Teacher innovation for improved education in Haiti

• In Event: Education Policy, Democracy and Reform (II)

Proposal

Haiti’s education system is influenced by complex factors that disrupt education including large scale natural disasters, political turmoil, and violence, as well as limited public revenues for government to invest in education (Sider et al., 2021). The education system is a patchwork of largely privately-run schools (90%) led by religious groups, charitable groups, and non-governmental organizations. Less than half of children (48.48%) complete the compulsory six years of education and an estimated eighty percent of teachers have not received any pre-service training (USAID, 2020).
Education in Haiti is a paradox: families value education and spend a higher portion of household income on education than other countries (USAID, 2020), yet most teachers receive low pay and teaching is not considered a prestigious occupation. This may be due in part because of historical gender inequalities in the country and the predominance of women teachers, particularly in the primary grades.
Yet, for the last two years, teachers in the North and North East education districts in Haiti have come together to pursue innovative approaches to improving education for children and youth. Led by faculty at the Limonade campus of the State University of Haiti, teachers have learned the human-centred design approach to innovation and have worked in teams to ideate and prototype solutions to improve teaching and learning in their schools. Regional leaders for the North and North East offices of the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training have learned about innovation management and have developed strategies to scale promising solutions developed by teacher teams.
In protest of the lack of resources and political and economic circumstances that have historically limited education quality in Haiti, teachers are working together to improve education. Teacher innovation teams have formed within small, geographic communities because traveling on many roads between towns is not safe and there is insufficient internet connectivity for remote collaboration. Teacher teams have set aside traditional gender stereotypes and are working across governance groups (public, private, non-profit and religious led schools) and diverse structures to make space for all voices that can contribute to new solutions. And teams are confronting the lack of financial and materials resources head-on by exploring partnerships and local resources that can support teaching and learning. Teacher teams are defying the list of historical and systematic challenges that have limited education quality in Haiti through their innovation.
The presentation will use case study examples of Haitian teacher innovation team projects to highlight a) the training and capacity building strategy used by the State University of Haiti faculty to engage a large group of teachers in innovation, b) the influence of gender on teacher teams, c) the areas of teaching and learning where teacher-led innovation has been able to make an impact and d) scaling strategies employed to expand the impact of teacher generated solutions. The presentation will also include a cost summary and recommendations to inform the implementation of teacher-led innovation programs in other global south contexts.

Authors

• Carrie Wright, Wilfrid Laurier University

• Claudel NOEL, State University of Haiti, Henry Christophe Campus of Limonade

• Angel Caglin, Caribbean Innovation & Leadership Lab