that I was always a feminist, although I may
not have known that. You see, feminism means giving “voice” to women
on issues of race, gender, class, and other social and political issues that
have been used to keep them down. I say so because the hegemony of
patriarchy continues to dominate cultural and political systems in many
countries including mine, and as women we are sometimes forced by our
passivity to continue the status quo. I say no more. As women, we must
find our spaces and make our contributions alongside men in the best
interest of our nation.
Women’s contribution to leadership theory. She protested the failure of the established
system to legitimize the contributions of women in the field.
We are so steeped in [a] bureaucracy that is male dominated! There needs
to be decentralization and more diversity in decision-making. I think it's
about time women are recognized for their contribution and given their
rightful place in the system. Many women are well qualified but men
capture the top posts in Education because of the male hegemony that
exists. Remember, I spoke about how they want a man to fill positions of
power in many areas of Education. For example in the teachers college,
one criteria of selection is that they wanted a man to fill the post as

60
principal. Promotion by seniority must cease. It is not as rampant but it
exists and men get the nod before women to fill the posts many times.
There are many things we can try to enhance leadership--professional
training must continue in leadership skills, etc. However, I think that we
need as a people to be reflective about our motives. Therefore the
policymakers, who are all mainly male, must strive to be fair, remove their
biases, and allow the best person to lead whether it is a man or a woman.
I also believe that men and women lead differently and through
experience we can identify these fundamental differences of leadership
styles. A common ground can also be sought in the styles of both men and
women. It is important not to lump women alongside men and judge them
by the same yardstick we judge men, as has always been done. It is time to
recognize the worth of women through their own “voices” even in the
issue of leadership.
Ariel asserted that despite her features, ethnicity had no negative role in her
development.
I want to say that I don't think that race played a very important
role in my evolution as an educator. You see I am of mixed race. I was and
I am still seen as being one or the other, Indian or African. But I am also
of Portuguese ancestry. So I am a “callaloo” as we say in Trinidad, all
mixed up [using the metaphor of a very popular, spicy dish made of green
leaves, okra, coconut milk and other condiments, to refer to her multi-
ethnicity]. I used this secretly to fit in any circle. I was Indian when they
wanted me to be and African at other times.
I think, because I am considered attractive, because I have long
hair . . . the Indian leaders I worked with were more inclined to want to
work with me. However, I have a strong affinity to the African ancestors
of my nation, because I always felt that I could help them more. Now,
don't get me wrong, it was not pity. I believed that Indian people look after
their own; they have a particular way they help their family and friends.
This seemed to me to be less evident among those of African ancestry. I
have helped many students in my lifetime, the majority of them were of
African decent. I still find myself in positions where I push them. That is
not to say that I am racist, but I find that less islanders of Indian ancestry
need my help. When I do assist them they are forever grateful. I think I am
lucky to be of mixed race where I am not bogged down by racial
propaganda. In Trinidad and Tobago, there is a calypso that says, “I am
neither one or the other, six of one, half a dozen or the other one, so if they
sending we back [referring to India and Africa] for true, they’ll have to cut
me in two.” I think I am a true Trinidadian.
The Ethic of Care
Ariel identified caring with commitment to a cause or person in transition, or at
risk, where change is needed or desirable.

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You must care to determine that something needs changing and want to
change it. Reformers should want change for betterment for themselves
and others. To want to change a system also means that you care that
something is radically wrong with the present system. Many of us don't
care and go along merrily, no matter who gets hurt, as long as it does not
affect us in any big way. I feel we must care deeply so that we can put a
system in place that puts people first.
Ariel extended her notions on caring from commitment to service and positive
change, to include recognition of the uniqueness of oneself and fellow individuals.
Simply put, that you care about those you work with. It calls for
understanding and acting in ways that considers the person with human
qualities of compassion, caring, loving; but it notes that persons have
strengths and weaknesses, and will make mistakes because they are not
perfect. It also emphasizes respect for others.
Ariel advanced a position that there is a relationship between the ethic of care and
transformational styles of leadership.
There is a relationship. In fact, they compliment each other. A
transformational leader is one who is charismatic and caring about the
people; therefore a transformational leader is one who develops an ethic of
care to serve in a more humane and understanding manner.
She supported the use of ongoing professional development to facilitate a caring
leadership.
Professional training is very important in any area that a person chooses to
be developed in. In my case I think there is much to learn about my
profession that is forever changing, so I need to be a lifetime learner that I
can adapt to suit the needs of the people that I serve. Caring can mean so
many different things to different people, so it is important to gather the
skills of caring for individuals in different contexts. This means
continuous professional and academic development so that the research is
more readily available to us.
Ariel also shared her perspective that an ethic of care is a key factor in
educational reform, geared at empowering the community.
If you are talking about reform that put people first, that ‘s for the
betterment of people, then the ethic of care is a fundamental ingredient
that would be present in the style of the reformer, as he or she goes about
instituting change that is cognizant of people's feelings. An ethic of care
will consider change as painful for some, that time is important, that
people's views are considered, and that change must be gradual in many
cases.
The Sacred Task
Ariel offered some advice to future educational leaders. She argues for such
persons to recognize the powerful position they hold, as developers of the next
generation. She characterized such leadership as being “an almost sacred task.”

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They [the potential leaders] are special people and you need to do special
things. They must see themselves as change agents and reformers for
fundamental changes and for a better system of education. They must . . .
continue to be learners, and equip themselves with knowledge, skills and
attitudes that are forward thinking. They must develop communication
skills, which must be kept open to the voices and needs of those they lead.
They must be accountable for all their actions. They must adopt a style of
leadership that fits their personality, but one, which can facilitate growth
and development of our most precious resource, our people.
Narrative III: Introducing Kultya Calypso, Educational Pioneer
As I sat on the two occasions of the interview with Kultya Calypso, I felt deep
emotions for this mother figure to many active and former teachers across the Caribbean.
There were many twittering birds that provided background music, along with a secretly
welcomed distraction to my emotive inclinations. The coolness and calm of the front
porch where we sat offered a comfort that afforded reflection. Kultya Calypso is a
woman who has given her life’s service to the educational community at national and
regional levels. Mrs. Calypso is all that is culture, all that is teacher education. She is an
institution in her own right. Earning two government scholarships, she started as an
elementary school teacher at her alma mater, then went on to teacher’s college as
lecturer, dean and principal. She is a model teacher in the truest sense of the word.
Kultya is deeply loved by educators spanning four decades of her service. She continues
her contribution to the community through her involvement in the church and as a
connoisseur of the local culture.
Kultya Calypso was conservatively but simply dressed. She was very
conversational in her style, but reflectively so, taking her time to respond. She was born
in the 1930’s, in northwestern Trinidad, in a district noted for its beautiful view of Port of
Spain harbor. She has no children, being herself one of nine. Her husband recently died.
He came through the pupil /teacher system. He was good at the art of
teaching and worked with the School Broadcasting Service. He ended up
as an attorney at law. I had never thought that he would have liked to be
an attorney because he was such a good . . . and caring teacher.
She identified her mother as her first leader and mentor. Her mother, she
describes as being a very religious person, having a Methodist upbringing but an
Anglican practice.
She became an Anglican out of circumstances, because there were no
Methodist churches in St. Annes. The nearest Methodist church was
Tranquility, and in those days we did not have taxis and buses running like
now. She was forced, if I could say so, to send us to the Anglican school
and the Anglican Church. She died an Anglican in a way, but deep down
inside her orientation was her Methodist faith. She liked her Methodist
hymns and she would be singing all day long over her washtub.
She reflected on her childhood experiences as being a “very responsible” one,
where she was one girl among five boys for a long time.

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And then at the tail end came three sisters, one after the other. Because of
that, among other things I was regarded as a different specimen. I got
preferential treatment, which means I got many more don’ts than dos. It
was a different standard of judging me . . . from judging the siblings.
Afterwards, my sisters were born, as I told you, they were the last three so
that when they were born I was already a teenager. I was godmother to
them in more senses than one. I was at their baptism. But in addition to
this, I helped my mother with them in many ways: nurturing them, nursing
them, combing their hair and so on. I got the name Nennie. Up to now the
girls and the boys refer to me as Nennie. One of the ways by which we
call godparents in Trinidad is Nenen. Your godmother is Nenen [or]
Nennie.
That she was a girl meant that she had unique responsibilities and roles, as
perceived and determined by her mother and grandmother, who was adamant that girls
had to be different from boys: “Girls were generally expected to be seen and not heard”.
She testified further:
I was not supposed to climb trees. People believed in those days that if a
girl climbed a tree, the fruit would become sour. So girls were not
supposed to climb trees. But you would know that a lot of the play that we
did included climbing trees, swinging on the branches, and that kind of
thing.
Whereas her brothers were sent to school, regardless of the circumstances, she
was kept home from school at times to stay with her grandmother, who had been
recovering from a stroke.
The fact [was] that I was not supposed to play much [but] to apply myself
to my schoolwork and to be obedient. I think many of these things helped
me to advance; [having] the large family too, helped me to be able to deal
with people. A significant amount of my time was spent on home
management responsibilities, supporting my mother.
I was expected to be on hand to help my grandmother and to help
my mother . . . with the smaller ones; rock them to sleep, give them their
feed and to attend to their needs. So I was made to be properly much more
responsible than my years.
Cooking was a central role in the household. Kultya remembered “starting to cook
before I could even manage the weight of the pot”, and she associates cooking with
sharing food: “You always shared for everybody and made sure you put a piece of meat
in everybody’s plate.” Helping her mother wash clothing was another important function
that occurred late at nights, “because in those days people worked long hours. I
remember my mother having to wash and our having to hold the flambeaux for her.”
Household chores took up most of her time and because her mother and grandmother
frowned at “play time”, this was scarce. She was particularly grateful when there were
adult visitors to the home.

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When they had guest or adults we were supposed to be out of the way. We
were not supposed to be listening to people’s conversation and the first
thing they would tell us is “go and play.”
These “go outside and play” opportunities allowed her some creativity in finding
ways to play, although the best opportunities for play and the most exacting prices she
paid for playing, were found at school.
I remember getting quite a number of “beatings” for staying on at school
to play. I remember overstaying my time and then getting big stones and
throwing them over my head. You were told if you did that you wouldn’t
get . . . hot bakes and chocolate . . . when you got home. [Nevertheless]
you’d get the flogging and you would still go back and do the same thing.
In my time too, one could play at hours and in places that you can’t play
now. You could play on moonlight nights; we could play in the streets
because the sight of a car was the exception rather than the rule, even
bicycles [were scarce]. Children scooted to school. Boys went to [high
schools] on scooters [a child’s foot operated vehicle made with a narrow
footboard mounted between two wheels, with an upright steering handle],
not in cars and bikes as now. We had the roads to ourselves. So in a way
we could play and even when I went to high school in my teens we used to
play “Rounders” and “Skip” every day at break time. To me the 15
minutes break looked so long. If you got out late you were sad. We did it
everyday. So that even though my mother did not believe that I should
play, I got in quite a bit of play. One thing I have never learned to play,
however, are games of chance. My mother was a Methodist and she did
not believe that girls in particular should play cards, so I never learned to
play those games. Up to now. I might buy a lottery now and again.
Kultya included childhood fears as factors that have contributed to her
personality. She shares her earliest recollections, one being her early experience of
carnival, and its costumed individuals.
We, as children, were really afraid of the mas. They [the masqueraders]
really used to put on masks on their faces. They made some foreboding
sounds and did some spectacular acts. I really remember running between
my mother's skirts.
Kultya also spoke about the apprehensiveness and foreboding she had of death:
As children we were also afraid when somebody died in the village. So
when you were passing near to where a person lived, you would pass on
the other side of the road. You would really be afraid that you might see
this person or that the person might come and pull your foot. People did
not take their dead to funeral homes. The dead [person] was kept in the
family home. You would keep the “Wake” there; you would do everything
there; and the body would be taken from there. So that the dead were
closer to you than it is customary now.
Some Pain
One of the things very much on Kultya’s mind was the recent death of her sister.

65
She [Kultya’s sister] started saying that she wanted to come back home.
She said: "You realize I have not seen outside for months. I have not seen
the sea". We had all become so accustomed to seeing the sea. As children,
we grew up with looking out, from the house, on to the city and harbor of
Port of Spain. At nights we could look out and see. We saw when the
ships were coming into the harbor. She was unable [when she was ill] to
look out and see the city . . . of Port of Spain. My heart really went out to
her.
Paths to Leadership
Kultya constructed her leadership as having its origins in her elementary
(primary) and secondary education. She loved school life and relates stories with such
enthusiasm, joy and graphic details that it is often hypnotic. She described herself as
being an avid reader from an early age, thanks to the tutoring of her mother.
By age five I could read anything. Some words I mispronounced when I
started to pronounce them phonetically. I remember saying “Durby” for
“Derby” pronounced “Darby.” But she saw to it that I went to school from
age three and by age five I could read anything. I know definitely [that]
my ability to read stems [in] part from my childhood. When people can
stop you from going outside to play, they can’t stop you from reading. My
love for reading, my ability to read and understand, and get through
language, developed apace. In my day, we had essay-type questions. In
my exams, I often did well because they were essay type and [involved]
the ability to express myself in language. We did not have so much of the
multiple-choice as nowadays. We didn’t have intelligence tests as such.
Many of her stories centered on punishment not that she was particularly
troublesome, but because the emphasis was on discipline.
Sometimes you would reach to school late too because we had to walk to
school. We never got up late . . . but some of the things we had to do
before going to school, we had to fetch water. I remember going as far as
Coffee Water St., they call it DeGannes St. now. I remember having to go
there for water. We would have to sweep up the whole yard and in those
days the yard had trees. We would [also] have to look after the chickens.
So that some mornings, I remember reaching to school late and finding the
school gates either closed or the head teacher waiting there, to give you
“hot bakes and chocolate.” Of course, children made the distance on foot,
we didn't have buses and maxi taxis [mini-vans used for public
transportation] and cars and bicycles, as children now have.
Sometimes Kultya, as any other girl, would be punished for breaking school rules:
I got licks for playing games. You were not supposed to play “3A” in
school. 3A was played with stones. You had “One-zey, two-zey, three-
zey”, “Silence”, and “Toc Toc.” Some of the games you played could not
be heard but when you played “Toc Toc” . . .[it was heard]. You had to
take the stones and hit them. So he [the principal] heard. He came and
gave us a licking for playing with stones.

66
Being punctual was a very serious matter and facing the wrath of the head teacher
was an exercise of courage. Kultya told a story about a schoolmate.
I remember a [childhood friend] who turned out to be an illustrious
colleague of mine. I remember him, for fear of getting flogged for
reaching late, [spending] a whole morning under the school. Remember I
told you that buildings in those days were on “pillow-trees” [stumps from
tree trunks] and he spent the whole morning hiding under the school rather
than getting flogged. But when he came out, he was caught. They caught
up with him, because cobweb was in his hair. So he still got “hot bakes
and chocolate” (laughing) for coming late and hiding under the school.
Being punctual for school was one issue, but it also extended to the home
situation.
School dismissed at 3 o'clock. You were supposed to be home at a certain
time. Also, all of you supposed to come home together. So that anytime
you got home singly, you had to give an account of your stewardship. My
parents did not believe that children should do too much playing. Playing
was a waste of time. Apart from that, they had their own little jobs lined
up at home for you to do. So when you came home late, you upset the
apple cart. That is another thing. I remember getting flogged, on more than
one occasion, for reaching home late. My mother, I remember her
sometimes meeting me on the way, not waiting until I reached home, [but]
coming down the road to look for me. When she met me it was licks until
I reached home. Those were some of the realities in those days. When they
[parents and elders] sent you on a message, they had a tendency to say
[that] they would spit and you must come back before that spit dries. If
you did not reach back on time you had to give an account of your
stewardship. Hmm . . . Of course you would always find things to distract
you on the way. You would meet other children, from other schools and
stop to play. You would be attracted to a laden mango tree or you might
see a caterpillar . . . and be distracted by it.
Kultya identified her early childhood experiences as having contributed most
significantly to her evolution as a leader, both negatively and positively. She claims a
sense of discomfort at having nothing to do and of perceiving relaxing as having nothing
to do.
I was not the kind of person who could [just] relax and lime [to socialize
for the fun of it] like some people can. Everyone might say I was a
workaholic. In modern day leadership, you have to learn to relax and you
know, socialize. I was not brought up to relax. To relax was “wasting
time.”
She associated fun with food and sharing. She relates this to the strong sense of
sharing and family bonding of her childhood and considers this positively. A broad smile
enveloped her when she recalled:

67
We used to have the cook-ups and so on. My mother believed in the
power of food, of eating and drinking and dining and so on. It works
wonders in a number of ways that family atmosphere, family service.
Regarding her public education, she acknowledged the contributions of her
primary school experience, which prepared her “very well for secondary school.”
I had a bunch of teachers who were really concerned about a child’s
learning. They did everything to make sure that I succeeded, including
giving me of their lunch. They would look up the papers or what have you,
and make sure they knew all the scholarship exams that were going and
send me to the various scholarship exams. They gave me lessons free of
charge. All they wanted to know is that I applied myself. So that when I
left primary school and I went to secondary school I had mastered, I would
say all the writing skills. I had done a lot in mathematics. The only things
in the secondary school that I had not done, were: (I) Arithmetical
Progression ñ AP; (2) Logarithms or Logs; and (3) GP, Geometrical
Progression. We had done Simple Interest, we had done Ratio, and we had
done Compound Proportion.
I started music in the primary school. He [the teacher] used to
teach us hymns. Some of the hymns I still know, and know them by heart.
On the staff, I was fortunate to have a lady called Helen Halzell. Now, in
those days, I didn’t know I was so fortunate. Helen Halzell was among
one of the first women who were into pan and folk music. She was a
pianist. In addition to this, she was the first woman to start a panside. She
called it Hatzgen, and almost all the players were teachers. Her mother
allowed her to have the practice sessions at her home, because in those
days playing pan [the steel pan: the National musical instrument] in public
was frowned upon. I didn’t think she could have done it on the school
compound. [I went to] an [Anglican school] and in those days it was one
of the largest and most modern. She [Helen] used to teach what we called
the Martiniquan dances. Whenever we had a concert in those days, the
“Martiniquan” [local dancers dressed as Martiniquan] dancers used to
come in. And she used to do the choreography and play the music. [I]
couldn’t join that. My mother would not allow that. I learnt some of the
first folk songs like “Buddy Lindo”, because not only was Helen there, but
Dr. Jaydee [who] was in charge of the woodwork center. He was [also]
into folklore. Although I could not, in truth and in fact, join Helen’s
steelband, nor could I participate because my mother said she could not
afford to. As an onlooker, I imbibed this atmosphere. The school was a
singing school where culture was an important thing. From early I came to
realize that the creative arts: singing, music, dancing and recitation were
important aspects of education.
Secondary education. Kultya’s educational journey, through secondary education
reinforced her leadership potential through a broad curriculum with its sense of history.

68
The many social and cultural activities with which she was involved developed her
appreciation of music and culture.
When I went to secondary school, I met Maybeline John. She was in
charge of the music. The music was more expansive [here] than it was at
the primary school and I stated having some difficulty, because music was
also a subject on the curriculum. When I told my mother, she went right
down to the primary school and told the teacher in the infant department--
Miss Jersey-- who sent and called a teacher called Lincoln Skinner, who is
now dead. She is related to Edwyn Skynner [a national athlete]. She is
Edwyn Skynner’s aunt and she still has a brother who is a lay minister at
[that] church. Miss Jersey told Lincoln Skynner to give me piano lessons,
so that I could cope with the music, and he promptly agreed to give me
piano lessons free of charge.
I have never paid a cent for my education, primary, secondary or
higher, and so I find it difficult to exploit people as far as giving [private]
lessons are concerned. As I said, teachers taught me for the very love of it.
So I was prepared for secondary school and, where I went, we had one of
the broadest curricula. Our first year, the class was called “Transition,
Upper Transition.” That’s first form [7th grade]. We did not call it form,
we called it transition, and in that first form we had 13 subjects. Everyone
had to do all those subjects for at least three years. When you reached
fourth form, then you could trim down to eight subjects. So all that gave
me this “rounding” and “grounding” which helped me in my teacher
training, and in my tertiary education. But the primary school had laid the
foundation. What I liked at the secondary school, although one could not
always fully appreciate it then . . . at the secondary school [I went to] you
were taught to be careful and caring. No child dared tear a page out of an
exercise book. You would get an “Order Mark” [a negative point recorded
against you]. You could not get a new exercise book if your old one was
not completed; and to prove it was complete you had to take it to the form
prefect. She would check it out, then she would go and get you a new
exercise book. And so your parents could be as rich as I don’t know what,
you could not go bending up your book [or], tearing out pages to make
kites. You could not do that. Up to now, I still have some of my exercise
books from there. They imported them; they were specially made books
for the school. It meant you could always look back and see what work
was done and this made it unnecessary to get extra lessons.
You attended in class, and if you did not attend well you would be
pulled up immediately. When class was finished, you had done your work,
you had your homework, and then you could play. You could see why you
had the time to play games because you were prepared at primary school.
You were supposed to do all the subjects. Although we had so many
subjects to do, we did not have a system of what we called entire

69
specialization. One teacher would teach you two or three subjects in those
days.
We also had the prefect system and [another] of assemblies where
every class, from the lowest form, would have to take assembly once a
term. Even though the school was a secondary school, it was not a
secondary like [most other] secondary schools; it was a secondary
comprehensive [with] a kindergarten, and a boarding section. There were
pupils from [the island of] Grenada. There was a commercial class, what
you call Business Studies nowadays. So that the school had what was
called a primary section and a secondary section. In my days the school
was one of the few schools that did the Higher School Certificate, what
you call “A levels.” So it was in a way comprehensive, you see,
comprehensive, and therefore, as a school child, you met a wide age range
of children. There were little ones that you could baby, and help to look
after; there were the people in sixth form and to me the sixth formers in
those days looked like giants in school skirts, and you looked up to them.
One of the essential things about that time, when you started school, you
could have come to that school [normally] from kindergarten. I went in
from “transition” and I remained up to sixth form. What I am saying is
that you met a wide age range of girls and that helped your development,
your leadership, and your followership. You had to obey, to respect the
prefects. In turn I became a prefect. There were some little things I did not
understand. For instance, there were certain trees on the compound that
students were not allowed access to. We could not go under those trees.
The mangoes were falling on the ground. We were told that they belonged
to Mrs. Rice. School children were not supposed to go there. There was a
gate that it is still on Kline Street. The general body of the school could
not pass through that gate. Only if you were a prefect could you pass. That
means if you were a prefect, and you were in fifth form. Only prefects
could pass through that gate. There was a way of getting from the office to
the hall by going through a sort of lobby. The general population of the
school could not pass through. Only prefects could pass through. A lot of
order and sometimes you could not see the reason behind it, but as I grew
older I saw.
You were taught to be careful. If you dropped anything about,
people picked it up. Nobody stole your things. You knew that you could
go and look in lost property. To get it from lost property you would have
to pay a fine. That money at the end of the term was used to give to charity
like the Children’s League. So that’s the kind of school I went to and I was
very grateful for having gone there.
She continued with a description of her secondary school experience:
The school had a sense of history. Every year you would observe St.
Annes’ Day. You knew who founded the school, and why it was founded.
Then there was the question of, well, religious and moral education,

70
because all the children were not Anglicans by any chance, but we all had
prayers every morning. The Catholics used to have their prayers by
themselves, but they would come and join us by the end of assembly.
Every form had to take assembly once a term, every class [correcting
herself]. I am not saying form because some of the classes were not forms;
like the babies. Of course you would go and get assistance from your form
mistress, with what hymns you’re going to use.
Kultya’s secondary education accommodated much creativity, diversity, music,
and participation by students, despite the strictness of some teachers.
There were Guides and Brownies. I did not join any of those things. I was too . . . what I
would call too homebound. My mother would tell me she couldn’t afford so and so.
Many of the things I did not participate in actively, but as an onlooker. I learnt a lot and I
would say I was not subjected to anything like racial prejudice at primary school, nor at
secondary school.
Early Professional Life. Upon graduating from High School, Kultya was recruited to
teach Spanish at her Alma Mater.
The first thing I was asked to do was to teach [using] a Spanish book that I
had never heard about. They told me they only wanted me to teach the
fifth and sixth forms. That was where the shortage was. I told them that I
had never taught at that level before [but I did not refuse]. You never
refuse. I went to the children and I told them. I said, “I have never done
this before but give me a few days and I would study it and work with
you.” That was our attitude. As a trained teacher you were asked to [teach
any subject]. All you needed, you felt, was some time. You would not say,
“This was not my thing and I can’t cope with it.”
Following her initial teacher training, she was sent to teach in remote Carlton Bay
for a short while, but was soon brought back to her first school at St. Annes.
With my Carlton Bay experience, I had to travel [and] get up early on
mornings. I never complained. As a matter of fact, I hid it from my mother
that I had to go that far [for a while]. She felt that I was sent that far . . . as
punishment . . . because I was a naughty person.
Soon, Kultya earned a scholarship to the regional university at a campus on
another island. On graduating, she was appointed as a lecturer to one of four Teachers
Colleges.
When I went to the [Teachers] College, I had my degree in French, French
Honors, and Spanish subsidiary. I don’t have any university qualification
in English. I did not do English for my degree. I had intended to do
English, French and Spanish, [but] then I switched, and decided to do
French honors and Spanish. So I had no university English qualifications,
but I’ve never been afraid to teach English. I have had a certain confidence
in teaching English because of the foundations I got at [my high school].

71
Experiencing Leadership
She considered herself to be a caring leader with a difference: “In some cases,
people would call me an autocratic leader. And yet I always try to involve the students
very heavily in whatever we were doing.”
Becoming a Community: Leaders and Followers
Eventually, the principal of the teachers’ college, to which she was appointed,
retired. He was also one of Kultya’s primary mentors. The rapid promotion of the next
senior educator in line, to the Ministry of Education’s Central Office, brought Kultya to
the position of principal.
Mr. Mariao, my mentor, reached retirement age. He had been through the
gamut of the education system. He had been teacher, and principal with
various responsibilities. [When] he retired Mr. Borneo became the
principal. Then Mr. Borneo got promoted to the Ministry. Many people
including Mr. Mariao felt I was the logical successor.
She did not feel threatened by the responsibilities of administrating and leading a
mixed college: “ I was accustomed being in a household where there were more males
than females.” She sees leadership as going beyond the administrative or being “office
bound.” Indeed she confesses:
I can say that I enjoyed my days as a teacher more than my days as
principal and teacher. I can’t say that I enjoyed principalship as much as I
enjoyed the classroom. Yes, I enjoyed teaching and therefore, even as a
principal I did a considerable amount of teaching . . . and supervised the
students on Teaching Practice. I was not an office bound principal. I
taught and I went out on what I considered the most important aspect of
the students’ life, that is their Teaching Practice. For my student teachers,
that was their most stressful period. Therefore I made sure that I went out
on Teaching Practice.
One of the things that I did in my time [was] teaching practice, in
Tobago. It was one way of easing the Tobago students, [as well as] giving
some Trinidad students an opportunity to practice in Tobago.
Mr.Youngwon was very helpful and Dr. Readdin. Tobagonians were very
happy to have that [experience]. I was very happy to have that. The
[Ministry of Education] said I had taken a political decision. In my view it
was not a political decision. It was an educational and a social decision to
practice in Tobago.
Many of Kultya’s early experiences contributed to her dynamic role. This was a
residential facility, which sought to attract a rich diversity of potential teachers. She
explained:
One of our features at the Teachers College was that the students were
[either] not exposed to, had no experience in teaching, or very little
experience in teaching. This was a good and a bad thing. You see when
you know that you don’t know, you [teach] yourself. It was an easy lot to
work [with]. They felt they needed to catch up. For Teaching Practice,
they had to be bussed to the schools. The fact that they were all traveling

72
together on the bus helped to knit them together, and helped them to get
much work done. When you travel by bus or by train you get much more
work done than when you travel by car, and you yourself have to be at the
wheel. I didn’t have a car. I used to have to travel by bus. So I remember
working on the bus. I didn’t have a car, I traveled by bus with the students
and we were able to get in a lot on the bus. Sometimes it was a question of
discussion; sometimes it was a question of checking their notes on the bus.
So that they seldom reached to school any day without their notes being
checked beforehand. And they knew [that] if they had a problem they
could come to me at night, because I also lived on the campus.
Kultya described this phase in her development as on-going and symbiotic
education.
I remember, too, that I learned a lot from the students. The College
situation forced me to do things I never did before. I remember a student
called Brady Canthwaite coming to tell me he had to teach a lesson on the
sugar cane the next day. That was how I came to write the poem “The
Sugar Cane.”
Sharing Caring
Her experiences of being “Nenen” or “Nennie” were soon extended to the student
population. She was referred to as “Ma Calypso” or “Tantie Calypso.”
Some of my best memories were when we were at the campus. There was
no resident nurse or doctor. There were many people on campus as
residents, so sometimes the girls would come to me, feeling sick . . . and
so on. I could not prescribe medical drugs to them, but a little orange peel
[used to make a tea, considered to be soothing to the stomach]. Sometimes
it was just a question of talking to them. Sometimes the same thing they
refused to eat in the dining room--you know because it was in bulk or en
masse--they will come and eat the same thing in my house . . . the same
thing. But they will eat it there because of the personal touch. So, they
filled a need for me and I filled many of their needs. And it was a kind of
holistic approach to learning and teaching.
Eventually the residential and pioneering Teachers’ College was closed, and three
other colleges were incorporated into one college, the Community College for Teacher
Education. The fourth Teachers College was assimilated soon after. Kultya was
appointed to serve as principal of this unified model of teacher education.
People felt that I was the person best qualified to weld those three colleges
into one unit. It was bit of a job welding, because they had had three
separate traditions. One of the things [was] that [a particular] college had
most of the Tobago students. They chose [that college] because some of
the lecturers were from there [Tobago], and the nearness of the wharf
[travel between Trinidad and Tobgo is considerably cheaper by ferry].
Kultya explained that when they were told they had to transfer to the Community
College, they had a frenzied time making arrangements.

73
I found myself having to find accommodation for some of them. The big
problem was when they had to go home on weekends. Sometimes they
had to take their washing home. They had a lot of peculiar problems and
some of those problems became my own at the Teachers College.
Mentorships
Kultya acclaimed the role of mentors in the evolution of her leadership style. She
testifies to the many persons, of either gender, who have contributed to her development,
but she singles out three male mentors for very special mention. First there was Mr.
Mariao whom she had known for a considerable period, as her teacher, supervisor, and
advisor.
I was the only girl in his Senior Methods’ class, so I spent quite a lot of
time with him as a student and then as principal on the staff. Then he had a
system where every Friday afternoon he will have the staff socializing. He
would go to his Extra-Mural classes . . . every Friday afternoon . . . in Port
of Spain, then he would come back up probably about half past four or
five and the staff would have a spread. Every staff member had to deliver
the goods on one particular afternoon--a question of eats and drinks and
laughter and chitchat. I remember the day when President Kennedy was
assassinated. It was a Friday when we were in one of those meetings
socializing.
We would discuss all kinds of things, and it taught me the
importance of having that aspect of education. Mr. Mariao had the art of
[enjoying] food, fun, play, and making others laugh. When [he] was
conducting an assembly, you would hear people laughing. You are
laughing, but you are learning. I don’t have that talent. But I admired him
for that. So I think he had a considerable effect on me.
She described Father Cox, a parish priest, as her second primary mentor, and as a
compassionate man, who laughed easily. This was during her earlier years as an
elementary school teacher.
He was also a great social worker. He established an annex to the school,
which went beyond an academic curriculum. It accommodated a post
primary class upstairs and downstairs we had a Home Economics Center
and a Woodwork Center. [He] had a considerable effect on me, you know,
seeing what could be done. Once you had faith in young people, they
could blossom and develop. He had a considerable effect on me, and
though he was not what I would call a trained educator, he was a very
effective leader. He had very great faith in me from very early, faith that I
will come back and teach at St Annes and he gave me a lot of
responsibility. For instance he put me in charge of the choir there in St.
Annes. I used to be in charge of a confirmation class that had 56 children
and he kept giving me more and more responsibilities, you know . . . It
was leadership. So I led the choir at St. Annes, one of the first areas to
have what was called folk instruments. There was [also] a steelband.

74
Father Cox had faith in me and I had faith that he would help me wherever
necessary.
Another mentor was Mr. Billton, with whom Kultya worked with in her early
days as the teachers’ college:
Mr. Billton was the Bursar. I became the Dean and two of us were on the
campus 24 hours a day. [He] was a person whose style and whose
opinions are respected. I had known him before and had] met him at St.
Annes, because he used to work at [a] School for Boys and would bring
his boys to St. Annes. By coming to St. Annes, he had known that I had an
interest in music and folk music and invited me to join him and partner
him in training the choirs. The music that we did was outside the
curriculum, as it were. You see, [he] was not on the staff as a teacher, but
he had been a teacher, and he continued to teach extra-curricular
[subjects]. I now had my feet in both camps. I was both on the staff as a
teacher and with him. He influenced me a great deal, [with] his style and
his grounding in primary education.
She made honorable mention of another mentor, this time a woman.
I admired “Matron.” One of the things I learned from her was to “see” the
best in you. She was always a very charming lady. When you speak to
people like that, you get something out of them . . . the best that you would
like them to be. She would call every body “Lady”, “Sweetie-pie” or
“Dearie heart” . . . always a pleasant name.
Experiences as a Woman in Leadership
Kultya did not see gender as having handicapped her evolution in any way, noting
that by the time she had entered the profession many of the barriers against women had
come down. “They had already started accepting married women as teachers. All those
barriers had come down.” For her, the challenge was personal, where she felt unable to or
uncomfortable with efforts to engage in certain conversations with men.
In certain situations I am a bit awkward and I think that has affected me to
a certain extent, but I don’t think officially in the line of duty that it
affected me and at least I did not think so. I did not make it a problem, nor
was [I] being harassed. I cannot say that people have harassed me, been
fresh with me, and been fast with me. I cannot say all those kinds of things
happened to me in my career or people tried to put me down because I was
younger. I have never felt so. But I think too, people have respected me
because I was one of the people who got my education early. When I say
so, the time I went into the field, there were a number of people who had
not been to university. I was lucky in that I went to secondary school and
to university. It is true I didn’t get into Teachers’ College. I didn’t try to
get into College right away. In my day you had to wait at least three years,
But people knowing that I had gone to university--that was one of the big
plusses. We called it UCWI at the time. There was no university in
Trinidad. Then I went to London afterwards. People respected, you see,
my academic qualifications. And yes, people still had greater respect for

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Britain than they have now. The British were highly respected, and if you
were a product of something British you were more respected than you are
now. I think people still respect certain qualities about the British. I had
come through the British tradition.
Kultya made the point that people more likely earn respect, regardless of their or
your gender, if they demonstrate respect.
I always made sure I respected my students. I found myself as a training
college lecturer, working with students’ time were my age. Another time,
they were older than I was. It was not a question of age, it was a question
of my role and I have never allowed my age or my size or any thing of the
kind to cloud the issue. I was there to help. I was there to learn from . . .
and to teach you.
Caring Leadership
Kultya spoke of caring as an evolutionary process, which for her was related to
how she was brought up and schooled.
I had some very caring teachers, very caring teachers, who looked after all
my needs as far as was possible. They saw to it that I had something to eat
and not only that they taught me very well. They taught me for the love of
teaching. I had nothing to offer them in terms of dollars or cents. Those
teachers taught you. (speaking to the researcher) What was most important
to them was that you progressed. Caring is a gift of love which I received
from teachers and mentors alike. I was truly cared for, and I cared and still
care for, my students and protégés.
Kultya portrayed caring as a duty and a lifestyle, tempered by caution.
It was my duty to care for everyone, but somehow I would never foist
myself upon people; very often I would deal mostly with people who
approached me. Also, I think, as a leader, one of the things that drew
people to me was simplicity. I am basically a very simple person--simple
yes--and in my particular circumstance at the College, accessible, not only
was I approachable, I was accessible. There was no shortage of caring
interactions.
She conceded that she might have “certain masculine qualities” as a result of
having spent much of her childhood with her brothers. She noted that women, generally,
and as leaders, are perceived to be more caring.
They give more time to people than men. I can say that I gave a lot of my
time to the students at Teachers College. A lot of my time and even, in
some cases, my goods, whatever little I had, [I shared], because I grew up
in a system where the teachers gave me all that they had, including their
lunch. And I think women are like that, they are inclined to give. Now
when you give, very often you get back more, and what you give you get.
Men are supposed to be more logical, more practical, and care free.
Being caring is a full time job and as students and others gain trust in you,
there are all kinds of issues that will demand time and resolve.

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Kultya recalled such an incident when student teachers faced a dilemma, and she
found herself where she had never been before.
One day I looked at a girl [female student teacher] and I could see she was
very distraught. “The landlord has threatened to put me out.” They [her
fellow roommates] felt that the landlord was wrong. He was wrong and he
was right. They had made arrangements to have the place, it was a set of
girls who went and made the arrangements, and of course the boys used to
come around. So when these boys came around, [they] stayed late talking
loudly. The landlord got angry. He was a Muslim and not accustomed to
hearing that kind of talk, and they could not see eye to eye with him. I had
to find myself there, where I had never been before, to talk to the man.
The students were genuinely worried. What would they do if they were
put out on the streets?
With her intervention, the situation was amicably resolved. She share several
stories about instances where caring leadership demanded versatility and problem solving
strategies.
Then there [was] Terrence Ramos, who is now Reverend Ramos. When he
came to the Community College, he also came from Tobago. I remember
[that] he wanted to do Elective Geography. I was able to get him
accommodated with a student called Lee Stannson, also a geography
major who was living with his mother in Surepe. He [Terrence] had the
stimulation he wanted in geography. He and Lee would argue sometimes
for hours on end and so, but they did very well. The “Tobago experience”
backslid when the Fourth College closed and became a part of the
Community College. The principal, Cynthia, of the Fourth College and I
had known one another since we were at university. Cynthia was the kind
of [person] who was very loyal.
Appreciating the elders. Kultya considered it imperative that caring be demonstrated
to students or staff as they move on to other jobs or other stations of life.
One of the things that we always made sure we did--we still do it--is give
people a good send-off. However short a time you spent with us. That is
the situation we have inherited from the primary school where you will
have a valedictory for
retiring person.
Perspectives on Women in Leadership
Kultya shared a perspective that differences between men and women in
leadership may be related to societal expectations and gender roles. She identified a
closer relationship between female leaders and followers in education.
Women, very often, are drawn to them [the followership] by their ability
to care and therefore people feel strongly for you [women leaders] and you
feel strongly for them. People have a feeling that men are more heady,
more intellectual in their leadership whereas women are more emotional
and what one might call affected, both effective and affectionate.

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The wise educator warned however that we must be cautious about the
assumption of men being less caring.
There are . . . caring men but at least some give the impression that they
couldn't care less. [They] give that impression although probably deep
down inside they probably do [care].
Kultya recognized that women are gaining more positions of leadership,
influenced by these perceptions of being both effective and affective. She contended that
these perceptions are characterized by greater flexibility and caring among women in
leadership, despite the pervasive notion that they are the weaker sex. She identified the
broad experiences and academic curricula made available to women over the years as the
catalysts.
Secondary schools gave boys mainly an academic education, [where they]
were taught and still are taught, to develop physically, [and be involved] in
sports, [and] outdoor games, mainly. Women [however] got a broader
secondary education than boys, [which extended to] the home, too. We
developed certain qualities.
They [women] therefore used [all] their strengths. In some cases
they have the gift of the gab; in some cases they are more emotional,
gentler.
Kultya contented that there is a need for more men in education.
You have a number of boys in school and a number of girls in schools. A
lot of people feel that they should be 50-50 [the male-female teacher
population], at least. [Many] people feel that women should be given
leadership positions if they qualify for them. The applicant should not be
given a principalship simply because he is a man. [Some] people think you
could attract the men by making conditions more favorable for them and
by projecting a favorable image of teaching from early on.
She lamented about the tendency in some places for a man to be hired because he
is a man even though there are women who are better qualified, more experienced, and
may have more to offer.
Tradition dies hard. Religious beliefs also contribute to the issue of gender
and leadership. Remember, we have denominational schools and there are
some denominations that believe and also project that the women's place is
to be subservient and that the man is supposed to be the dominant figure.
There are others who see the role as complementary. But there are some
who definitely see the role as dominant and subordinate. All those things
help to determine how people view teaching and who enters teaching.
Kultya spoke about the need for clear roles for women in leadership, which must
not deteriorate into some new form of “gender wars”.
I think they have a responsibility to share the concerns of other women as
well as to share the concerns of men. Men who are aggressive and who are
offensive to women are so because they are really on the defensive. They
feel threatened . . . they feel they are made to feel small so that they are
hitting back. They are using their physical superiority to demonstrate their

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superiority. Women, who are in leadership positions, have a dual
responsibility to be concerned about other women, and to be concerned
about not giving the men the wrong impression. Women have a very
difficult role to make the men realize that even though they are there in
positions of leadership they are not there to dominate; they are there to
complement. The men see these things as being upside down and I think
this is what causes a lot of the heartache, and aggression, and trauma.
Feminism: A Male Issue
Kultya identified herself as a feminist, but offered some clarification on her
conceptualization of feminism.
A feminist is concerned not just about women, but about women and
children . . . and also men, their male counterparts. I know the word has
certain unpleasant connotations, but I think a feminist is one who brings
out the best in womanhood, and seeks to get the best for women. For
example, I think one of the greatest feminists that we ever had in Trinidad
that I know of, and probably in the Caribbean, was Audrey Jeffers. She
sought to get the best for children. Audrey set up breakfast sheds, not only
for women but for working men. She sought to make them more involved.
One of the things people have to remember about feminists is that a person
involved in women's issue is usually involved in women and children's
issues because women find that whereas sometimes men--and there is a
section of our male population--who literally disown children. Women
cannot do that. A number of men who contribute to children by
biologically conceiving them and then fail to support the children have to
be taken to court, [or] they will not maintain them. Then there is the type
who maintains them in the home, but would not discipline them. Anytime
[a problem arises] they say [to the children] "Go and tell your mother".
All the serious issues they leave to the mother. In that sense she is a
feminist! There is a need for persons of both genders to work
collaboratively for the survival of the species. This does not mean that
there is anything wrong with belonging to gender based organizations. In
many cases there are traditional organizations to which only men belong.
There are some to which only women belong and there are some places
where membership is open to both male and female.
Kultya talked provokingly about some organizations where the top posts are
earmarked for a certain sex.
The presidency would very often go to a male; the treasurer would very
often go to a male; the secretary which people see as being a post that
involves a certain amount of handwriting and correspondence and leg
work, very often people feel that this is for women. So within a mixed
organization this is the way people see it. You must have them [persons of
both sexes]. You are not going to give a man the post of secretary
(sarcastically). That is too much hard work for him. Give him the post of

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president where he has to be up front and give him the post of treasurer
where he is in charge of the purse strings.
Feminism and femininity. Kultya suggested that women should revisit their
interpretation and definition of feminism to be an assertion of love for themselves, which
is not synonymous with excluding or denigrating men, but complementary.
Feminism does not necessarily mean effeminate. It should not stop you
from going after opportunities that you feel you can fill. You see, as a
principal, I never felt I was at a disadvantage because I was a woman. I
know there would be some circles in which I didn't necessarily appreciate
the kind of conversation the males carried on, but apart from that, I never
felt less than the men. And again I think I was always grateful to the men
who were my mentors. I learnt a lot from them but I always know that
there were some things they did that I couldn't do and there were things I
could do that they couldn't do. As you see it’s complementary.
I think it’s a good thing for most schools to have a mixed staff.
Unfortunately nowadays, there seem to be a majority of women in
teaching and so the school staff reflects that. I think schools are most
fortunate when they have a judicious mixture, because life is
complementary, it’s complementary in nature.
Caring and Leadership
The lessons of a lifetime in teacher education have convinced Kultya of the value
of an ethic of care in education. She asserted:
The most important factor in successful teacher preparation [is] I think
communication, and the question of people believing that you care that
you care about them, about where they are going. Very often they would
move mountains to live up to your expectations.
Caring is not about women, nor should it be construed as a gender issue. She
contended: “Men do care and they should be proud of that ethic.” To demonstrate the
importance of caring and men, Kultya shared her views about the role that Jesus played in
confirming that caring is about people.
Only this morning, somebody was saying: “There is only one instance in
scripture where Jesus is supposed to have gotten violent; where Jesus took
his cord and drove people and animals out of the temple. Those of us, who
are Christians, if we really look at Jesus as a model, would see how caring
he was. He always thought about peoples’ needs; he fed people; he
encouraged children to come to him; he went to a wedding [and] he turned
water into wine. He was a leader, but he was a very caring leader. He
sensed when people were hungry [and] he fed them.
She took the time to stress that women could be uncaring and competitive; a
phenomena she believes which may be traced to how predominant men were in their
lives.
If men were predominant in your life . . . there was a time when men were
predominantly leaders . . . so that sometimes you feel you have to measure
up to them. But nowadays I think it's easier for you to strike your own

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path . . . In fact there are so many women especially in teaching who are
the leaders. It [caring] depends on your environment and who has been
the dominant and pre-dominant factor in your life.
Facilitating caring leadership. For education to empower, to change, and to motivate
others, Kultya insisted, it requires caring leadership. This must not be left to chance, but
must be addressed in educational leadership and teacher preparation programs. She
recommended a residency requirement as one strategy.
A lot of the firms, a lot of institutions have a modicum of residential
training in what they call retreats. Teachers should be exposed to some
residential living.
In recalling a pleasant memory of her leadership experience, Kultya described a
principal who exemplified caring leadership, and how this influenced in her own
development.
It was one of my happiest teaching practices . . . for many reasons. The
school, building-wise, was nothing to shout about, but Mr. Segall
impressed me very much because of the personal help he gave to each
student. In the first place, he took 10 students [teachers] in what I would
call a small school. He personally went around, and heard every student.
Whether I was there or not, I knew they were in good hands. I was able to,
in a three-week practice, to see [this]. They [the student teachers] were
able to see, and feel that they had moved from point X to point Y.
It was a very happy teaching practice--seeing that the students felt,
and I felt, and the principal felt, and the teachers felt--and all could see
that they had grown professionally, and socially. [They] were even able to
give back to the school some of what they had got. Having experiences
with such exemplars may contribute to the preparation of caring teachers
and eventual leaders.
Another way of facilitating the ethic of care may be found, she suggested, by
visiting the less advantaged.
One of the most touching moments to me, was when I used to take
students to the prisons. It was a rough audience but it was amazing how
the students were willing to go. We would go every year and put on a
concert, and get the inmates to join in and so on. At Christmas time we
would go to the hospital, which looked after our students when they took
ill. At Christmas time, we would go and sing for the patients. I have seen
certain patients really liven up when we put on our numbers in the
hospital. I particularly remember a time, when we did a number, and there
was a resident there for whom it struck a chord. She literally took up her
bed and walked!
Kultya also recommended changing the descriptors used for educational
leadership to deconstruct the perception that it is about power and emphasize that it is
about service.
The people in the Ministry we [should not] call them supervisors, we
[should] call them facilitators. One might say the basis [of descriptors] is

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the focus or goal of the Ministry, but in truth and in fact, their [the
supervisors’] scene of operation is partly the Ministry and partly the class -
-the schoolroom. [I recommend] changing the designation and area of
operations. In other words, I have been in many schools [where I have]
met groups of people in the school working along with the teachers.
Kultya proposed that leadership preparation programs aim to increase the
awareness of the importance of succession planning and preparation: “You have to
prepare people for succession and you don't necessarily prepare them after you have left.
So it’s a question of shared responsibility.”
Teacher education and caring leadership. According to Kultya, there are some
essential elements to any successful teacher/leadership effort, such as the following: (1) a
vision of what teacher training is; and (2) high self-esteem; and (3) consideration,
concern, and respect for the students. She spoke of the importance of communication
skills training:
to improve the ability to express themselves and to improve their ability to
care about one another and to care about people. Generally speaking, not
only interest in the students, but in their families . . . and the role that the
family plays in their success. All things, like the little dinners and little
luncheons and the family days . . . contribute [to success]. In other words,
a person is not another drop in the ocean. In truth and in fact, no man is an
island . . . we need each other, many men feel.
On caring and being careful. Kultya cautioned about the politics of gender and caring,
and acknowledged the vulnerability that she and other leaders may face.
Especially at the tertiary level, one has to be careful lest one is accused of
being too personal and striking up wrong relationships. There have been
very many male principals who have been very careful and male teachers
at the primary level. So very often you try to put on a tough
unapproachable exterior to protect yourself. But this does not mean that
you are insensitive or unconcerned or uncaring about their needs . . .after
all this is one community . . .one family.
Reflections on Her Leadership
For a few moments, this stalwart of teacher education became very, very quiet. I
recalled the heightened awareness of the birds chirping, and a dog lazily getting up from
his nap in the middle of the roadway. The dog barked reluctantly and grumpily at the
courier, whose van awoke him. Kultya gave a long sigh. Has she had enough? I thought.
Eventually, as if peering through a telescope to the past, she responded to my question
about how she would describe her leadership experience.
Well . . . I was going through the valleys and going up the mountains.
There were times when you would be on the mountaintop and some times
when you would be in the valley but you will always feel you will come
out of the valley of the shadow.
Kultya had taken the responsibility for leading quite a number of teacher-
followers over the years and was very proud of her protégés and their accomplishments in

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education. She notes their healthy thirst for further learning and the confidence with
which they approached their new tasks.
In some cases they have more confidence than I have, but they have been
able to launch out, whether it is in teaching or elsewhere. Many of them
have not remained in the classroom. Many of them are in education but
not in teaching. Many of them are in education but not in the classroom.
But wherever they go, I think they hold their own and they aspire to be
dynamic leaders. I am not sure if all of them are contented followers, but
they certainly hold their own. I have tried to encourage their sense of
responsibility to and relationship with the community, and I see that in
evidence. Also there is certain compassion, a certain fellowship that they
foster and cherish. Some of the values that they cherish--the question of
the humane side of things--that is one of the things that stand out. Not
simply the brainwork only, the headwork, not only the headwork but also
the handwork, and the heart work.
There is still in many cases the thirst for education among the
teachers. I am not sure that there is the same thirst for learning among all
the students and I don’t know where the blame lies, whether it lies with
the parents or the teachers. The children are not motivated to want to learn
you see. In my day at primary school [and] in my day at Teachers’
College, students wanted to learn and we the teachers enjoyed teaching
them. Now I think one has a harder job motivating students and
convincing them that it is important to learn and learn for your own sake.
For instance, recently I was talking to a little relative of mine that felt that
when the Common Entrance [examination] is scrapped, there would be no
need for her to learn basics anymore.
Concerns with the low status of teaching. Kultya associated the low status of teachers
with teacher preparation and recruitment. She contended that the status of teaching is not
only shaped by the policy makers but by the quality of teachers. Teacher preparation
must address caring as an important issue. She added that teacher recruitment is just as
important and that these two factors, teacher recruitment and preparation, have much to
do with how teachers are valued by the community.
I don't think that people nowadays project teaching as a favorable
profession as they used to. When I was a child, I longed to be a teacher; I
looked up to my teachers. You had children playing school. That was a
famous game to play--to play school . . . and you playing the teacher.
Nowadays, children don't hear their parents and their elders deifying
teachers and so on. People still get the impression that teaching is a hard
job . . . and also people have the impression that to become a teacher
means you have to study too hard. This is one of the things keeping a
number of boys from entering teaching. They find that there is too much
study, too much sedentary “book-beating” involved in teaching. They
prefer to get into something where you don't have so many hours poring
over the books, you don't have to be so sedentary . . . You could be more

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active and more agile and more outdoor. However there are some fields in
teaching that are still dominated by men. I stand subject to correction but I
think for instance, the woodworking field and many technical subjects are
still dominated by men.
On Success and Successors
For Kultya, her successes and accomplishments correlated with the lifestyles and
commitment to the community that her former student teachers and protégés
demonstrated, and their readiness to go that extra mile. She identified some of her
primary achievements:
I think I was responsible for getting them to see drama and music in a new
light in education. Through teaching practice in Tobago, some Trinidadian
students had a different context to teach in. It provided the Tobagonian
student, an opportunity to practice, to do Teaching Practice, in his/her own
home setting. The fully residential training made them [the student
teachers] blossom, and even those who have left teaching have carried that
spirit into their various walks of life. Many of them have left teaching, but
they have not left education, and they have not left leadership and they
have not left self-development. The residential experiences helped them to
see how they could help other persons, and what life is really about . . . a
community. Well, the non-residence part of it umm . . . I think teachers
training should aim to help teachers understand human nature, to socialize,
appreciate diversity, and so on. There should be provision for people to be
partly residential, so probably a year in residence or a term in residence. In
other words, there is no place like home; "see me and come live with me"
is a different thing.
The Importance of Smell
Kultya left a special message for those who aspire to be educational leaders,
noting that all teachers should consider themselves leaders.
Take time to smell the roses. Enjoy [your] work while you are working.
Work while you're working, and play while you play. Enjoy what you are
doing, and try to get others to derive some enjoyment too. That will help
to lighten the load and that will help you to avoid burnout. Enjoy what you
are doing.
Narrative IV: Introducing Daphne Johann, Educational Exemplar
Daphne is an attractive, academic looking, pleasantly dispositioned woman with
very penetrative eyes, a warm smile and contagious laughter. Behind all this is a very
private and tactical person, with strong, well-reflected views on national and Caribbean
issues. There is a sense of Afrocentricism about her style. She is engaging, but cautious,
as she outlines her valid concerns and genuine enthusiasm about the study, prior to the
two interviews. We sit in a spacious well-decorated living room for the two interviews.
Daphne Johann has served the education system extensively, as teacher, supervisor and
policy maker.
Daphne was born in north central Trinidad; the youngest girl of six children. She
is in her early fifties and still very close to her siblings, “although the closeness is not

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always . . . a nurturing one.” Indeed, she explains, “in the case of one, it is close in
thought . . . [his] lifestyle is so different from mine.” She is only one of her siblings to
have completed high school in childhood. She perceives herself as being blessed with a
rich diversity:
I was born to a Catholic mother and Anglican father.I . . . attend the
Catholic Church . . . was christened in the Anglican church, because by
the time I came around, at fifth place, he [my father] thought one of the
children should be in his church. By the time my last brother was born, he
was christened Catholic. I think my father did not have the energy to find
the godparents. I went to an Anglican school (while all the others went to
the RC school for most or all of their elementary education) . . . a
Presbyterian secondary school, grew up in a Hindu village and [my] best
friend, as a child was a Muslim.
She had fond memories of growing up, in what is a predominantly an East Indian
community, and one she readily identified with.
I still feel as much a longing to be home at Divali (Hindu festival of
lights), as I do at Christmas. The old neighbors look forward to seeing me,
as much as I do to seeing them. One [neighbor], once called me “one of
[San Bernadido] feathers”, like feather in your cap, you know the saying?
She recognized the importance of the foundational years at primary school, but
she did not see them as being significant to her leadership skills: “Primary school is
where you went. I did what the teacher [said]. I don’t see the primary school as having
that tremendous impact.” Daphne reflected about whether she might have gained more if
she had gone to a primary school that was a more assertive school.
To give you an example of what I am talking about; when I went to High
School, I went as a paying student. [There] I found that several of the
students who had won exhibitions--I think it was the last year of the
exhibition, the second to last--quite a few of the children had won
exhibitions--and I am being factual at this point--simply were not as bright
as I were. They all came from similar schools and knew about exam
techniques and so-so. That strategy [preparing students about examination
techniques] my school was not into. So if anything, I concluded that
primary school, while it was not aversive . . . [it] did not have the same
academic aggressiveness, awareness or whatever. It was a comfortable
place to be an extension of the village and whatever. There are a few
people who stand out, who I remember well, but I don’t place the focus on
primary education. I remember primary school, and the head teacher
trying to get me to speak up (the head teacher was also the teacher of the
common entrance class) and I could not project my voice to the front; he
could not hear me. The particular day, I remember he was walking around
the class beating people who did not know their work. When he got to me
. . . I . . . up to today I remember. He saw so much terror that he could not
hit me and he said something like--when he got to me and I couldn’t
answer--he said: “I can’t take the stupidness in this class.” And he stopped

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beating everybody. I honestly think that what he saw was sheer
unadulterated terror and he refrained.
Paths to Leadership
Daphne taught at a Hindu Girls College, “attended a secular if not atheist
university”, and then taught at a convent. She was very proud of her mother, who was
able to co-purchase a piece of land at age 17, and who was determined that Daphne
attend high school after an unsuccessful attempt to gain entry via the College Exhibition.
She claimed that her mother literally took her to write entrance examinations for several
schools, following that initial failure. It was this drive, this spirit in her mother that
propelled Daphne in fourth or sixth form (senior high). One day, she found herself,
“standing under a tree and virtually swearing” that as long as she had, her mother would
never want.” She recalled the dynamism of her mother who was a domestic and her
earliest mentor:
It was not really her social setting, but she made herself totally
comfortable in it. Many of the other parents were either her employers or
friends of her employers whom she would frequently serve at dinner. But
she was determined that I would do well and went to every bazaar,
graduation, fundraising event and PTA meeting. Sometimes I think she
identified with the school more than I did. It was she who came home and
said that I could go to university right in Trinidad. Her boss at the time . .
. told her that they were going to open a branch of the University here.
She was very familiar with that setting because she often worked with
people from “the College” [The College of Tropical Agriculture was the
forerunner of what is now the University of the West Indies).
The supportive role of Daphne’s mother continued through her father’s departure
from the home; the challenge of senior high school years; and the economic hardships the
family faced: “At the time my oldest brothers were sort of supporting the household.”
Daphne had planned to go to evening classes for two years and so complete the degree in
four years. The university however did not accept her as an evening student coming
straight from school. She admits that her subsequent decision to do full-time studies was
influenced by the fact that many of her peers, whom she thought did not have “the same
readiness” that she had, were going, primarily because they had the financial means.
Experiencing Leadership
Daphne recognized herself as a leader characterizing flexibility, a positive
attitude, the ability to articulate a position, good communication skills, and the readiness
to not just identify a problem but to identify her own role in its evolution and
maintenance.
I don’t know, you know. It is contradictory. I try to allow other people to
assume leadership. I try to give things and let people do it and we come
back. So, for example, we are planning a conference. I do the framework
and I pass it to everybody and I say, “Fill out this framework. What is
missing?” Then we sit with the framework and say, “Now who would do
what?” And we assign tasks and I leave people to do the tasks. They come
back and I ask questions to see how we [are] going. They come back with

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suggestions and I am frequently overruled. If I am overruled, I try to take
it gracefully. I try to say, “Make it work. If you overrule me and I go your
way, make it work.” But people describe me as a strong dominant
personality. MAYBE I DON’T work from the center after all. Maybe that
is how I delude myself, but the feedback is that I give far more
responsibility than the people were ever accustomed to; [that they] have
far more opportunities than they had before; that they have far more
opportunities for training than they had before. This comes back to me as
feedback, which says: “Yes I may be dominant etc, but I do manage to
cater for some of the ideals.” Because I think fast and do many things,
there may be gaps in communication that I think I have filled but may not.
Therefore I [am] trying to bring people together frequently because, if not,
you [the leader] alone are the repository for a whole set of things, and that
cannot be good. When you are not, there the things will fall apart. So I
don’t know if I have described anything. I don’t have a label. I try to lead
in such a way that [allow] people [to] feel whole, wholesome, and they
feel that making a contribution is helping them too.
Daphne identified flexibility as a key factor in maintaining one’s sanity and self in
the world of leadership. This also allows a means of facilitating the growth of effective
leadership skill: “Too often, persons in leadership, and who aspire to greater levels of
leadership, stumble when the going gets tough, and fail to adapt to changing demands and
pressures.” She recalled the frustrations of former colleagues struggling to understand
and cope with changing paradigms.
I do not quarrel with that experience at this point. I say to myself “People
[have] grown up in a certain situation, and they had learned that rewards
would be given after they have served 10, 15, 20 years, and I was asking
them to go through a dramatic paradigm shift.”
Since monitor days, [they think that they know] where the apple
tree is; since monitor days, they [are] aiming at that apple and just when
their hands reach the apple, somebody say “the game change, you should
not have walked a straight line but gone and get yourself qualified.”
She placed herself in the scenario as “the person breaking the line; breaking the
laws of the game.” Daphne acknowledges the frustrations for all as a result of change, but
she saw herself as having many of the attributes that would see her through. Some of
these attributes she linked to her upbringing and the unique lessons of her mother.
We have all been described as tenacious, stubborn . . . but what it said to
[me] was that I have a right be a person, I have a point of view and I could
hold my point of view anyway. She [my mother] held her point of view
with anybody anywhere (laughing) and that, I think, would have a
tremendous impact on all of us.
A second major sphere of influence on her leadership style she ascribed to her
high school experience.
I say quite frankly that secondary school made me middle class. Where I
went to school, there were all kinds of shaping activities- debating

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competitions, floral competitions, singing competitions sports
competitions. People might say what they want about competition but you
are in a House and the House has to get somewhere and so on. I remember
when I was in fourth . . . fourth or fifth form, I was selected to be on a
debating team; it was the furthest thing on my mind. I really did not think
anyone would identify me as a debater or whatever. But it turned out that
it was probably one of the better experiences, because one of the things
people attribute my success to is that I am very articulate, and that I can
motivate people and that kind of thing. So the chances are, in fact not the
chances are, I think [it is] the secondary school] that shaped me.
Daphne emphasized the symbiotic relationship between followership and
leadership, and the enormous responsibility of the latter. She recalled a time when one of
her subordinates said to her: “I don’t know where you going but I am following . . . I am
following with a certain confidence because I feel you have it all in your head.” This
statement troubled Daphne as she considered the importance and role of communication
between leader and follower.
I tried to get things out of my head, and put out in the public domain; but
as I get older I realize that your saying it or your writing it, is not
necessarily putting it out in the public domain. Sometimes you are talking
a language or you are communicating a concept that is not easy to
understand. You came upon it and it seems easy to you but it need not be
easy to other people and they need not know what questions to ask so that
you can make it easy. The bottom line is that you cannot assume that you
would always understand. You cannot assume that you have all the ideas
Daphne used a recent experience to illustrate her point.
I had a very difficult experience with one person recently who said that
she couldn’t speak with me and didn’t know how . . . and everyone else
said to her “Well she is one of the easiest people to talk to!” But part of it
was that I was so task driven that [I did not see] the pain she was going
through. My advice was “Girl, just do the work . . . instead of building up
[stress] just do the work!” Her own attitude was that I did not understand
of her own position.
The only thing that made me feel not comfortable but less
distressed about the situation was that every one else agreed with my
position and found that she was the difficult person. But that is not it. I
should have been able to detect that what she was experiencing was really
difficult and help her over the hump. But because she had portrayed a
certain self, I was unable to [recognize her] pain. The self that she had
portrayed was not her true self. The self that she had portrayed was
confident: “Don’t try to teach me anything. I know it” when in fact that
was a cover up and I did not read through the cover up. So when we had a
big thing to do, she did not do anything.
She took her responsibility as leader/follower seriously, often struggling with the
changing paradigms and her own personal style as “task oriented.”

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I am somebody who attempts to work with people in a way that will
recognize them as people. I do not always succeed because there is a
societal construct of boss/employee relationship and, whatever you do,
people would see you as boss so that it becomes problematic if you do not
have the boss/employee relationship when all other bosses have it. But I
do try to let people know that I value their input. I recognize what they are
doing and we are in a team working towards some common goals.
Unfortunately, because I am frequently task driven, I may not convey
what I have just said to people all the time . . . I may convey that the task
is the most important thing. However I do attempt to counterbalance the
task driven thing by advising people on their own professional
development telling them about opportunities supporting their training.
An important positive dimension of her evolution was her readiness to be flexible
as she sought to make her contribution nationally. She stressed that she did not grow up
as a privileged person expecting that she must have anything by “right.” For her, she
knew that she had to work to achieve her objectives. “I feel you had a community to
serve, and when you needed it the community will give you back.”
I can tell anybody that my Ph.D. paid off. It impacted on the system. I got
the opportunity to use it. Anything happening I would be called, to do this
to do that, to back up [to give support] here . . . but when it came to giving
a promotion, there was always an issue why the promotion should not
come to me. One day, I looked left and I looked right and I said. “You do
not qualify . . . you are not over 50, you are not male, you have not been
part of the team since training college. So you forget that [wish to be
promoted] . . . you continue to give because you have been blessed with
the ability to give. You got opportunities to learn that people did not get
and when you do the things, you grow. So you continue to grow and
continue giving but you diversify. So I got engaged professionally in all
kinds of things until one day when an interview panel looked and saw all
the things I had done, they had no choice but to say “Who else?”
I have seen people consciously blocking things . . .like promotions
for me, and other people did not get blocked. I do not reflect on those days
with particular pain, because for example I was not made to sit at a desk
and not do anything. I was able to do everything. If you see my c.v. People
ask “How could you have done that within that space of time?” It is
because clearly people gave me the opportunity to do it and I did it and I
enjoyed doing it and I got a whole set of people who bring back joy to me
because I did it. You do things that bring you other kinds of rewards and
you work!
She recalled the comments made to her by a supervisor on entering a particular
Government Ministry:
Remember this about work. You have no idea who may see your work . . .
so even if you are doing it for somebody who at this time may be punitive

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or whatever, remember you are doing it for you and for the future, so
always do your best. I did my best.
A key element in her professional and leadership success is having positive
relationships.
. . . with as many people as I can. I kept in view the greater good. I
struggled for it the greater good. I kept in view the children. I kept in view
who ever the client group was. I am trying to say [to my colleagues] “We
are equals.” But one of the points I try to make is that everyone is
important.
She drew my attention to a luncheon meeting with her department the previous
day.
I don’t know if you noticed the seating pattern. I wanted to sit in the
middle. I went to sit in the middle because I felt it would have allowed me
to be a part of the group. I was told to sit at the end. I was told that I was
resisting my role. I was told that I am leaving my visitor alone. At that
point I thought, “Why fight it?”
She shared a story of the constraints faced when, as a relational leader; she was
trying to develop a team among traditionalist followers.
We had an incident where we had a small staff and everyone had a key.
There was a security . . . a breach in security and I was advised that the
way to solve it is to control the keys. So I decided I [was] controlling the
keys because the truth is I never worked in an organization where
everyone had the keys. So it has been troubling for me but it was what I
met, so I left it alone. So we had a discussion and I said, “These are the
strategies I plan to put in place.” And then someone says, “If that is so, I
coming after 8 [am] every morning, because I am not coming to sit
outside.” Another thing, the fact that you could say these things, is a
comment on the structure of the organization. Another one said . . . “Who
is going to answer the phone when you phone half past seven in the
morning?” I didn’t realize that it was a pattern I had developed, but clearly
it was. Everybody laughed. And then the driver--remember this is a
situation where you have a real gap in terms of status between Head [of
department] and driver--he said “We are accustomed to living in certain
ways. What will it do to the trust?” I threw my hands up in the air and I
said, “I don’t want to violate the trust. How do we solve this problem?” I
backed down and I left everybody to solve the problem. Several things
[are noteworthy] . . . we could only have had that discussion [because
there] was a certain amount of equality. I could only have backed down
because a certain amount of trust had been built up. So I don’t feel
threatened. You feel personally set back, because you’re human, but I did
not feel personally threatened. I don’t feel my ego . . . personally
threatened, because my ego does not hinge upon who controls the key. But
for many people, who controls the key is an . . . issue. So whether my
office is locked or not, was not dictated by me. I leave the office open.

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But again people said to me, “Our confidential files are in there.” So when
they realized that I [am] careless about leaving the door open, because I
have an open door policy--and that is because I grew up in a place where
people left the doors open and called out to their neighbors across the
street--when they found that I really not behaving, they put a lock on the
filing cabinet (laughing) which I never open.
Her flexibility and positive attitude should not be construed to mean an inability
to assert and express herself using the very experiences she has had as stories to illustrate
her points.
When the opportunity came up for promotion, I never hid any of the
stories. Somebody asked me to do something else and I said I am willing
to do it but this time I am not doing it without a promotion for these
reasons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6. And the person said the amazing thing is you can
tell these stories without bitterness. And I said I am not bitter I am just
saying that this time I am not doing it without rewards.
Another significant lesson from Daphne’s experience pertained to the
evolutionary nature of leadership and the role of experience. She referred to a recent
experience when faced with a task.
One of the risks to a leader, is that you may forget how many years it took
to reach that point, and you ask somebody to do something and cannot
understand why it takes them a long time or whatever. Therefore one of
the challenges is to be able to use your experience. I was asked to present
a paper on something I literally knew nothing about, or thought I knew
nothing about. Frankly speaking it does not have much interest. It was one
of those assignments that you just got to do and you had to do. As for the
usual sources, you have them there and eventually start to read and juggle
a few things in your head. And suddenly you’d realize that you have so
many organizing concepts located in so many different places that you are
able to pull on them and really all you need is a little stimulant. That for
me is one of the joys and it is what people call being experienced.
Daphne’s testimony implied that one can and should benefit from the experiences
and wisdom of more mature leaders. It was a visit to Kenya that brought this lesson home
to Daphne. She shared her conviction from her observations on that trip:
Part of the empowerment was the respect given to elders, the acceptance
of leadership, the acceptance of place, which in a sense made leadership
easier . . . which made sharing easier, because people knew that if you
succeeded was the success of the community. It wasn’t your personal
striving. It is a mistake we frequently make. We frequently think we
succeed because we [are] bright, we [are] brave, we [are] strong and we do
not realize how many factors contributed to our being. But it is
problematic because the very things that teach the role of followership can
lead to rigidity. So teaching leadership, building good leaders is a really
difficult thing especially since in an ethos [where] competition is so
important. In the western world we stress what we see on TV, what we

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imbibe, almost by osmosis, is individual achievement, and if you do that . .
. leadership [that is] not based on the self is a difficult thing to achieve.
Flexibility: A Key to Effective Leadership
Daphne credited a lot of her survival skills on flexibility.
I’d like to convey to people that anything could happen to you, anything to
anybody anytime (I know that, anything could happen to anybody
anytime). If it [something unexpected] happens, the more important thing
is how you treat it.
Daphne urged leaders to complement flexibility with humility, and noted that a
leader must be able not just to identify problems but also to recognize his/her role in the
maintenance of the problem and be prepared to deal with it.
Yes, if you are able to take the problem, see what you contributed to it
because if you are in a problem you have contributed to it. You may not
have contributed to it consciously; you may not have wanted to contribute
to it. If you are in a problem, see how you have contributed to it and try to
do better next time and move on.
Zigzagging the Line
Daphne claimed that her strategies for surviving the male dominated world of
educational leadership involved primarily flexibility, a positive attitude to life, and
learning.
There is a saying that if you keep growing, if you keep learning then you
have a self and a contribution to make that is almost irrespective of what is
happening around you. It is not divorced from what is happening around
you, but you can shape a path. Once upon a time, we used to call it
zigzagging on a line. You knew the path you were following because you
knew where the line should lead. You could keep going but because of the
pressures in the environment, the pushes and the pulls, you cannot really
stick to a line and walk, you had to zigzag but knowing that you will keep
walking on that line.
Faith is a concept that appears to be the glue to all Daphne’s behaviors. She
asserted that she has faith.
I cannot say I have religion in the traditional sense that many people have
religion, where they belong to a church from the time they [are] born and
they grew up in it and they stay in it. I have a faith that if you keep in tune
with the greater goodness, if you keep in tune with God, if you
encapsulate that greater goodness in God . . . things will go wrong but you
will keep to a path. I once said to somebody that I am lucky and she said
“No you are blessed!”, and I understand what that means. I understand
what it means to be sitting, and feeling that you are facing a big, big,
mountain, and something happens. And you see a path . . . ahmmm. So
what you find is, if you see the mountain, you say, “Somewhere there,
somewhere, something good is going to happen out of this, [so] I keep
going.” Some people say that I am a risk taker; I have a conference

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happening in a week and the money has not yet arrived, but you have to do
it.
Experiences as a Woman in Leadership
There were no particular negativisms that Daphne linked to her being a woman
and leader. She cited, however, numerous incidents and situations that characterized a
hegemony linked to seniority, of who you know and where you were schooled.
A certain job was to be kept for a certain person. Whether that was gender,
or whether the person thought that the person would have done the job
better, I do not know. When the person came and got the job, they (both
men at different levels of leadership] fought like lions in a den.
She shared another example:
. . . This guy who had been on the path seeing the apple, had done
everything in the old paradigm to win the apple, but the paradigm shifted
on him and it had a new game and new people were favored. He left the
job, but he made a good decision. Some people stay in the job and eat
themselves away. But he could not see how, if he was senior when this
person joined the organization, this person could become his boss. He
simply could not see that the domain had changed and that this new person
had the skills for the domain. As far as I was able, I encouraged him to
bring it to a close . . . to seek other alternatives. What I could not do was to
stem his bitterness, [which] he attributed to race. It is unfortunate that the
intrepid things are sometimes there for reasons other than race, gender or
age, but they become layered with race, gender, and age. I am never sure
what played first.
In part there was no agenda, because there were other women who,
if you used the old criteria [of seniority] would have succeeded; but they
did not succeed with the old criteria, and I did not succeed with the new
criteria. So, you had to say that it must have been gender. What I am
saying is that nobody, in that circumstance, ever tried to keep me under a
bushel. One person may [have tried], but there was so many other things
going for movement and progress that this person couldn’t succeed,
because the tide was against that sort of thing.
Daphne’s experiences revealed a readiness by the dominant group to benefit from
and to facilitate opportunities for her to show her mettle but reluctance to create a
position [that optimized her resources], or promote her into a leadership position. There
was even a level of appreciation, but she had to face the challenge that she was not
representative of the status quo.
I am not male. I am not in my 50’s. I do not have a track record of being
taught by . . . which was the track record that got you placed in education.
You were taught by . . . they knew your skills and therefore you had these
opportunities created for you. I did not qualify.
She shared the following story that epitomized the context she worked with then.
We had a meeting and we were doing something trying to work up a
strategy . . . and I had a nice idea. So I said “Let us go on board and . . .

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This person just looked at me in amazement. I said, “What is the matter?”
His response was something like . . . “You are atypically logical!” The
group roared. It was a heckle group and I did not pursue the matter. Well I
could not pursue it then, because what people would have done [was to]
laugh more. “But tell me, what do you mean by “atypically logical?” [I
asked eventually] And he said . . . “I only know one other person like you”
and he named a name. “It is not like your gender to be so logical.” I did
not perceive [this] as an attack but I did not think I should have been told
that in a meeting. I did not think it was personally packaged for me. It had
to do with his worldview.
For Daphne, the greatest challenge to her integrity and well being, as a woman in
leadership, was a woman who served as her senior.
My greatest challenge . . .was of the same gender. [So] gender may be an
issue, for we [women] may internalize the other gender and may be acting
in ways that the other gender may [be expected to] act. But it was
extremely difficult and the fallout bad. I must have handled it fairly well . .
. since people said, subsequently, that they had no way of knowing. But it
was extremely painful. There was so much potential.
Lessons on Caring Leadership
The earliest experiences of caring and caring leadership that Daphne Johann
recalled were those of her mother and her village community. There:
People looked out for each other. People share things. Sharing is
something that was fundamental . . . [like] passing things over the fence. I
was an adult cooking and would pass and drop food for my sister.
You buy things. If you get something that you like you would
share it. When people travel you bring things for people. If somebody in
trouble you see what you could scramble to help get out of the trouble . . .
and people have been in trouble! All kinds of trouble! [You] just do what
you have to do, which we learned, from home. [It is like] the process of
sharing a mango . . . one mango and this one [person] gets a face, this one
gets a face and that one gets the seed. If you have had an experience of
sharing, where sharing can be taken as a gift, you do not learn to be
selfish. A critical part of good leadership is not being selfish.
Caring, Daphne attested, is not a phenomenon limited to childhood experiences,
but one evidenced through other dimensions, as with friendships and work relationships.
I know one particular person, who I consider a mentor, who literally went
out of her way to nurture the people who were with her, who went out of
her way to identify talent and say, “How could I nurture this talent?”
[She] ran a learning organization when the concept was in its infancy. You
crossed the threshold of her organization and she said . . . “So and so is
learning shorthand . . . So and so knows economics, but he does not know
sociology. I have encouraged him to enroll in a sociology class. You are
entering a computerized environment, so I would suggest you learn how to
use the computer.”

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[She was] very stern, very “school teacherish” in style, but
clearly everybody who worked in her organization . . . she secured a
promotion for, as soon as it was due. She went out of her way to make
sure that if you were writing something, she advised as to how you should
do it. I admired her tremendously. She helped you to stay focused, and
made you realize that youth, age, experience, whatever . . . is a continuum.
That to me has been a very, very positive work experience.
Daphne’s friendships were sacred to her and provided her with daily lessons on
caring.
I have been blessed, literally blessed with a group of very supportive, very
progressive friends. I can call and say “X, Y and Z . . .” And they would
say, “Ent you know that is stupidness? What yuh doing that for?” On
reflection (there has been a lot of reflection), there will be a time [when
one will say] “It is a good thing you said that, cause I was able to do so
and so.”
You feel safe. You feel, no matter what, there are some people you
can fall back on, who are willing to stand up for you. That has been
tremendous source of strength. I have positive friendships. There are
several people I can write with, I can call up and share ideas with. So in
that sense, I have experienced a lot of generosity. Like a research project
coming their way, and they saying, “Why don’t we do it together?”, when,
in the academic world, research is supposed to be individualistic. You are
supposed to keep it to yourself. I remember doing something the morning
after. a public debacle, and I look outside and these two friends appear.
“We are not going to come inside. We are going to sit out here to lend you
support.”
She told another story about her experience with friendship and caring. This one
centers on the time of her mother’s death.
I remember my mother . . . going through her illness and death and
everything else, and at the end of it I am reflecting with my sister. I said “
You realize that I have these friends and they were with me through out
the funeral?” She said “Throughout the funeral? They never left you from
the time she became ill!” I myself had not realized it, but she was
observing from the outside; comparing the reactions of her own friends
with that of mine. I learned subsequently they [my friends] communicated
with each other . . . and when one could not be there, they made sure the
other one was.
Clevia shared these stories with much sincerity and reverence. She concluded:
So in a sense I have a strong support group, strong faith, [and] a family
background that is challenging. [These] taught me a lot of things.
Something that makes me say [to myself] “You are so and so’s daughter.
She would not have let X happened, and therefore you don’t let X
happen.” People just take care of me. I [am] pampered . . . some of it
comes with the job, but a lot of it is because people are caring. Therefore

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your own style is rewarded and what you can create is a network . . . even
though you find is that you have to struggle. If you create a caring
network, the rewards come back to you many . . . many times.
An Issue of Gender?
Daphne conceptualized leadership styles as being independent of gender, but
concedes that there are other factors worth considering.
I prefer to think that . . . confident, sensitive leadership . . . cuts across
gender. What I do find, clearly because of their socialization, [is that]
women pay attention to details in a way that men frequently don’t. That is
good and bad. Because women pay attention to details, things don’t fall
around them as fast. What [some] men frequently do, is find some woman
in the office who would not make it fall apart. Secondly, a problem in
female leadership that I have found, is something we call a “bed grass”
quality. They are unable to give people enough space. They get into the
bed grass and there a minute-by-minute, micro-perspective on things,
which is a benefit because it makes things happen, but is a problem
because it leads to a lot of micro-management. Men on the other hand, if
they have a view, they really don’t think that it needs to be discussed. That
is the view and people fall in line. They are less ready to crosscheck and
make sure it meets other people’s needs. They feel a right of leadership in
that their view is dominant, which has its disadvantages and its
advantages. One of the advantages is that people tow the line and follow.
One of the disadvantages is that it excludes a lot of opportunities for
different views that may in fact enhance the product. So I guess instead of
genderizing the business, if we outline that these are the positive things we
strive for, and try to instill them in either gender, it would make a lot of
sense.
She acknowledges an awareness of the struggle for advancing the cause of women
in leadership, through feminism: “I describe myself as a woman. I describe myself as a
woman who believes in the progress of humanity; and that we have to work together to
shape that. I attempt to avoid wearing labels.”
She recalls her sense of confusion the first time she entered a boardroom at an
institute of higher education where 70% of the employees are women.
I was a female supervisor--my choice was either to lime [to socialize] with
the female secretaries or the male supervisors. There was no group to
which I would have a complete fit. When I entered another institute’s
boardroom, I had exactly the same feeling.
I am involved with a project that is engendering institutions, and in
one of the institutions to be engendered--it is actually working, it is
working! [The plan is] to engender the culture of organizations in such a
way that you take care of both sets of needs. It recognizes that in some
ways men are disadvantaged, and in some things, women are
disadvantaged, and it attempts to address both sets of disadvantages. For
example, something you wouldn’t think about naturally, you hear men

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talking about not having the gumption to stay at home with a sick child
because that is supposed to be a woman’s role. You hear women in the
organization saying [how] people expect that if their husbands’ move they
will move; but they cannot bring their husbands with them into their new
situations. You could have a community of non-working wives but you
cannot have a community of non-working husbands and therefore the
woman might lose an opportunity. The man may be totally imbued with
the new leadership style but there is no niche for him in the new setting
and nothing to cater because you don’t have a category.
She takes the position that there is a role for men in the issues of feminism, which
she prefers to describe as the business of humanity.
I don’t know how you [are] going to get rid of discrimination biases based
on one thing or the other. It is so embedded in people. But if the issue is an
issue of humanity, you have to move in the direction where men have to
say that women had to have this movement because they were treated
unfairly or, in the interest of humanity, we have to address the wrongs.
Women have to say “Well, we had some advantages in the old system
[and] we need some advantages in the new. We have to give and take.”
In the same way in a political situation, black persons had to say
“This couldn’t continue any longer.” And it needed whites to say “This
cannot continue any longer.” So the thing must work together. But at some
point you cannot say. “Because Blacks are dominant, it is Blacks time
now”, and . . . wipe out Whites. In the interest of humanity, and I don’t
mean humanitarianism, I mean humanity as a group. We will not survive
if we continue in these destructive ways. So if we need to survive as a
group, we need to coexist in positive ways . . . I don’t think you have any
homogenous society in terms of race anymore. You . . . soon, might not
have a single person who can claim to be of one race or the other. In the
same way, we cannot have a world with only men or only women.
Therefore, to me, gender equity really means how, in the interest of
humanity, we remove disadvantages of different kinds; how do we
maximize the good that can come from either group and move together in
the common interest?
Leadership Training
Daphne perceived caring leadership as dependent on trust, in a world where “a lot
of people have learned not to trust.” She, however, posited that the ethic of care can and
should be an important part of leadership training. Sharing remains an important element
in the ethic of care, as she perceived it.
We could devise strategies where our people learn to share as a matter of
course. Probably because I have grown older, [I] begin to understand that
our early socialization sets a course [where] people do not learn how
important it is to see themselves as part of a wider group.
She was nevertheless cautious about the politics of caring and leadership when
one has to move on to another community.

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Your fear is that if you lull people into too comfortable a style your
departure can become traumatic. As it has been [seen] in different places,
caring cannot be singular but is related to the development of a micro-
culture of sharing and commitment, followership, and trust.
Closing a Chapter
Daphne summarized her perceptions of her contributions to the nation’s
educational development.
Where I think my contributions lie [are] in sharing a vision, persuading
people to accept that vision, and knowing that they continue to strive for
that vision whether or not I am there. Not 100% of the group [of course].
One of my areas of sadness is how many people give in [to] the situations,
and therefore, whoever is the new leader, that is the style they would
follow. But [I remember] a new leader saying to her followership, after I
had left, “Remember this is what Daphne would have stood for.” This has
heartened me. And the group saying, “We can’t fall short of that”, which
means it has been successfully transmitted. I know of people who moved
on because the situation had become too difficult to try and push a
particular ideology, but remembered what was trying to be pushed, and
tried to do it in their new situation.
I feel that here is a community of like thinkers out there, who I
could reach to, as if you are reaching to the source, and who reach to me
as part of that source. I may have enhanced a positive perception about a
particular kind of leadership. I may have enhanced some faith in it. But I
[also] know some people would say: “That only worked because Daphne
was here. It wouldn’t work with anybody else.” If that is what is said,
[then] it hasn’t really succeeded, because it says it is located in one place.
But where it has been brought into, it has been a success. So, one’s
contribution is the practice of the model of leadership . . . and the benefits
that have been brought by it, and the opportunities created. A lot of people
have been able to move on, in a lot of directions--because of it--and that in
itself has been an achievement.
Another achievement, I think, is its contribution to mini cultures. I
don’t think I was in any place where I did not help to create that kind of
very positive mini-culture where . . . and people come back with the
feedback, without your asking, which to me is a [positive] indicator. I
think some people may have learned more about risk taking in public
organizations than they would have learnt if I wasn’t around, and they
have themselves taken a risk to move things forward.
Summative Overveiew
In chapter four, I introduced Patricia Newton, Ariel Wynna, Kultya Calypso, and
Daphne Johann, the four women educational leaders who constitute this study, and shared
their individual, topical testimonies. In these testimonies I sought to share the character of
these women and their experiences, and their perceptions of educational leadership within
the framework of the ethic of care through three guiding questions. The guiding questions

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included: (1) What do the testimonies of these women reveal about their evolution as
educational leaders? (2) What are some of their major experiences and perceptions as
women educational leaders, and (3) How do they perceive, experience and nurture the
ethic of care in their leadership practices?
Embedded within their testimonies are elements that reveal the earliest
experiences and perspectives of the participants as leaders, as women in educational
leadership, and as caring professionals. Clear perspectives on feminism, the role of
mentoring, concerns about equity, and evidence of caring experiences characterize the
lives of participants. The constructs that emerge from these testimonies characterize
leadership as evolutionary and closely linked to the influence of “mothers”, the family
context, school context, and sharing. Each participants’ testimony, however, constitutes
an exemplar of views about leadership: Patricia’s leadership as achievement, Ariel’s on
leadership as influence, Kultya’s on leadership as service and Daphne’s on leadership as
catalyst.
In this chapter, I have summarized these viewpoints, examined common
attributes, and related some of these to the literature. I have concluded this chapter with a
discussion of the implications of the study for practice and future research, and with some
personal reflections.
Individual Leadership Constructs
Leadership as Achievement
Patricia Newton: “My leadership style came from my mother.”
The context of Patricia’s home environment played a key role in her evolution as
a leader. She portrayed her family as middle class, with high expectations and clear roles
for all. From her father, a businessman, she developed a sense of philanthropism and
responsibility to the community. Being the only girl among six boys she learned about
dealing with competition, earning and maintaining support. It is to her maternal
grandmother and mother, however, that she attributed most of her early leadership styles,
which have been reinforced by her eventual challenge of being a single mother, of four
children.
Her mother’s high expectations with regard to academic achievement
significantly influenced Patricia’s intellectual endeavors. Her mother, who herself,
completed college when she was in her sixties, encouraged Patricia to continue her
academic development in the United States as her brothers did, and provided both
emotional and financial support as Patricia completed her Master of Business
Administration (MBA) degree.
Mentorship played a role in Patricia’s development primarily through the person
of another woman pioneer who made critical contributions in terms of personal sacrifices,
activism, time, and property to the social services and education of the deaf in Trinidad.
Patricia described her leadership style as being achievement and relationship oriented and
facilitated by a hunger for knowledge, good communication skills, confidence, vision,
and a sense of mission. This sense of mission is typified by Patricia’s sacrificing her
academic development beyond graduate studies in order to be available for formulating
national policy for special education services. Patricia made this sacrifice in the late
1970s when the government of Trinidad and Tobago acceded to having the Ministry of

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Education assume responsibility for special education. Patricia’s testimony reflects a
tendency to identify issues and causes. Once she assumes a responsibility, be it special
educational or otherwise, she goes after the objective with full force. She contends that
she does not limit herself to one or two groups or programs, but to a number of causes
and efforts across the community.
For all her feelings of individualistic strength, Patricia admitted to a sense of
incompleteness as a leader, which she attributes to the childhood loss of her twin sister.
Patricia described herself as often feeling a need for somebody with whom to share
challenge s and success--a partner to plan, work, identify and meet mutually satisfying
goals. The joys of achieving significant successes on behalf of the community were often
being tempered by the unavailability of the followership in celebrating triumphs. Then
there are times, she explained, when she needed to pass the baton of leadership in a
particular cause, or situation. Leadership for Patricia Newton was portrayed in her
narrative as often being a solitary exercise of responsibility and achievement. As a result,
she recalled developing an intensity for the objectives she targeted that was intense and
often misunderstood or unappreciated by colleagues and followers alike.
Leadership as Influence
Ariel Wynna: “If I did not have this inner strength, I would have been devastated . . .”
Ariel attributed her leadership to character; the result of a strong love from her
maternal grandmother’s Catholic upbringing, following the desertion by her father and
death of her mother in her early childhood. Her grandmother, became both mother and
father. Grandma was a disciplinarian who knew the meaning of hard work.
• Ariel says that because of these harsh realities, she was making important
decisions and serving as spokesperson from quite a young age. Much of this
Ariel related to her grandmother’s limited schooling, and the exacting nature
of her occupation as an uneducated market vendor. By 18 years, Ariel was
married and a mother, by 26 she was divorced with three children.
Ariel characterized her leadership style as justice oriented, problem solving,
charismatic, and collaborative. She expressed confidence that she can get anything she
wants, having a “sweet mouth” (charmingly garrulous), a big heart, a ready ear, and
respect for others. Her testimony illustrated her readiness to challenge the “glass ceiling”,
and to use her racial mix as a key to accessing the stakeholders and clients whose
assistance she needed. She portrayed leadership as a task-oriented activity assumed by a
person in a position of power that facilitates the growth of followers through examples of
modeling and leading. She noted a tendency to be aggressive, which she blamed for many
of the problems she has in her personal life.
Ariel emphasized the role of mentors in her life and the transactional style she
believes she exemplifies. She identified six mentors, four of these being women who
served as “gate-openers”, providing direction, support, and help in identifying her
strengths and weaknesses as a woman and professional.
Leadership as Service
Kultya Calypso: “I was there to help . . .and to learn from . . .”
As Kultya’s first leader and mentor, her mother exemplified to her a view of
leadership as being about responsibility and reinforced the notion of women and girls as

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being different from boys in their roles and responsibilities. She shared that the fact that
she for many years was the only girl among five boys, and her mother’s perception of the
role of girls, ensured a no-nonsense upbringing, characterized by much church going,
nurturing and home management training. Cooking, house cleaning, bringing water from
the public taps were all part of Kultya’s chores, supplemented by the many times she was
kept from school to take care of her grandmother or younger siblings. Kultya credited the
combined efforts and modeling of her primary and secondary (elementary and high
school) teachers. She ascribed to her leadership style, the importance of discipline and
effort learned from her elementary school, and creativity and social skills development
from her secondary school.
Kultya described her leadership as task driven, perceiving relaxing on her own as
meaningless activity, but cherishing the socialization with colleagues over food and
sharing. For her, leadership is clearly not about administrative functions, but about
involvement with all for the common good.
Respect is an important aspect of Kultya’s construct of leadership. One must
respect to be respected, she asserted. This respect for others is not limited to authority
figures, but applies to all persons, as members and stakeholders in the community that
gave freely to her.
Kultya identified herself as a caring leader, which she says is a result of taking on
early responsibilities for her siblings. She stressed the life-long nature of caring
leadership and the demands that such a style makes on one’s trustworthiness, versatility
and problem-solving skills. She proposed reviewing the meaning of leadership to reflect
the giving of service as compared with the control of power.
Kultya identified four mentors, of which the primary ones are males. These
mentors included a priest, a lecturer whilst she was a student teacher, and a fellow
cultural activist--all educators. From one, she developed an appreciation of leadership
and the role of humor and recreation as aspects of teamwork. Another helped her to
affirm her potential and worth. From the third, Kultya strengthened her joy of folklore,
music and dance. She is grateful to her female mentor for lessons on graciousness, the
recognition that little things mean a lot, and a recognition of the power of calling others
in positive terms.
Leadership as Catalyst
Daphne Johann: “To lead in such a way that that people feel whole . . .”
For Daphne, leadership is getting the job done whilst demonstrating appropriate
selflessness, self-awareness, flexibility, a positive attitude, effective communication and
problem solving skills. She is comfortable being described as a relational leader, but less
so about the perceptions of some that her style is to dominate. She preferred to describe
her leadership style as a shared responsibility where her followers and subordinates are
also enabled to also assume leadership. She eschewed being labeled as of any particular
persuasion, and stresses respect for the followership. She described herself as one seeking
to lead in a way that the follower feels wholesome and progressive. She warned of the
responsibility that the leader has to the follower; recalling an instance when a subordinate
claimed: “I don’t know where you going but I am following.”

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Daphne attributed her leadership style primarily to the influence of her mother,
her home context, and her secondary school years. Her mother, a former domestic, was
described as tenacious, hard working, articulate, unselfish, persistent and convinced that
education was the key to success. Daphne recalled the time when her mother made her
take a number of entrance examinations seeking entry into high school, as a paying
student, because she had not won a scholarship for free secondary education. Secondary
education (high school) is not yet free for all students. One gains public secondary
education by passing the Common Entrance examination.
Her home was in what was a rural but very diverse community where she was
quite comfortable amongst various creeds, races and ethnic groups. She shared that she
had the experience of being an Anglican in a Catholic home, growing up in a
predominantly Hindu village, having a Muslim best friend, and teaching in both Hindu
and Catholic schools. This exposure to diversity, she considered to be a major force in the
flexibility and tolerance she feels is characterized in her leadership.
For Daphne: “Primary school is where you went because you had to; you did what
you were told.” However, she attributed to her secondary school years the distinction of
having contributed the most to her preparation for leadership. During this span of her life,
Daphne developed her ability to be articulate and to motivate others; two skills which she
claimed others account for her success.

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CHAPTER FIVE
ANALYSIS AND REFLECTIONS
Common Elements Present in Participants’ Testimonies
In this chapter, I reflect on the emergent portraits of the participants pertaining to
leadership, and the lessons that may be applied to educational practice and research. Five
elements describe the leadership development of each woman: (a) “mother power”, (b)
educational experiences, (c) community connectedness, (d) personal responses to the
dominant culture; and (e) their value of caring. These five elements all characterize a path
to leadership in which the traits and responses of the participants afforded individualized
journeys and experiences. For Patricia her journey along the path was motivated by a
sense of mission and achievement; for Ariel it was the influence of charisma and her
inner strength; for Kultya, it was the service and comraderie of colleagues and followers;
and for Daphne it was flexibility and a readiness to collaborate with her community of
friends and followers.
In this chapter, I share my perspectives on the primary lesson by the narratives
that caring leadership is developmental. It is born from a sense of community, which
itself has a high regard for equity and interrelatedness, inclusive of either gender, and
linked to a notion of authenticity and spirituality. I conclude with some of the challenges
experienced on the journey, which this dissertation afforded.
Mother Power
Consistently woven within the tapestry of the shared experiences of these
exemplars is the notion of mother as primary mentor and leadership model. Mother
figures, including grandmothers, are recognized as mentors, models, support agents and
advisors, and emerge as significant to the self-development of each participant. The role
of their mother-figures focused on a perceived sense of purpose and character that went
beyond the traditional. All four women claimed to have emerged as successes through the
protective and principled care of mothers who took responsibility for the education and
direction of their daughters. Three of the four mother figures featured in the participants’
accounts were of working class status.
Family contexts.
The mothers and families of these educators shared a common valuing of
educational achievement. This valuing of education, in the case of Patricia, necessitated
migration to Trinidad. The importance of educational achievement also revealed itself by
the role her mother played, urging Patricia onwards and modeling intellectual growth as a
life long effort. Ariel’s mother was more exacting, as she reminded her of the option to
“pass that exam if you don’t want to sell in the market”. For Kultya, it was her mother’s
readiness to visit the school, to intervene on her daughter’s behalf, and to celebrate the
blessings that were bestowed in the form of a free education and committed teachers that
formed the shaping context for her later achievement. Daphne characterized her mother
as one who often identified with the school more than she did, and who was essentially
an activist in her educational development.

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Another feature of the family context that appears significant in participants’
testimonies, is that all celebrated the role of their siblings and extended family. Brothers
were identified as being responsible and having a positive influence on their
development: (a) Patricia cherished the importance of supportive relationships; (b) Ariel:
the sense of belonging that they afforded; and (c) both Kultya and Daphne credited these
family experiences with their ability to live harmoniously and the joys of sharing.
Excluding Patricia, who emphasized the sincerity of her father as a business and
community minded person, there was much silence from the women regarding their
fathers. Ariel remembered her father only vaguely as a child, but was able to reconcile
her differences with him before his death. For her, he was absent--a deserter. Kultya
made no mention of either her stepfather or biological father in her growth, and Daphne
made mention of him as a tired and defeated man who left the family domicile while she
was a teenager. I wonder as to what extent the title and emphasis of the inquiry might
have shaped their responses to exclude the men. I noted the absence of men as model
fathers--except in the case of Patricia--or as worthy partners, as alluded to somewhat by
Ariel. To what extent is this indicative of an indifferent or anti-intellectual father and
partner? Or is it that the men, respecting the dominance of the Caribbean women as home
manageresses, gave their support in less rigorous or voiced ways? One might consider
that, perhaps, the very absence of fathers as dominant forces in their lives accommodated
their evolution as leaders.
Educational Experiences
Each participant credited her early schooling with having had a noteworthy effect
on her leadership development. Neither Patricia nor Ariel shared any stories about early
education other than their having attended prestigious religious girls’ schools. Patricia’s
was an English Catholic boarding school experience where, she claimed, students
acquired finesse and formality; Ariel attended a convent.
Kultya’s and Daphne’s elementary and secondary education, respectively, set the
foundations for their leadership development. Kultya spoke of her elementary education
as key to both negative and positive aspects of her style. She ascribed her workaholic
tendencies and the pervasive perception that to “just relax . . . was wasting time” to the
rigors and discipline of the combined, almost collusionary, efforts of her mother and the
school system. She celebrated her elementary education, which she asserted prepared her
well for secondary education and her continued intellectual growth, which included
earning two full scholarships. Daphne was less complimentary about her elementary
education years, revealing a vivid recollection of “sheer unadulterated terror” at the hands
of a school principal, and the school’s lack of academic aggressiveness. She lauded her
secondary education, which shared a historical tradition, challenged her scholarly and
creative energies, and facilitated her articulateness and communication skills through a
range of what she called “shaping activities.” Patricia stands alone in identifying aspects
of her professional training as having a direct effect on her evolution as a caring leader.
This professionally influenced area she identified as social work training, which was very
early in her professional life. Daphne spoke of supportive friends. There is a need to heed
the words of Kultya and actively address caring leadership as a teacher preparation issue.
There may be many more educators who cannot give or share if they do not care, as

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Patricia testified. It should be noted that Patricia, Ariel, Kultya and Daphne all pursued
vigorously their higher education, all based on their elementary and secondary school
successes. They all studied abroad, and having opted to return home, would most
certainly have been influenced one way or the other by their foreign experiences and
observations.
Community Connectedness
These women also recognized and paid tribute to the communities that nurtured
them. Daphne made the point, as it was revealed to her during a visit to Kenya, that one’s
success was the “success of the community”, not just one’s “personal striving.” Her
mother sacrificed considerably to send her to secondary school (having to pay school
fees), and Daphne experienced the miracles of completing higher education, including a
doctorate, without a scholarship. She took time to acknowledge the many factors, which
contributed to her being who she is, a successful leader. As Daphne celebrated her many
“blessings” she placed great importance on service to one’s community. The community
she considered to be an extension of her family and village context, where “people
looked out for each other . . . people shared things.” She used the sharing of a mango, a
succulent, tropical fruit, as a symbol of one’s responsibility to the community. Kultya’s
perception of the community was similar. Her primary community lay in the residential
facility where she taught, administered, and led. Kultya’s concept of communal
responsibility extended to her church. She gave all; it was her life. In that learning
community she was often referred to as “Ma” and “Tantie”, an indication that her
proteges cherish her nurturing leadership. Patricia invested considerable time with
philanthropic efforts and remains involved in a broad assortment of social and
professional agencies, serving in most of them as an executive officer. For her, the
community extended to the nation’s and the region’s underprivileged women and
children in particular. Ariel the youngest of the participants, made her community
wherever she worked. She has also served the community in leading special educational
efforts at professional and voluntary levels. The notion of community responsibility is
dying a swift if not silent death at the hands of a global market where the world is the
community, and since it is so big and so inequitably resourced, it is less of my
responsibility. Scholars are stolen, pulled, attracted away from in the hunt for or offer of
a better lifestyle. Often they are shoved or kicked out of their “community” by under-
utilization or the ambivalence of the dominant bureaucracy.
Personal Responses to the Dominant Culture
Only Ariel verbalized that being a woman was a handicap to her leadership and
professional development. The others regarded the challenges they faced as related, but
not primarily a result of their gender. This proved one of the areas where there was much
conflict for me, as I sought to separate some chaff from the wheat. First there was no
problem. However, as I began my own lived experience amidst the narrative, other issues
immerged.
Patricia had contended that there are no special attributes of her leadership style
related to her being a woman. Nor did she identify any negative experiences attributable
to her being a woman in leadership. She stated that she enjoyed “working with men”,
believing that she understands their feelings, and celebrating working relationships with

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them. She identified men as her main supporters in her leadership development. For her,
the problem of women in leadership is often the women themselves, who “too often
subvert male leadership and men in general, rather than enjoy the reciprocal dimension of
male-female relationships.”
Similar to Patricia’s position, was that of Kultya’s. Kultya did not see herself as
having been handicapped because of her gender. She did acknowledge that a number of
barriers, including the prohibition of married women as teachers, had been removed by
the time she entered the profession in the 1960’s. “Respect,” she contended, is an
important aspect of equity, and she professed to always having been respected despite
being younger than her peers and having given respect to all without regard to gender or
age: “I cannot say that people have harassed me, been fresh [disrespectful] with me, or
been fast with me. Kultya held the view that Caribbean women have a unique
contribution to offer--that they are well prepared for--to educational leadership. Women’s
contribution, she contended, have been enhanced through their broader academic and
experiential background, which included home economics at school and home
management at home. These experiences offer a broader base of preparation, when
compared to the narrower focus on academics and physical prowess. As such, she
posited, more women are being perceived to be effective, affective, gentler, and flexible
as leaders. These are behaviors that may prove to be attractive to subordinates. Her
concern was that there is still a tendency for positions to be filled by male applicants,
primarily on the basis of gender, “even though there are women who are better qualified
and more experienced.” Such practices, she surmised, may be based on religion or
traditionalism, where for example “the presidency would very often go to a male . . .
[and] the secretary . . . for women.” Implying that she saw men and women as having
their own unique strengths, which she contended should be complementary, she advised
women in leadership to be mindful about the needs of their subordinates as men or
women. Kultya warned that women leaders should not encourage the notion that women
are seeking to dominate men. Instead, she encouraged leaders of both sexes to commit
themselves to working “collaboratively for the betterment of the species” and to avoid the
tendency to engage in gender warfare.
For Daphne, as for Patricia and Kultya, being a woman or a leader carried no
negative association. In sharing her perspectives on women and leadership, Daphne
spoke of leadership as being influenced by socialization, but being independent of
gender. She noted that leadership can benefit from the recognition that confident,
sensitive management crosses gender. Thus, she contended that any group, despite
stereotyped characters, might ascribe to caring leadership styles. Daphne warned about
many women in leadership having a negative “bedgrass quality” which she clarified as
the inability to give subordinates much needed individual space to grow; where the leader
must have a “minute by minute micro-perspective on things . . . [which] leads to micro-
management.” In contrast, she characterized the male stereotype as one in which the
leader does not pay attention to the details, nor collaborate enough with followers.
Daphne spoke of her struggle against a hegemony which she portrayed as being less
about gender, and being more about seniority and affiliation: “Who you knew, and where
you were schooled.” Often, she had to comfort herself with the voiced acknowledgement

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that she was not representative of the status quo, being neither male, in her 50’s, nor with
the approved “track record.” There were times when she felt isolated, having to choose
between the dominant leadership group of men and the group of women which was then
primarily secretarial staff. Since then, she has been actively involved with an effort aimed
at engendering the culture of organizations to take care of the needs of men and women.
Through this experience she has become more aware that changing roles and needs
challenge both men and women.
In contrast, Ariel considered herself as having been limited because she is a
woman and younger looking than her age, asserting that men see her as “sensual” and
“attractive”. Ariel shared that on one occasion she was propositioned by a senior official.
She revealed that “some men in decision making positions . . . were barriers” who would
make it clear that if she did her part to serve them through sexual favors, then they would
be able to assist her. Once she had to face the embarrassment of being told, “You are
young, your turn will come.” She speculated that her strength and eagerness to be
independent might be factors that cause men to feel threatened by her. She stressed that
there were other men who were mentors and friends, citing the majority of her mentors as
men. Ariel considered major contributions of women to generic and educational
leadership to be their “softer side”, “flexibility”, readiness to listen and empathize, and a
tendency to use moral versus justice-oriented judgments in their decision-making. She
hypothesized that these characteristics are among the differences in leadership styles
between the sexes, evidenced in the research literature.
All four participants acknowledged roles in leadership that might involve feminist
notions of sharing the problems and contributions of women. The participants all agreed
with the need for efforts at gender equity and that this should be a collaborative effort
involving both genders. They recognized, not so much unique attributes of women as
leaders, but the prevailing context where assertiveness and flexibility may be warranted
to achieve objectives. Discussions of this topic often led to disclosures about the role of
assertiveness and flexibility and notions of feminism. Each woman, however, varied in
her definitions of feminism and where she positions herself, as advocates for the cause of
women.
Among the participants, Ariel was most comfortable wearing the label of
feminist. She shared her perspective that, as a Caribbean woman, feminism is not limited
to issues of gender, but involves issues of social class and politics that have been used to
keep women passive and to maintain the status quo by “the hegemony of patriarchy.”
Daphne also speaks about this male hegemony, but appears to be more willing to deal
with it through a non-gendered stance, by advocating greater collaboration between the
sexes.
Ariel does not include race in her understanding of feminism as a Caribbean issue,
sharing the opinion that “in the Caribbean we are all Black.” In this context she was not
saying that there are no Europeans in Trinidad but that the vast majority of Trinidadians,
be they “Indian”, “African”, “European”, or “Other Mixed” are essentially of mixed
parentage or ancestry.” She posits that a role of feminism may be to help women find
their spaces and make their contributions “alongside men in the best interest of the
nation”, and to “recognize the worth of women through their own voices.”

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Although noting that it has some “unpleasant connotations,” Kultya identified
with the feminist cause, which she constructed as a commitment “to bring out the best in”
and for women. She was fervent about the cause of feminism as not being anti-men, but a
commitment to work collaboratively with both genders, and inclusive of the interests of
the children. She contended: “ A person involved in women’s issues is usually involved
in women and children’s issues” which might include a denial of financial support or
paternity. She lamented the tendency by some men to shy away from their role as being
co-responsible for disciplining their children.
Daphne considered herself a frontline advocate for advancing the cause of women
but refused to describe herself as feminist, citing a discomfort with the use of labels.
Instead she described herself a “woman who believes in the progress of humanity”, and
shared a commitment to work together with men and women to shape that progress. She
concentrated on equity and gender as issues of humanity, seeking to motivate men to
address wrongs against women, not because of pressure but through recognition that “we
cannot have a world with only men or only women.” Daphne lobbied for a gender equity
that, in the interests of humanity, seeks to remove disadvantages against women and men
and strives to “maximize the good that can come from either group and move together in
the common interest.” “We all need each other. There are issues that that are important to
men and . . . to women.”
Patricia considered the dual roles of men and women in the progress of the world,
and the changes over time regarding the needs and feelings of both genders. “These are
issues that warrant attention and continuous discussion”, contended Patricia. “Women as
well as men must be part of what the world needs . . . We need to have discussion on
what men feel about women and what women feel about men.” She rejected the use of
the term “feminist” or the emphasis in some Caribbean countries on “Women Studies” as
compared with “Gender Studies.” She explained that the term “feminist” denotes, to her,
aggression, a preoccupation with power, and competition with men, elements that she
wished to distance herself from. She mourned the way feminism has separated women
from men “ . . . as if they are apart from men; that they must be strong enough to compete
[with men].” She urged that “the generations after us must not see us as women who feel
that we are stronger than men and we don’t need them.”
Despite the articulated positions of these four women regarding issues of gender,
there were apparent instances of contradiction within the text of the narratives. Their
earlier opinions conflicted with later statements. Perhaps these instances should have
merited further probing on my part. Perhaps these contradictions reveal the simple truth
that the participants as individuals might not have felt overwhelmed or threatened by
issues of gender, but that they were aware of its presence. Perhaps their “truths” mirror
the prevailing values of historical eras or the particular context in which they may have
worked. Surely the age span between the eldest of the participants at age 78 and the
youngest at age 46 spanned an era which would have characterized significant changes in
the roles of men and women, as alluded to by Patricia. Whatever the reason, there remain
some mysteries upon which to reflect. For example the elder Patricia--very consistent in
her portrayal of the men in her life as supportive and comfortable with them--portrayed
men as the primary power-brokers. It was the men with whom she lobbied for change.

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For Patricia, she “earned” their respect. The younger Ariel, on the other hand, testified to
challenges related to sexism and sexual harassment, even whilst sharing that men claim to
find her attractive, that she had a “sweet mouth” in terms of her being charmingly
assertive, and speculating that men may have felt threatened by her. As with Patricia,
Kultya also denied negative experiences related to her gender, recalling that she was
never harassed or disrespected. She lamented, however, on the employment practices and
distribution of responsibilities in organizations that are based on gender, and where men
are expected to be in the powerful roles of treasurer or president, while women are
relegated to more subserviently perceived roles of secretaries. Daphne, who resisted the
notion of being labeled “feminist” and who shared great empathy for the changing
paradigms of leadership, ironically suggested that in the years when she was not being
promoted, she might have enjoyed brighter prospects had she been male and in her fifties.
These women exemplars demonstrated much interest and concern on the matter of
equity in relation to individual worth and professional growth, and the need for less
confrontational approaches between genders for the survival of families and
communities. Leadership, they made clear, must address the needs of the followers and
the community above self. Each participant identified mutual needs by both genders and
portrayed serious concern with ensuring that, in the interest of women’s issues, the needs
of the community are not lost.
I am reminded, however, of the positions of Leo-Rhynie (1997), Steady (1989),
and Sutton and Makeisky (1981) which support the uniqueness of the Caribbean context
to the evolution of women in this region--as discussed in Chapter 3. Patricia, Ariel,
Kultya and Daphne were influenced by their experiences as women who: (a) all studied
in the United States and/or the United Kingdom; (b) are well read; (c) have reflected on
their changing Caribbean realities over the last eight decades; or (d) as a result of all of
these. The extent to which these women were influenced by these experiences remain
undetermined.
The Value of Caring
Each participant identified caring as an important construct in the evolution of
leadership skills. The most mature of the interviewees, Patricia, described caring as a
natural attribute that might not be readily taught in a formal sense but which is associated
with one’s experiences and philosophy. She referred to the construct as “critical”, a
“lifelong process” synonymous with a concern for another person’s feelings and having a
responsibility for his/her optimum growth, and related to motherhood which she stressed
should not be limited to the role of childbearing.
Patricia was uncomfortable with the idea of identifying herself as being caring.
She told a story about an occasion when being complimented about her caring
disposition, she responded by saying: “I don’t see myself as a caring person.” This, she
explained, was not meant to be a denial that she cared or that she is caring, but more as an
indicator of her discomfort with compliments and comments on attributes of her
character. She preferred to get on with the act of caring, rather than being complimented
by others on how caring she was. She recognized the roles of her family background,
early social work experiences, and her paralysis in contributing to her awareness of the
needs and vulnerabilities of others, as well as her own.

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Patricia gave some detail about instances that she recalled as having an impact on
her professional role as caregiver. These experiences included occasions when she: (a)
had to advocate for medical assistance on behalf of a 70 year old woman who was raped
and who subsequently contracted AIDS; (b) gave permission for two institutionalized
children with intellectual impairment to acquire her surname; (c) worked with a young,
mentally retarded woman who had no concept of herself; (d) found children living as
animals; and (e) had to suffer the ambivalence that she found among prominent persons
in the community. Patricia’s concern was with the apparent decline of caring in the
contemporary competitive, selfish world, and the tendency by some to see caring as a
feminine attribute typified in nursing and infant and special education, and associated
with non-competitive salaries. She did not consider the formal teaching of caring as a
practical objective. She hoped that caring leaders would be identified and accepted as
models, and that career counseling and discussion about the need for caring leadership
and caring professional practice might encourage more young people, particularly men.
Kultya’s conceptualized caring as a lifelong process, a full time effort, a chosen
lifestyle and linked to being trusted and trusting. For her, it is a duty to care for anyone,
although she acknowledged a certain caution about foisting herself and her ideals upon
people who did not approach her, “lest one is accused of being too personal.” She
accepted that her accessibility, approachability and simplicity, however, made it easy to
be caring. She acknowledged the pervasive notion that women leaders are expected to be
more caring than their male counterparts, and that their followership is drawn by
women’s ability to care. She cautioned that such notions should not lead to assumptions
that men are less caring. She associated any caring disposition on her part to her
upbringing and schooling, noting that she had many caring teacher, who gave all that they
had, “including their lunch.” She received gifts of caring from her mentors and teachers
and holds the view that it is right and good to share the same gifts with others.
Underscoring the importance of caring leadership, Kultya suggested that the ethic
of care might be nurtured through preparation programs that require residency and an
appreciation of diversity. Such programs should stress the meaning of shared
responsibilities to the community. This might include visits to less fortunate citizens.
Other strategies might include the following: (a) identifying and celebrating models of
caring leadership; (b) changing descriptors that relate to educational leadership (so that
service is the mission and not gaining power over subordinates); and (c) communication
skills training via social activities “like little dinners, little luncheons . . . family days.”
These strategies would help us to improve our ability to “care about one another and to
care about people generally speaking, not only interest in the students but in their
families.” Kultya suggested that these activities help us to recognize that “a person is not
another drop in the ocean . . . no man is an island . . . we need each other.”
Daphne shared Patricia’s concern regarding the importance of caring leadership in
education, and identified with Kultya its dependence on trust in circumstances where
many people have learned not to trust. Daphne’s construct of caring leadership included
the provision of support, nurturance, looking out for each other, and sharing. She
maintained that sharing and a sense of community are fundamental to the notion of caring
and antonymous with selfishness. “It is like the process of sharing a mango . . . one

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person gets a face (a fleshy side of the mango), and that one gets the seed.” So even
though it might be one mango, it is shared so that all are pleased as far as possible.
As with the other participants, Daphne has experienced and continues to
experience caring from followers, subordinates and mentors. She attested that caring is
not a childhood experience but, for her, a series of relational occurrences through
professional relationships and friendships. Nor is caring a promise to be always
agreeable. She was proud and felt blessed that her caring friends challenge and
compliment her accordingly. To be cared for is to “feel, no matter what, [that] there are
some people you can fall back on who are willing to stand up for you.” She recalled that
sense of strength and well being when following her mother’s death and funeral, she
discovered that her friends were discreetly with her all the time. She endorsed the
strategy of addressing the ethic of care in leadership preparation. This strategy, she
believes, could facilitate learning to share and helping leaders “see themselves as part of
the wider group.”
Ariel’s construct of caring leadership included “putting people first” and being
understanding, considerate, compassionate, loving and respectful to all persons. She
acknowledged that: “followers and leaders have strengths and weaknesses, and will make
mistakes because they are not perfect.” Ariel identified a relationship between caring and
transformational leadership, contending that a transformational leader “develops an ethic
of care to serve in a more humane and understanding manner.” She mourned the
tendency of some leaders, “who don’t care and go along merrily, no matter who gets
hurt.” Ariel associated women with a softer, more caring and nurturing style of
leadership, which she posited is “natural to them” and which is instrumental in getting
committed followers: “Everyone wants to be cared for, even the males in our society.”
Ariel was aware that there are some women who “assimilate the male’s role and
try to be like them” but in her experience these are in the minority. She recalled the
caring style of a male mentor and educational leader who was always willing to listen and
help her with the many emergencies and crises she faced as a young teacher. Ariel spoke
of her many experiences, with leaders as mentors who have been models of care and who
have been there for her “when the chips were down.” She relished the attention and
recognition by some of her followers and her children that she is caring and considered
her love for her people to be her “greatest strength.”
Attributes Across Constructs
I have determined four common constructs relevant to women and caring
educational leadership, as emerging from the analysis of the narratives. These constructs
include the following: (a) the development of leadership characteristics among these
women were an evolutionary process, which involved a consistent environment and the
presence of an orientation towards achievement; (b) a sense of community and of
experiences that include caring and being cared for ; (c) regard for equity, inter-
relatedness, and gender; and (d) approaches to responsibilities that reflect an recognition
of a higher order and interconnectedness between leader and follower.
Leadership as Developmental
For these four women educational leaders, leadership is an evolutionary and
social process involving a range of factors. Included in these factors, which one may

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experience from childhood, are preparation, reflectiveness, appreciation for followers and
the community, and an approach to responsibilities that reflect moral awareness.
Each participant constructed leadership in a way that incorporated their journeys
through childhood with their personalities, needs, and relationships with followers and
mentors. Patricia’s organized self, Kultya’s nurturing, Ariel’s effervescence, and
Daphne’s progressive but cautious style all reflect styles of leadership that are natural and
genuine. Although not limited to these characteristics, their evolution as leaders is
intricately intertwined with their sense of the equity and interdependence of all, and an
ethic of care. Their uniqueness in personality, needs and styles are evident, but all
epitomize participation and leadership that addressed and attempted to change
organizational constraints, and through networking, flexibility, intimacy, and personal
growth, associated with transformational leadership (Bass, 1985; Conger, 1992).
Nevertheless, I am not equating their caring leadership styles with transformational
leadership. They are two different issues. As Taylor (1999) notes that not all
transformational leadership is caring (normative-reeducative) but that some
transformational leadership styles may well be directed by power and be gender-bound.
The relationships between the participants and significant others, particularly their
mother figures, are very important. Ariel attested to running away, even as a child, to
visit her grandmother and hear stories, which revealed an early readiness to build
relationships and connect with her culture and meaning. Patricia, even in her fifties, was
still being encouraged to continue studies by her mother. Daphne’s and Kutya’s mothers
were active in shaping and nurturing their daughters to be independently minded women.
Each participant evidenced a personal development clearly related to the strength of
character and stability afforded by their mothers-figures. The character of their mother
figures lends evidence to the theoretical position of Whitfield (1990) on the importance
of a consistent environment, especially one with a clear understanding of what is, or is
not, acceptable. The mothers of the participants also share a value for education, as noted
in studies about the role of mothers by Cantor and Barney (1992). With only one of the
mother figures of the participants being educated, educational attainment of the mothers
does not, however, feature prominently, as in the findings of Shakeshaft (1989).
Narratives of Ariel, Kultya and Daphne, however, challenge findings by Cantor and
Barney that successful female leaders tend to grow up in two parent families where stable
environments are afforded, rather than single parent families. Instead, the experiences of
Patricia, Ariel and Kultya and Daphne endorse the findings of Clay (1997) in her study of
two female superintendents who similarly came from single parent families, that single
mothers constitute powerful motivating influences over their daughters.
Each participant revealed the importance of relationships with significant others,
as with Ariel and Daphne’s “sisters”, Kultya’s mentors and student teachers, and
Patricia’s philanthropic service to others and her search for a collaborative partner. There
was no significant support for the notion that a daughter’s relationship with her father
determined her achievement or orientation, as suggested by Hancock (1989). Miller, in