During the royals' second day of their visit to Jamaica,Kate Middletonmade sure to stay focused on her primary mission of championing early childhood education around the globe.
“I truly believe we are on the cusp of one of the biggest opportunities for positive change in generations,” she said in a speech at Shortwood Teacher Training College in Kingston.
The Duchess of Cambridge, 40, hoped to highlight the work of one of the country’s leading colleges training teachers in early years education, so she andPrince William, 39, headed to the college, which was one of the first to offer training in early childhood education and is a leading proponent of the field.
“It is so wonderful to hear your ideas and enthusiasm for teaching and the hopes you have to influence the lives of young people,” said the motherPrince George, 8;Princess Charlotte, 6, andPrince Louis, 3.
College Principal Dr. Claudette Barrett-March told PEOPLE: “We were very happy to share what we do because we train teachers to do that out in the wider society in Jamaica and even in Britain, we have some of our past students teaching in Britain at this time.”
Kate Middleton.Samir Hussein/WireImage
Kate said of the school, which was founded in 1885, “Shortwood is obviously a very special place, with a proud history. Because, as you know, it has been supporting teachers and therefore the children of Jamaica for over one hundred years.”
Shortly after the couple’s arrival, Dr. Barrett-March took the couple to the John F. Kennedy Library for a discussion around early years in Jamaica and the College’s research faculty.
In her remarks on Wednesday, the Duchess noted that children’s earliest experiences are critical to their long-term development: “It is when we learn how to form relationships, how to connect to one another, how to manage our feelings and emotions. It is when we learn to develop a sense of identity, belonging and worthiness. And it is when we shape our values and understanding of the world we live in.”
She continued, “That is why I am so passionate about early childhood. Because we are doing something much more than building healthy children. We are nurturing the children and the adults that they will become, the families they will build and the communities they will be part of.”
Shortwood College not only trains students to become practitioners and conduct research in early childhood education and care, it also offers professional development programs to the early childhood sector.
“One of the main things is the way we engage our parents, whether they come into the schools or we go out into the communities to meet with them,” Dr. Barrett-March told PEOPLE. “The college has parenting seminars all the time so they find a way to impact the parents to help them to understand how they can help the children to learn.”
She continued, “So, when they learn in school, it doesn’t stop at school, they are able to reinforce what is done at home. That is one of the big things that we try to do here in Jamaica — and we try to train our teachers in training so when they go out into the schools.”
Improving the outcomes of children in the first five years of their lives isone of Kate’s keystone public projects, and, following hertrip to Denmarklast month, this is the second time she has taken the work of herRoyal Foundation Centre for Early Childhoodon to the international stage.
Dr. Barrett-March praised the Duchess’s efforts “across the world” and said the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood is “looking forward to working with my early childhood faculty here. We will be able to get some work done to enhance what we do here.”
Samir Hussein/WireImage
Kate visited Shortwood directly after a meeting with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who delivered a speech directly addressinganti-monarchy protestsin the country, as well as thesteps the government has been takingto removeQueen Elizabethas Jamaica’s head of state.
“Jamaica is a very free and liberal country and the people are very expressive — and I’m certain that you would have seen the spectrum of expressions yesterday,” Holness said, referencing both the couple’s warm welcome in Trench Town and the protests in the country’s capital.
“There are issues here, which as you know, are unresolved, but your presence gives us an opportunity for those issues to be placed in context, to be out front and center and to be addressed as best we can,” he continued. “But Jamaica is, as you would see, is a country that is proud of its history and very proud of what we have achieved. And we’re moving on and we intend to … fulfill our true ambitions and destiny to become an independent, developed and prosperous country.”
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The Independentpreviously reported that, despite the growing momentum of the republican movement, there was “some resistancefrom within the Jamaican Government” toward severing the relationship with the royals — including Holness’s own position as a sovereign advisor in the Queen’s Privy Council.
And in a conversation with PEOPLE on Tuesday night, one Jamaican hero — Chris Stokes, the real-life inspiration behind the1993 hit filmCool Runnings—urged for a measured, respectful approachto the change both during the royals' visit and moving forward.
“People talk about reparationsand so on, which are worth discussing,” he said, “but that should not take away from what you do in this moment we find ourselves in and what sort of future we seek to create.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton meeting with bobsleigh legend Chris Stokes during a visit to Trench Town, Jamaica on March 22.Chis Jackson-Pool/Getty Images
Noting that William and Kate “presented themselves with humility and graciousness,” he added, “They knew a little bit more about us than we knew about them. They treated the entire situation with a great deal of respect which is important regardless of situation.”
He emphasized, “We need to embrace a new tomorrow even though we don’t know what that shape is. But that means living together with respect.”
source: people.com
