Education with Parents (And Without the Whip)

by John Engle

It was a hot, sunny afternoon in Haiti in 1996. I was sitting outside the little house I’d recently moved into in the mountain village of Mariaman, talking with my new neighbor, Joel, and his adorable sons, Ricardo and Jeff, who were both under age five.

Joel and I were sitting facing each other, and the boys stood beside me, giggling as they ran their curious little hands through my hair and touched my face and arms. They were happy to have a blan (white person) as their new neighbor. Joel’s wife, Roseline, and their three older daughters were about 20 feet away, preparing the day’s meal on an open fire.

At the time, my Haitian Creole was very limited, so communication was slow and tedious. Forming each word carefully, I told Joel that even though his sons were little they could be among my teachers. I encouraged the boys to correct my mistakes as I learned their language. Joel, a handsome man with very crooked teeth, started to grin. He reached down and picked up a branch that was still green and pliable and began picking off the smaller shoots, creating the perfect switch. Jeff and Ricardo started laughing. I was puzzled. He then held it like a stereotypical schoolmaster poised to use it on me and said, “If there’s going to be teaching, there’s gotta be a whip and punishment.”

That was almost 13 years ago, but I still remember it as if it were yesterday. Joel, who has since passed away, was one of the gentlest men I’ve ever known. More than once I watched him calmly prevent Roseline from beating one of their children in a fit of anger simply by stepping in and picking up the child and walking away silently. But when it came to education, even Joel believed whipping was necessary.

Writing about a terribly negative aspect of Haitian life feels a bit unfair. There’s so much that I appreciate about Haitian culture and so many practices that my wife (who is Haitian) and I want our children to embrace. But the extreme authoritarian practices around education and leadership are not among them. 

The exciting news is that a new paradigm is emerging. Hundreds of classrooms are being transformed by open-minded teachers and school directors who are using educational methods grounded in respect.  They’re learning these new approaches from our Haitian colleagues and the dozens of partnerships Beyond Borders has with international and local organizations. 

Integrating parents into the daily life of their children’s schools is one aspect of this new paradigm. Typically, Haitian school principals and teachers have little time for parents “who don’t know anything”— which is how illiterate people are often described. Unfortunately, the majority of adults in Haiti are illiterate.  Consider how you’d feel if the people who were educating your children continually modeled disrespect toward you and treated you as inferior because you “know nothing.”

Students in an Episcopal school in the community of Bainet that now uses these new approaches to education and classroom management.

Now imagine you’re a parent taking part in this new approach: The school principal invites you to a meeting because he wants your ideas; he even wants your child to partner with him and the teachers to improve the school.  At the meeting, you’re invited to speak — and you’re listened to. Your opinions truly matter. Can you picture the transformation? 

At one school in a Port-au-Prince slum known for violence, an elderly parent participating in one of these meetings spoke up recently: “Meetings like this need to be a part of the Ministry of Education’s agenda… We’re constantly hearing from politicians about the importance of a national dialogue and engaging citizens.  Right here it is: dialogue and citizen engagement. Why aren’t they using an approach like this?” 

Our Haitian colleagues have already facilitated meetings like this in more than 400 schools throughout the country. Since the average school includes about 200 students, these efforts are impacting tens of thousands of Haitian children—as well as their families and communities. 

Beyond Borders is working toward a day when empowering, life-giving practices are the norm in Haiti’s classrooms, a day when all children grow up having been nurtured with profound care and are then ready to contribute to the betterment of their communities and country.  It’s what I want for my own children growing up in South Florida…and for every child in Haiti, too.

A community meeting with students, parents, and teachers to start a new school in the Saut d’Eau community in the Central Plateau region.