25987: Nekita: (Comments) The late Minister Bernard &this education discourse (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Nlbo@aol.com

I would like to comment on former Minister Bernardâs passing which I believe
relates to this current dialogue on education. I should say âShame on meâ
for not knowing that late Minister Joseph Bernard passed away last March.  Was
it posted in Corbettâs line? I am just reading the post on the late educator
Bernard  while browsing in <windowsonhaiti.com> How come I missed it? Besides
Louis Joseph Janvier, I believe Joseph Bernardâs is among the greatest
educational visionaries that Haiti  ever had. However, I doubt that Haitians
understood him in his life time and most of us still donât.

I started my career in education around the same time  Bernardâs vision  was
a violent debate. In Boston,  proponents and opponents of teaching Creole
would not speak with one another. There were even stories of teachers doing
âmajiâ (vodou spells) so proponents of Creole could loose their jobs. The Creole
debate of the early l980âs was nasty.

However when I look back,  the French vs. Creole fighting that occurred  from
l980-1984 was probably better;  at least educating Haitian children was in
the forefront of the news. But now though the educational achievement, the test
scores, the problems encountered when educating Haitian children in the US are
worse than ever,  Haitian educators and stakeholders that should be concerned
about the future of Haitian children demonstrate a lot of indifference in
talking with one another about âtacklingâ the educational issues in a Haitian
community that is fully into its third generation.â

In contrast to female educators( pedagogues) such as the Madame Colimon
Boisson or living Madame Odette Roy Fombrun that one constantly hears or reads
about through their latter part of their lives, I am under the impression that
Bernard withdrew from public life years before his passing. Itâs a shame the
death of a visionary like  former minister of education Joseph Bernard had gone
with so little notice.

We developed a lot of Creole materials in Cambridge as a result of Bernardâs
vision. We have a Haitian history book that the school department developed as
well as test and assessment batteries.  Individual teachers including myself
also developed  subject area books and workbooks in Creole for their
classrooms.  In the late l970's early l980's, Creole materials were also developed in
Florida and New York. Unfortunately, educators donât communicate  among
themselves. I wish there could be a network where those Creole childrenâs manuscripts
 could be revised, published and disseminated in Haiti and other countries
that speak Creole. Most Haitians who have the means donât invest in publications
, should I say in almost anything that improves human development in this
case,  books, the printing world, and learning.

I hope the time will come one day in the diaspora, especially in the United
States with so much resources, Haitians will make educating the Haitian
community in all areas, a priority. I always assume that education is highly valued
in the Haitian culture. Yet, when radio and TV hosts, clergy and active church
members  will not announce  parent trainings, ESL programs, college seminars
for high school students,  conferences related to  family and youth
enrichments, group dynamics, or inform parents on time and procedures for school or
kindergarten registrations, âthere is an elephant in the house.â

When a community ( at least mine) has no means to convey  and share
information on resources and activities that will benefit young people, something had
gone wrong. The indifference I observed in the past two decades vis-Ã-vis
working collectively to educate the Haitian community is making me question many
expectations, norms and behaviors I knew were rooted in Haitian cultural values.

Nekita