Born Marcia Angela Davis in Jamaica, West Indies I have traveled and lived in various parts of the world including United Kingdom and Europe. In my mid-twenties I was presented with the opportunity to migrate to the United States and experienced the following: – culture shock, racism and different class system. In a state of confusion I tried to find my identity as I was surrounded with a vast array off sub-cultures. I was a dark-skinned, Black woman of Afro-Caribbean decent and lived in mixed middle class community in the state of New Jersey. My skin-color meant many viewed me as poor, even though in my native country, I attended a private school and dressed similarly to the middle-class students.

Six months after migrating, I was again privileged to move; this time to the United Kingdom (UK). I thought this would have been a great experience as Jamaica’s environment is closely aligned with the British system. The community was diverse and it seemed to be more racially tolerant than the United States. Four years of living in the UK taught me many things including learning to adapt to the various cultures, food and climates. After returning to the US in 1995, I became the mother of a beautiful and talented daughter, Parisse – the love of my life.

I started teaching immediately after college but decided to try another career in Business Management despite my passion of teaching, inspiring and challenging children to love learning. As a life-long learner, I have a Teaching Degree in Business Education, a Bachelor’s degree in Management Studies, a Masters of Education in Differentiated Instructions and has recently achieved my Doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction.   Currently my specialty is identifying students with Reading difficulty and work towards to enhancement of their potential.   For these students, organization of teaching material is centered primarily on individualized instructions using differentiation strategies. I am also an Adjunct Professor at William Paterson University where I teach Freshmen Basic Reading Improvement.

In June 2010, I was recognized as the Teacher of the Year for the Grover Cleveland Elementary School in Rahway. The Rahway Local Organizing Committee awarded the Educator’s Award to me because of my assiduous dedication to the district’s children.

Having had many discarded ambitions and jobs, and going back and forth to being a teacher; I can truly say that working in Rahway has made me realize that I made the correct decision to do what I really enjoy – teaching! Jacobs A. once said, “Our destiny is what we do and make out of our lives. And it always begins with a choice….” This profession has definitely been an eye-opening experience for me because I have dug deeper into my identity and personality. I have truly realized that the decision to influence the minds of students was my destiny since most of my family members were also educators. Buoyed by the consistent reminder that ‘no one is perfect’, over the years, I developed as a teacher as there were times when I thought I would have been a failure at this profession. I used the opportunity to nurture and encourage students. At the end of each day, I carefully assess the events learning the requirements to excel.

As a teacher who has been influenced primarily by females throughout my life I have learned to be courageous and find myself instilling the same values in my students – even those who are males. I avoid preconceived ideas about students who are “labeled” and considered “deficit models”. I believe these labels send negative messages to the students who may see themselves as doomed forever. My maternal instincts of being caring and nurturing are evident in the classroom and even though the disparity between the have’s and the have-not’s is sometimes visible, I could use my power (positively) to motivate students to establish and attain their goals.

Maintaining focus on my goal of helping students and motivating myself through studying so that my spark to help others develop into a flame. My mission to assist students excels lies in the incessant drive to continuously develop my knowledge of improved ways to explore how students learn. Again, the formative years of my life had very little male influence so girls developed into strong women who provide core family support. The culture of my family encouraged me to be strong and courageous seeing all as equal.

I am currently a team member of the Give Back Project, which is a group of past students of the Brandon Hill Primary School in North Clarendon, Jamaica where I spent many of my formative years with my Grandfather – Arthur Henry. During those glorious years I learned from my grandfather the art of giving and praising God in service to others.

Marcia A. Davis-Dawkins, BBA, MAEd, Ed.D

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