12
UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 4 NOVEMBER, 2018
In his delightful book
“I can read with my eyes shut”,
Dr. Seuss advises his young readers: “The more things
you read, the more things you know, the more things
you know, the more places you’ll go”, a metaphorical
statement about the power of reading to fuel the
imagination, expand the mind and broaden horizons,
and a very literal recognition of the fundamental
importance of reading. Most of us take for granted this
completely unnatural and complex cognitive process,
but there was no hyperbole involved when the late
former UN Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan stated
that “Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a
tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark
against poverty, and a building block of development,
an essential complement to investments in roads,
dams, clinics and factories”.
ForMrs. Paula Lucie-Smith, a national scholarship
winner from St. Joseph’s Convent, Port-of-Spain,
the fundamental impact of low-level literacy was
revealed during her four years as a high school
teacher. Armed with a Warwick University degree
in History and a University of Leicester Certificate
in Education, she was eager to see all her students
succeed and enthusiastically sought to engage parents
where necessary. To her surprise, some parents of
struggling students appeared to have little or no
interest in meeting with her. She eventually realised
that many of themwere non-readers, actively avoiding
her for fear of discovery and because of their own
negative experiences with school. They were among
an estimated 24% of adults in Trinidad and Tobago
who struggle with even basic reading … and without
intervention, their children (and their children’s
children) were on their way to joining them.
In 1990, Paula took action. Having left the
teaching service to start a family, she enrolled in a
short Ministry of Education / UNESCO training
course for volunteer adult literacy teachers. Later
that year, she and a fellow tutor faced the challenge
of teaching their first class of about 20 people, with
no teaching materials. With much creativity, more
reading and help from experts in education, dyslexia
and linguistics, they managed to come up with a
structure. In 1992, she formed the Adult Literacy
Tutors Association (ALTA) with the modest aims of
bringing tutors together to share ideas and materials,
and to direct students to teachers in their areas.
Anyone who knew Paula Lucie-Smith could bet
that it would not stop there. With single-minded
focus, endless energy, persistence, and mindful of her
mother’s mantra that “the worst thing in the world is
a selfish person”, Paula gave her all to ALTA. For 26
years, she has been the unrelenting, unstoppable and
apparently un-sleeping driving force moving ALTA
from two people operating out of her house to a highly
respected, internationally recognised organisation
that has now trained hundreds of tutors in Trinidad
and Tobago, St. Vincent, Antigua and Grenada.
ALTA offers the only comprehensive, structured,
adult literacy programme in Trinidad and Tobago.
There are free twice-weekly classes with embedded
life skills at 50 venues, over 300 volunteers and over
1,500 students annually. In addition to community
classes and reading circles, ALTA extended to school,
workplace and prison literacy programmes.
As ALTA CEO, Mrs. Lucie-Smith, presided
over and was a major contributor to the building
of a comprehensive body of knowledge and the
development of ALTA’s novel teaching materials.
Mrs Paula Lucie-Smith received her honorary Doctor of Laws degree on the morning of Friday, October 26, and also was a guest speaker at that
graduation ceremony.
PHOTO: KEYON MITCHELL
The UWI 2018 Honorary Graduate Citation
MRS PAULA LUCIE-SMITH
Awarded Degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD), honoris causa
These include more than 60 published books, learning
aids such as phonic and rule cards, games and graded
reading books and the first local educational board
games. ALTA keeps abreast (and often ahead) of the
field through regular review of materials, tools and
strategies as well as through Paula’s constant research
into core strategies fromelsewhere that can be adapted
for Caribbean learners.
In addition to her selfless diligence, vision,
persistence and intellectual input, Paula provided at
least two other things that helped tomake ALTAwhat
it is today. The first is her refusal to waste resources.
Her firm belief in recycle, reuse and reduce has seen
ALTA through many a lean period. The second is
that her unwillingness to give up extends to people.
With infinite compassion and the patience of a saint,
whether it is an ALTA staff member, a tutor or a
student, Paula doesn’t give up on people – even when
urged to do so for her own sanity. It is her nature to be
drawn to those who are less than 100% and to direct
her energy where it is most needed.
Paula’s and ALTA’s good work has not gone
unnoticed. They have earned several national and
international awards and other forms of recognition
including the Hummingbird Gold Medal for service,
and selection by UNESCO as a model for adaptation
and replication worldwide. Never seeking accolades
for herself, Paula is quick to credit the army of
volunteer tutors, teacher trainers, coordinators,
programme developers, administrators, the students
and their families, individual and corporate sponsors,
partners, supporters and the long list of mentors
and experts she learned from. And there is also the
unwavering support of her husband William, her
three daughters, and Cathryn Kelshall of the Dyslexia
Association.
Paula’s work as an adult literacy educator and
activist has helped her to play a role in being a bulwark
against poverty and a bridge from misery to hope
for so many. She is the best thing in the world: an
unselfish person.
GRADUATION 2018
