Becoming oneself, education and social change: the case of Haiti

• In Event: Education in Haiti: Alternatives for Social Transformation

Proposal

In his conversation with Horton Myles, Paulo Freire said, “The more people participate in the process of their own education, the more the people participate in the process of defining what kind of production to produce, and for what and why, the more the people participate in the development of their selves. The more the people become themselves, the better the democracy” (Myles and Horton 145). in the work of Freire and Myles democracy seems to be viewed as an ideal condition of being for world societies and that this, hypothetically, ideal condition for humanity is driven by another condition of being whereby individuals become themselves. While Freire and Myles’ reflection concerns particularly people’s involvement in what concerns them, their reflection on the development of oneself and the act of becoming oneself is reminiscent of a phenomenological perspective whereby the development of the subject is contingent upon his reappropriation of creative acts in which one is engaged Considering this perspective, the subject faces a crisis that results from his /her separation with his/her own creative acts. Working toward a solution to this crisis involves a reappropriation of one’s creative acts to foster progress.

Looking at the context of Haiti, for decades, Haitian society has been going through a series of dreadful conditions that tend to defy what we know about nation building in the contemporary era. Likewise, one wonders if the distance between the glorious history of the country and the dire human conditions that prevail in the society doesn’t offer ground for a reflection on how we deal with our own projection into the external world, i.e., our own acts of progress. What does ‘becoming themselves’ or “the development of their selves” entail in the case of Haiti? What are some of the expressions of the loss of oneself in Haiti and how the self can be revamped? What does an analysis of the crisis of reappropriation bring to the reflection on the situation of Haiti, considering the distance between the early history of the nation and its current conditions? What is there to be reappropriated and how? How can education be the podium on which the act of reappropriation is played out and thus be the pathway toward individuals’ regeneration of their selves to become themselves and be empowered for social change? What model(s) of education does this work of reappropriation of the self necessitates in the case of Haiti? As part of a conceptual framework gearing toward education as a driving force for social change, this paper addresses these questions and offers perspectives to empower Haitians to ensure the destiny of their country.

Author

• Marky Jean-Pierre, University of The Bahamas