STUDENT-CENTRED
competition for the Sidney Martin Library. In the meantime, I continue to work steadfastly to fulfil the requirements of my PhD.” Professionally, Jelani wears many hats, including cultural practitioner, teacher, consultant, farmer, artist, and reverend. She explained that her research explores the use of plants and herbs in Afro-Caribbean spiritual and ritual practices mostly among spiritual Baptists and Rastafari in Barbados and other Eastern and Southern Caribbean countries. “I find the use of plants and herbs very interesting in terms of health, preventative medicines, and alternative health care, as well as for spiritual, physical, and mental well-being. I also find it interesting in terms of the ways they are used by Spiritual Baptists in their worship, the way they deal with their healing sessions, their healing worship, using it in bush teas, bush baths, sprinkling, smudging, and the way they decorate their altars and sacred spaces.” H aynes , Education Officer for English in the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training , Barbados is pursuing her PhD in Education with an emphasis on educational leadership. Her mixed-method research is entitled, “The Elephant in the Room: The Prevalence and Perceived Impact of Destructive Leadership in Secondary Schools” . “We constantly see research on the positive side of leadership, and I recognised that the dark side of leadership is becoming more prevalent in terms of research, but it is still under-researched. We have a lot of abuse in the workplace. There are many people who get abused by their leaders, but nobody wants to talk about it. A lot of people are silent because they believe they’ll be victimised, they’ll be ostracised. I want to
Judith Toppin former Officer-in-Charge, Sidney Martin Library The UWI, Cave Hill Campus
Professor Winston Moore Deputy Principal, The UWI, Cave Hill Campus
bring that to the fore. I want to bring light to the dark side of leadership.” As for her performance in the competition, Haynes was satisfied she did her best: “I expected to do extremely well because I do not compete unless I’m going for the gold. I was very impressed with my performance ... The mere fact that I participated in the competition and got an opportunity to put my work out there was a win. The opportunity to showcase my talent in terms of public speaking was a tremendous reward for me. So, I came first in my estimation because it was not just about winning. I felt like a winner because I was able to present my work so a wider audience could hear what I have to offer.” Both competitors were presented with prizes during a ceremony held on 7 July 2023 and at which the sponsors and judges were officially recognised. The competition was organised by the Sidney Martin Library , with librarian Jennine Knight serving as Chair of the Organising Committee. She was supported by six other committee members. Officer-in-Charge of the library Judith Toppin (now retired) said all challenges that crept up were addressed effectively to ensure the successful staging of the 3MT. “Let me just congratulate everyone
because I was very impressed with what we produced. I hope this competition will continue, and we may also look at expanding to other types of competitions for postgrad students; so, we look forward to really, really exciting times.” Deputy Principal Professor Winston Moore said the competition will help ensure students received needed feedback in a timely fashion and that full-time students remained on track to complete their dissertation within the three to five-year window. “The thesis combination provides a platform to showcase exceptional research as well as the opportunity to inspire others with your intellectual curiosity. May this competition ignite a spark within each of you, propelling you further in your scholarly journey.” Professor Moore acknowledged the support, guidance and resources offered by the library, which he said was a testament to its commitment to empowering lives, nurturing scholarship, and facilitating the exploration of ideas. u
CHILL NEWS 139
CONTENTS PAGE
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator