Background Information

St. Jago High School founded in 1744 in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, Jamaica. This

is one of the oldest, continuously operated schools in the Western Hemisphere. It is renowned

for graduating some of Jamaica’s senior military officers, world class cricketer, academic

scholars, performing artists and Olympic athletes. St. Jago High School is the amalgamation

of a number of academic institution thus the school has an intriguing history. St. Jago High

school is the offshoot of the Free School of Saint Jago de la Vega which was established in

1744. Other smaller endowment were made such as the Smith’s Charity school named after

its benefactor, Francis Smith, the custom of St. Catherine, it was opened in 1833. In 1876,

this school was to merge with St. Jago de la Vega Free School to form Beckford and

Smith’s Boys School. In 1956, the final merger to form the present day St. Jago High School

took place. At that time, Cathedral High school for Girls was amalgamated with Beckford

and Smith’s Boys School and a new building housing the new St. Jago High School was

declared open in 1958.

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 Definition of Research Problem

The researcher seeks to examine the impact of St. Jago High school in the development of the

community of Rivoli because the researcher is curious to find out since the researcher had

attended the school for five years.

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 Aims and Objectives

This project aims to:

1) Identify the history of St. Jago High school

2) Study the impact of St. Jago High school on the community of Rivoli

Objectives:

1) What are the specific programmes that have been implemented or put in place by the

St. Jago High school to help the community of Rivoli?

2) How effective have these programmes been in the development of the community?

3) What are other programmes that the school could implement to help better develop

the community?

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 Literature Review
From a sociological perspective, Education is a social institution which embodies the

ideas, beliefs and values adopted by a society about how to pass on its body of skills and

knowledge to its new members. Education is simply one aspect of socialisation.

Education plays a vital role in socialisation with the aid of formal and informal

procedures. Formal methods include curriculums, classroom teachings which provides

individuals with knowledge of basic intellectual skills such as reading, writing etc. Informal

methods are usually through social clubs, peer influence/ pressure and this teaches the laws,

tradition, norms of a community and the rights of individuals.

According to functionalists, Emily Durkheim, education only offers positive

functions. This is done by promoting social solidarity, maintaining value consensus and

transmitting society’s norms and values. He also refers to education as secondary

socialisation which teaches individuals skills that will help them gain a job. Additionally,

Talcott Parson(1961) views education as a means of transmitting society’s culture from one

generation to another, ensuring continuity. Talcott Parson believed that with education

society treats all its members according to “universalistic standard” – that is, there is no

favouritism based on gender, race, social class or family background.

Feminists began to turn their attention to education in the 1960s. Radical feminists

argued that education with the aid of schools reinforces traditional gender norms to the

disadvantage of girls. They also believed that despite the improvement in girl’s education -

subject choices still remain heavily gendered and girls do not seem to be ‘breaking the glass

ceiling’. Sandra Acker believed that women should invent their own knowledge and

schooling experiences. On the other hand, liberal feminists celebrated the progress made so

far in improving girls’ achievement. They soon appealed for changes to equalise educational

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and other opportunities.

Karl Marx et al. (1971)states that the education system is there to serve the interests

of the capitalists/ ruling class. They theorised that there will always be an unequal

relationship as schooling transmits ruling class ideology and produces a passive and

compliant workforce which fits the needs of capitalism. In addition, Bowles and Gintis

(1976), who are also marxists state that the education system is subservient to the needs of

the capitalists. They also claim that there is a hidden curriculum that encourages acceptance

of hierarchy. Bowles and Gintis also argued that education benefits capitalism through the

legitimation of inequality. By making society appear fair and just, class consciousness does

not develop and the stability of society is not threatened.

Interactionists’ views on education differ crucially from those of Marxists and

Functionalists. Hargreaves et al. (1975) focal point was micro-learning. They focused mainly

on teachers’ impact on a student’s education. Hargreaves et al. believed that if a teacher

becomes more familiar with his/ her pupils it may affect the attention and encouragement a

pupil can receive thus determining that student’s achievements. In addition, Rosenthal and

Jacobson’s theory (1968) argues that predications made by teachers about future success or

failure of their pupils will tend to come true. They tested the validity of self- fulfilling

prophecy and discovered that teachers’ expectations could significantly affect their pupil’s

performance.

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 Research Plan/ Design

The researcher chose to use a questionnaire as the primary source for data collection. Data

collection as also used from sources such as books and the internet. The data collected was

analysed by the researcher and presented in the form of graphs and tables along with a

descriptive discussion and recommendations.

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 The Sociological Perspective

The researcher chose to utilise the mixed method as the researcher wants to benefit by

validly establishing the strength of each approach and give a better understanding of what is

being studied. The researcher utilised the quantitative method by using questionnaires and

the qualitative method by using information from articles and historical documents. Some

advantages of using quantitative (positivist) method of data collection are it allows the

researcher to measure and analyse data, its ability to measure data using statistics and the

relationship between an independent and dependent variable is studied in details. The main

disadvantages of quantitative method is that a large sample of the population must be

studied. Additionally, some advantages of using qualitative (interpretivist) research include

the

researcher gains more detailed and rich data and it gives the researcher freedom to let the

study unfold more naturally. The limitations of this method are that it is time consuming and

since it is heavily involved in the process the researcher gives a subjective view of the study

and its participants. The mixed method aids with providing breadth and depth understanding

of the study. It also helps to explain findings or how casual processes work.

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 The Sample
The research sample consisted of 25 persons from the community of Rivoli which

were selected using the simple random sampling method. This is a subset of a statistical

population in which each member of the subset has an equal probability of being chosen. The

researcher chose this method as it eliminates sampling bias and assembling the sample is

easy. There is also ease of use and accuracy of representation.

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 Questionnaire
This is a survey being carried out to aid in the completion of the CAPE Sociology Internal
Assessment. Please circle or tick where necessary.

1) To what gender do you belong?

Female Male

2) To which age group do you belong?

12-18 years old 19-25 years old

26.35 years old Over 35 years old

3) How long have you been a member of the community of Rivoli?

Under 1 year 1-5 years

6-10 years Over 10 years

4) What are the academic programmes offered by the school for the community?

Book Fair Homework Programmes

Summer School Evening School

5) To what extent are those programmes beneficial to you?

To a large extent To a moderate extent

To a minimum extent Not at all

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 6) What are the social programmes held by the school for the community?

Fundraising Events Game Nights

Community Sports day Concerts

7) What community outreach programmes have been implemented?

Donation of school supplies to needy households

Visiting the residents of nearby nursing homes

Donation of food and clothing to residents of homeless shelter/orphanage

8) To what extent have you benefited from the school?

To a large extent To a moderate extent

To a minimum extent Not at all

9) How would you rate the overall impact of the school on the community?

Excellent Good

Fair Poor

10) What are some other programmes that may be implemented?

Scholarship Programmes Parent & Children Workshop

Health Fair Community Clean Up

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 Presentation of Data

Gender of Respondents

Ma l es
44.00% Femal es

56.00%

Q1. To what gender do you belong?

Figure 1: Pie Chart showing gender of respondents

Q2. To which age group do you belong?

Age Responses (in percentage )

12-18 years 16%
19-25 years 20%
26-35 years 52%
Over 35 years 12%

Figure 2: Table showing the age group of the respondents

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Q3. How long have you been a member of the community of Rivoli?

Responses (in %)

Years of Residency
60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Under a yea r 1-5 yea rs 6-10 yea rs Over 10 years
Res pons es (i n %)

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Figure 3: Bar graph showing the years of residency of the respondents

Academic Programmes Offered By The School

Book Fa i r

Evening School

Summer School

H.W Progra mmes

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

Res pons es (i n %)

Q4. What are the academic programmes offered by the school for the community?

Figure 4: Graph showing the academic programmes implemented by the school

Q5. To what extent are these programmes beneficial to you?

Responses Percentage
To a large extent 36%
To a moderate extent 40%
To a minimum extent 12%
Not at all 12%

Figure 5: Table showing to what extent academic programmes are beneficial

Q6. What are the social programmes held by the school for the community?

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Social Programmes Responses (in per.)

Fundraising Events 48%

Game Nights 0%

Community Sports day 0%

Concerts 52%

Figure 6: Table showing the social programmes held by the school

Community Outre ach Programme s Imple memte d By The School

50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%

Re s pons e s (i n %)

Q7. What community outreach programmes have been implemented?

Figure 7: Graph displaying the community outreach programmes implemented by the school.

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Q8. To what extent have you benefited from the school?

Responses Percentage ( %)

To a large extent 48%

To a moderate extent 28%

To a minimum extent 24%

Not at all 0%

Figure 8: Table showing the responses (in %) of the respondents on howbeneficial the school

is

Q9. How would you rate the overall impact of the school on the community?

Overall impact of the school

12.00% 20.00%

Excel l ent
Good
Fa ir
Poor
40.00%
28.00%

Figure 9: Pie Chart showing the overall impact of the school on the community

Q10. What are some other programmes that may be implemented?

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 Other programmes that may be implemented by the school
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
es op i rs Up
m h Fa n
m ks l th ea
ra or a Cl
og W
He ty
Pr en n i
ip i dr m
u
sh Ch
l ar Co
m
ho t&
Sc ren
Pa

Res pons es (i n %)

Figure 10: Graph showing the responses (in %) of the respondents on other

programmes that may be implemented by the school.

Analysis of Data
This research was aimed at examining the impact of St. Jago High School on the

community of Rivoli. The researcher enquired about the gender of the respondents in which

44% were males and 56%:were females as expected. The researcher found out that 16% of

the respondents were 12-18 years old, 20% were 19- 25 years old, 52% were 26-35 years old

this age group had the highest percentage and 12% were over 35 years old which had the

lowest percentage. This result was unexpected as youths (12-18 years old) were predicted to

participate more.

In accordance with the respondents 8% of them have been a resident of the

community for under a year, 20% for 1-5 years, 16% for 6-10 years and 56% for over 10

years this has the highest percentage and would be an advantage because they would be more

aware of the programmes implemented by the school for the community over the years. The

researcher found out that the main academic programme offered by the school was summer

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school with 40%, the other programme was evening school with 32%, another was book fair

with 20% and homework programme with 8%. This was expected as summer school is a

programme frequently advertised or announced. A question on the extent to which academic

programmes are beneficial was asked and 36% agreed to a large extent, 40% said to a

moderate extent and 12% were to a minimum extent or not at all each. The findings which

were concluded were expected as only 12% had not benefited, therefore, majority of the

respondents found the programmes to be beneficial.

52% of the respondents deduced that fundraising events were one of the social

programmes and the remaining 48% were concerts. This was foreseen as these programmes

are used by the school as means of funding other events.

According to the respondents, 44% acknowledged that the donation of food and

clothing to residents of homeless shelters and/ or orphanages was one of the outreach

programmes, 32% settled on visiting the residents of nearby nursing homes and 24%

approved donation of school supplies to needy households. These were forecasted as the

programme with the highest percentage is one which is generally done across the world.

48% of the respondents corresponded that they had benefitted from the school to a

large extent, 28% said to a moderate extent and 24% agreed to a minimal extent. Therefore,

programmes implemented by the school for the community have been extremely beneficial.

The respondents were asked to rate the overall impact of the school on the community and

20% said excellent, 28% rated it as good, 40% agreed that it was fair and the final 12% came

to the conclusion that it was poor. This was anticipated and also evident from previous

results.

The respondents were asked to suggest other programmes that may be implemented

by the school, 36% suggested community clean up, 32% said scholarship programmes, 24%

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suggested health fair and 8% concluded with parent and children workshop. This was

unexpected as Parent and Children workshop was predicted to have the highest percentage.

Discussion of Findings and Conclusion

From the research carried out it can be said that St. Jago High school has been

positively impacting the development of the community of Rivoli over a number of years.

According to Emily Durkheim, Education promotes social solidarity, value

consensus and transmits society’s norms and values. Social solidarity creates a feeling of

shared experience a sense of belonging and the idea of ‘community’. My research is in

integral agreement with the functionalists’ view since St. Jago High School has been offering

and putting in place programmes to better develop and bring the community of Rivoli

together. The research has shown that St. Jago High School takes part in community outreach

programmes such as donation of school supplies to needy households, visiting the residents

of nearby nursing homes and donation of food and clothing to residents of homeless shelters

and/ or orphanages. This is contradicting the beliefs of Karl Marx et al (1971) who assumes

that “the education system is to serve the interest of the capitalists / ruling class”. They

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believe that inequality is being reinforced by making capitalism in society appear fair and

just, this is not so as programmes have been implemented for enjoyment by both rich and

poor.

Emile Durkheim agrees that school teaches individuals to cooperate with those who

are neither their kin nor their friends, as such, it is society in miniature and this evident as St.

Jago High School organises activities namely fundraising events and concerts where people

get the opportunity to socialise with persons who they are not related to. Membership of the

family is based on kinship relationships; membership of the peer group on personal choice.

Membership of society as a whole is based on neither of these principles. Therefore, this

experience prepares an individual for interacting with members of society in terms of

society’s rules.

In addition, Talcott Parson (1961) believes that education teaches individual skills that

will aid in gaining a job and also encourages them to strive for high levels of academic

attainments. Thus, St. Jago High School offers different academic programmes like book

fairs, summer school, evening school and homework programmes which may help

individuals attain the necessary knowledge needed for their future occupation whether they

are male or female. This contradicts the feminists’ view which is based on girls’ education

versus boys’ education whereas the research found that there was no discrimination based on

sex. Talcott Parson also believed that with education society treats all its members according

to ‘universalistic standard’- that is, there is no favouritism based on gender, race, social class

or family background. This is the opposite of the beliefs of Marxists, Bowles and Gintis

(1976) who stated that the education system is subservient to the needs of the capitalists.

The views of the interactionists are of no relation to the purpose of the research. They

focused mainly on teachers’ impact on a students’ education. Hargreaves et al. believed that

if a teacher becomes more familiar with his/ her pupils it may affect the attention and

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encouragement a pupil can receive thus determining that student’s achievements. However,

the purpose of the research is focused on a school’s impact on the development of a

community and not the social relations and interactions between students and teachers.

The research established that St. Jago High School has implemented numerous

programmes to further benefit in the development of the community of Rivoli. These

programmes highlight that overall St. Jago High School has a positive impact on the

community.

Bibliography
Haralambos, Holborn &Heald. (2008). Sociology Themes and Perspectives Seventh Edition

London: HaperCollins Publishers Limited.

Mohammed, J. (2014). Sociology for Caribbean Examinations 2ndEdition. London:

Macmillan Publishers.

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