The veteran Guadeloupean teacher and now author Lydie Saint-Victor is an exceedingly inspirational, prodigiously well qualified and consciously humane educator who is profoundly committed to making life better not only for her students – but also for their parents.
With an almost thirty-year career spent in various schools on several French Caribbean islands, she has more than proven her desire to tangibly ameliorate the educational outcomes and life chances of all those she encounters in the classroom.
Now, with the publication of her book Teaching at Home? she aims to improve further the quality of the education young people receive, especially if that education is not administered in a traditional pedagogic environment, by advising parents on how best to home-school their children.
About Her Book Teaching at Home?
When asked about her book’s target audience, Saint-Victor agrees, “This book is more for the parents because it’s a guide on how to help to teach kids at home.”
Her ardent desire to level the playing field to enable students from less affluent socio-economic backgrounds to access quality education is both touching and humbling. Her concern for such students is readily apparent when she says, “There is an inequality when it comes to access to education, and many kids can’t come to school for many reasons, such as recently with Covid, or because of war, such as in Ukraine or for so many reasons they have to stay at home. There are also other factors where they can’t access resources due to internet blackouts, etc., and the parents have so many questions and need guidance, as they don’t know what to do or don’t know if what they’re doing is good. Some parents are doing too much, and others are doing too little.”
Saint-Victor is refreshingly unafraid to hold what might be considered old-fashioned (or at the very least “traditional”) views on education – views which are frankly a joy to hear espoused against the backdrop of the myopically child-centred pedagogy which currently holds sway in modern classrooms.
She explains the rationale behind her book with a strong sense of authority and conviction, undoubtedly born from years of serving with valour and distinction on the educational front line.
“The role of the teacher is to teach. The parent’s role is to be a parent, but there is a link to education, and this link is where the school comes in to bridge the gap between the two. This is what we are trying to achieve with this book. We are trying to teach the parents how to teach their kids.”
A firm believer in the equality of opportunity for all students, irrespective of their parent’s income or level of cultural capital, she continues to expound her joyfully egalitarian educational philosophy, “There are many parents with many resources, but also many parents who have no resources, so we are trying to teach them that they can also give their kids a good education at home.” She adds with a beguiling combination of passion and eloquence, “This book is aimed at all parents to help all of them. We’re trying to give them techniques that they can use at home, but also give them strength to help their kids with their education and help them to help their kids in life in general. We have different domains and examples that they can use to see what to do with language, Maths, Science, culture, and even cooking.”
Saint-Victor is mindful that many parents don’t have the money to pay for their children’s access to high culture. Hence, her book offers a myriad of invaluable suggestions for equally viable, educationally enriching alternatives that are free or inexpensive but require a little thought.
“Travel is indeed expensive, but we can use the internet to educate your kids and help them become knowledgeable. For example, you can do virtual tours of museums and try to get kids to participate in culture for free. If you don’t have the internet, you can also use magazines to help kids see the world. If you can’t afford a magazine, there are also libraries that you can take your kid to. If your child sees you do these things, they will also want to do this.”
Saint-Victor is indefatigable in her self-proclaimed mission to help parents expose their children to the benefits of learning and culture, even operating on a tight or non-existent budget. Going beyond learning traditional subjects, she also encourages parents to think laterally, e.g. to get their children to join sports clubs or at the very least, to enable them to be physically active.
She states, “I can teach them about cuisine, cinema and history. Even if you can’t do that, there are also postcards or sports that you can do instead. There are indeed expensive sports, but within the French system, there are free things you can do as a family. It would help if you showed your children that you are interested so they will also be interested. You can also encourage them to join a club. If your child is not good at sports, you can also do other things, such as walking or riding your bike to school. You could also go to a garden together. If your child doesn’t like writing, you can go shopping together so your child can note down what you’ve bought – that is also a form of writing. All these little things can help your child learn and grow.”
One of Saint-Victor’s fundamental aims for her book – perhaps its actual raison d’être – is disarmingly simple. “This book, therefore is a way to get the parents to be more involved with their children.”
Acutely aware of the dangers of a “one size fits all” approach to education and of the fact that there are as many different types of children as there are needs based on children’s respective abilities and, in some cases, medical conditions, Saint-Victor is also keen to address the various challenges faced by parents of both autistic children and children with Down’s Syndrome, especially since traditionally they may not have been catered for in such a guide. As she explains solicitously, “We are aware that there are some children with mental developmental issues, such as autism. Autism is a generic term, and there are many other types of neuro-divergent traits. I had the idea of helping these children by having various parts of the book that can help parents who have autistic kids to reassure them and help to guide them.”
As Saint-Victor maintains, “Children with Down’s Syndrome also present difficulties and challenges. This is a scary handicap, as it’s visual. This is now an issue of mental deficiency, so we also have chapters in the book that can help these parents.” She adds pragmatically and with due diligence, “We have tested these before writing about them to help these parents. We had test runs with volunteer parents who have been able to help us see what the parents actually need.”
With an overwhelming sense of empathy and compassion for all parents, she asserts benevolently, “This book, therefore, is a book that helps and contributes to alleviating some of the stress that comes with being a parent, as well as one which helps to guide parents to do what’s right.”
Her Teaching Career
Saint-Victor began her teaching career in 1998, and that same year, she won the CRP prize, which enabled her to become a teacher. Recounting her remarkable pedagogic journey from the beginning, she is proud of how far she has come, of all she has achieved in that time and of all those she has helped educate, often against the odds.
Starting Out Teaching In A Primary School
“Initially, I started to work in a primary school with very few kids and a very small class. Following this, I asked for another type of post that would allow me to work with every level of elementary education, be it the small, intermediary, or large sections.”
After ten years of teaching in elementary schools, Saint-Victor felt the need for a change since she noticed that her views on students and teaching itself had begun to evolve. Articulating this discernible paradigm shift, she says, “I was drawn to the students who didn’t have a typical upbringing, those who had more trouble to get good grades, be it through them being handicapped, or they went too fast, and it’s the professor that has a classic vision of things. Therefore, I went to get another diploma and became a specialised teacher, but I could not use this qualification here in Guadeloupe. Therefore, I wanted to leave the island, so I went to St. Martin.”
Teaching in St. Martin and St. Barts
Despite teaching on the neighbouring island of St. Martin for seven years, Saint-Victor felt incomplete and as if some much-needed professional string to her bow was still missing. As she relates, “In St. Martin and St. Barts, I worked with all the levels of primary and elementary school students, but it still wasn’t enough because I said to myself, “The teacher can’t do everything.”
In St. Martin, she first saw the need to set up Parent Teacher Groups. Recalling that eventful period in her life, she says, “At home, we should also question what happens, so I started to meet with the parents on all levels to explain to them what is happening at school. But also to listen to them and consider what they understand is going on at school. From this, I was able to create a parent-teacher group.”
Establishing Parent-Teacher Groups
She adds, “But I still wanted to be certified, so I went to get my certification as a Head of the PTA, and I did this all whilst continuing to work full-time as a teacher. I was Head of the PTA in St Barts and St Martin, yet this still wasn’t enough.”
Despite the many additional professional qualifications she had acquired over the years, Saint-Victor still felt unfulfilled and lacking in some capacity. Given that she was so driven and motivated, she now set her sights on a new goal and duly set about taking new exams.
A Teaching Teacher
“At heart, I wanted to pass this exam that we have in the French system – an exam that allows you to become a teaching teacher. I thankfully passed this and I started to become a teaching teacher. I trained the teachers not only in primary but also at secondary and collage levels. But, parallel to this, I was also giving classes to the college students.”
APAD
Clearly a victim of her own inimitable success, Saint-Victor was duly sought out (read effectively head-hunted) to set up a new scheme. As she states with considerable modesty, “After this, I was invited to start a service which we called APAD – a service for all the kids who weren’t able to go to school for health reasons or due to accidents. My job was to send teachers home to them, so that they were up to date and received their education and they didn’t fall behind with their studies.” She then mentions quietly and unassumingly, “This has now become a service that is provided throughout the whole department.”
Parents’ Cafe
Parental involvement has always been central to Saint-Victor’s outlook on education. In fact she was also instrumental in identifying the need for – and then establishing – a Parents’ Café. As she makes clear, “This allows parents to come and communicate all the issues that they have been facing with one another and with us related to their children. We’ve had discussions about different health issues, such as cancer, and we also get parents that come in from every level.”
National Board of Inclusive Education
As Saint-Victor continues to enumerate her accomplishments in the educational sector, one cannot but be in awe of her tireless energy and tenacious work ethic, let alone her unwavering determination to assist underprivileged children and help them obtain the decent education they rightfully deserve, despite the various challenges and obstacles they face.
“I was also invited to join the National Board of Inclusive Education and I have now been there for five years. Our goal is to help all the kids that have an atypical life to get a regular education, so that they can then also lead a relatively normal life. But if for any reason there is a difficulty, maybe a mental deficiency on the side of the child, we are here to accompany the teachers to be able to give the child the best education possible.”
Handicapped Schooling (ASH)
Today, Saint-Victor sits on the teaching council at the departmental level for ASH (Association of Handicapped Schooling). Her role is not only fulfilling and satisfying, but also deeply meaningful, since it tangibly assists those in need on the margins of society. As she explains, “I accompany the students with special needs, but also work with kids who are not handicapped, but who have other difficulties, as well as young people are in juvenile correctional facilities, also at the departmental level. In addition to this, I also run a programme where I help parents to better understand how the systems that we have in place work.”
Her Purpose And Motivation For Helping Kids
Saint-Victor derives her deep-seated motivation to help children from her genuine love of teaching. As she says with an endearing earnestness, “The kids of today are the citizens of tomorrow. It’s like a mission. I think that we should accompany them and give them a better tomorrow.”
She also wants to encourage those teachers whose enthusiasm for the job has waned and who thus might be in need of extra support.
“I also want to accompany the teachers that do extraordinary things but who might also sometimes be a bit burnt out. So therefore we need to give them the strength and courage to act, to motivate them, and because I think that if you’re not happy when you go to work its not worth it.”
With a twinkle in her eye she adds, “If I can’t bring positivity to others through this job, then I should just stay home.”
Suffice to say, if only more cynical, jaded teachers who have grown tired of this most noble of professions and now loathe their jobs (and their students) thought like that and heeded her advice, schools would be infinitely better places in which to learn!
Three Wishes
When it comes to the proverbial three wishes,Saint-Victor knows immediately what she would like, were she granted them. Perhaps unsurprisingly, her list of desires is remarkably selfless and peerlessly altruistic, as befits someone who has spent three decades of their life at the coalface of education instructing, guiding and instilling confidence in others. As she says with a gentle countenance, brimming with optimism, ebullience and hope, “Firstly, that I can always bring positivity and good, positive energy to others. Secondly, that I can always inspire others to be positive and also remain positive myself. Thirdly, another wish is to see poverty and inequality in the world be reduced.”
Conclusion
It is perhaps an understatement to say that Lydie Saint-Victor is a pedagogical force of nature. She is an exemplary teacher who is sincerely committed to the uplift and betterment of the next generation of young people in the French Caribbean, and one who resolutely cares enough to do all she can to help build and shape tomorrow’s citizens and leaders, be that in Guadeloupe, St. Martin or further afield.
Given the often discombobulating and alarming nature of the world we now live in – post-Covid, with the haunting spectre of war on several continents looming on the horizon and the massive displacement of refugees fleeing conflicts an imminent possibility, Saint-Victor’s new book is both apposite and timely, chiming directly with the zeitgeist and speaking directly to a society in which traditional schooling may increasingly become a thing of the past.
Teaching At Home? is thus a compelling, thought-provoking and insightful read and a book which demands the attention of all parents, replete with an abundance of powerful wisdom, potentially life-changing educational advice and, above all, a surfeit of kindness and understanding.