Sharon Bogle - Elgin Taylor

It is always a difficult proposition for teachers to function effectively in overcrowded classrooms where there is the tendency for students to misbehave.

This is the situation which faces Sharon Bogle, a grade-six teacher at St Catherine Primary School in Spanish Town.

In a recent interview with The Star, she outlined the difficulties faced and efforts made to deal with the situation.

"It is challenging because indiscipline affects everything and it takes a lot from the contact time as you have to deal with disciplinary matters during teaching.

"I have a class of 42 students, which is over the official ratio of one teacher to thirty five students. There is also a challenge with the size of the classroom," she explained.

Describing herself as a jovial but stern teacher, she indicated that she was undaunted by the situation. In fact, she said she has taken steps to deal with the problems and have been seeing results.

These measures include the employment of the 'Time Out' technique, the use of tokens like stars as positive reinforcement, speaking with students on a one-on-one basis about life in general, referring them to the guidance counsellor and utilising past students who have excelled to give motivational talks.

Bogle further explained that the use of past students is a strategic move on her part as a number of them were not selected for traditional high schools in the GSAT exam, but still managed to be high performers. The message here is that with hard work students can excel wherever they are placed.

Bogle started in the profession as a pre-trained teacher at Harewood All Age School in St Catherine in September, 1989 and spent three years at that institution.

She said that a member of staff, Dorothy Daley, encouraged her to get professional training.

She later taught at St Catherine High School for a year before enrolling at Shortwood Teachers' College in September 1992, where she studied for a teacher's diploma in linguistics and literature.

Further studies saw her gaining a bachelor's degree in language and communication from the University of the West Indies, Mona in 2009. She has been a member of staff St Catherine school since September, 1997.

The erudite young educator has been much involved in the affairs of her school. These duties include being in charge of the Debating Club, assisting with the Speech and Drama Club, the Police and Environmental Club, as well as sitting on the Guidance, Cultural and Literary committees.

Looking forward, she said she has high hopes of academic advancement for herself and her students. She is guided by a simple philosophy which is universal in its outlook. It states: 'Patience is bitter, but its fruits are sweet'.