LESSONS LEARNED FROM PILOT STUDY .1 Views on RE from Pilot Survey

Before the final form of the questionnaire was reached, a pilot study had been conducted to determine if the itemized constituents were yielding the kind of information that was needed. This pilot study answered two research questions primarily. The first research question was to stem on Haitian views to state whether Haiti is a religious country or not, since there was no empirical study showing that Haiti is a religious nation. The second was to describe Haitians’ views on RE.

The pilot method used a survey questionnaire to collect data from Haitian University students living in Taiwan and in Haiti. The questionnaire was administered online and by mail; with a sample size of 111 individuals. Question answers obtained from the pilot study were analyzed per the research questions.

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Findings from the pilot study changed the direction of the study which intended to be a comparative study on RE between Religious Haiti and Secular France. The respondents’ views on teaching RE in Haiti schools opened up areas for this present research (i.e. the role of RE in addressing Haiti’s issues like inexistent RE program, religious tolerance and culture of peace). Then a new survey questionnaire was developed accordingly for the study by the researcher. In this new survey questionnaire, less open-ended questions were itemized advisedly. To farther expand what I had learned from the pilot study, I continued this research in the following two directions:

 Increased the survey scope to include Tolerance and Culture of Peace to understand

their disposition of the two subjects. The survey results will provide a more comprehensive view to design a successful RE program.

 Interviewed educational experts and religious experts to analyze and interpret the survey results. Their inputs are valuable in the deployment of RE in the future.

Overall, conducting the pilot study played an important role in confirming/shaping the feasibility and appropriateness of the study design. Moreover, answers to the two research questions of the pilot study were imperative to this present study. The pilot study respondents affirmed Haiti as a religious country and positively supported new teaching approaches of RE in Haitian schools, thus, it was necessary to conduct this research study in Haiti.

Findings from the 111 pilot study respondents were stimulating. Among the respondents were 45 females and 56 males, each of whom was Haitian college student studying in Haiti and in Taiwan.

Based on the responses I got from those who participated in the survey, the religious beliefs included Catholic, Protestant, Vodouist, and Atheist. All respondents had experienced RE either

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in primary or/and secondary schools. Additionally, some had been raised in families practicing religion.

There were 23 questions. Among them, 11 were closed-ended; with 5 possible answers from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The first closed-ended question was “I believe that Haiti is a religious country” 93 respondents responded in the axis of ‘Agree’ (31 with strongly agree and 62 with agree) while 10 responded in the bracket of ‘Disagree’ (8 disagreeing and 2 strongly disagreeing). Eight of the respondents had chosen ‘Neutral’. The tenth closed-ended question asked the respondents to reflect on their past experiences with RE towards proffering an answer to this statement: “I liked biblical verses, Bible teachings, and catechism”. 70 students agreed (29 of them strongly agree and 41 agree), 12 responded as neutral, while 29 replied to disagree (23 are disagree and 6 are strongly disagree).

Figure 3.1. A graphical Portrayal of Data from the Project’s Pilot Study

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The part of open-ended questions within the survey questionnaire asked the respondents to answer questions about whether multi-religious education should be taught in Haiti’s schools, the importance of RE in schools, should Vodou be taught in schools in Haiti, and so forth. The general disposition of the respondents was that RE should not be taught in Haiti’s schools as indoctrination or conversion but as a way of acquiring new knowledge about the world, to promote understanding among people with different beliefs, and for arousing for critical thinking from the students. Most of the respondents thought that schools should not impose their religions or beliefs on students;

and it should be up to the student to choose his/her religious beliefs. However, all the students thought it is important to teach religion in the schools. For instance, one of the questions was “Do you believe that religion should be taught in Haitian schools? If you agree or disagree, please state why.” This was what one of the students’ comments:

“I agree! I believe religion should be taught in every school in Haiti. Students must be introduced to religions in school because a lot of students don’t have people who are educated enough or don’t have books to read to teach them about religions in their households”.

Another student commented to the question “Should schools provide students with information about all religions without the aim of having them converted? If you agree or disagree, please state why”.

“Most definitely! I believe schools should provide students information about all religions without the ultimate goal of having them to convert. After receiving all necessary

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information about religions, I believe it must be up to the students, only up to the students, to make the decision whether to convert or not”.

When it came to whether Vodou should be taught in Haiti schools, I received different answers from the respondents. The question was “Should Vodou be taught in schools like any other religion?

If you agree or disagree, please state why”. Some gave negative answers. Below is an example:

“Hell no! Vodou is too horrid, foul-smelling, and too sinful to be taught in school like the other religions. It wouldn’t be used as, “Oh, let me do some good Vodou for my classmate who’s having a headache so he or she can feel better!” It’d be like, “Let me do some Vodou to kill my classmate because he or she is smarter than I am!”

However, some gave positive views. Below are some examples:

“Yes, it is normal, because it is not only our culture, but it is a historical religion, because from it we get our freedom. (The air of liberation)”

“Yes, they have to talk about Vodou in school for the student to not perceive it as mystical.”

“Yes, Vodou is a religion like all the others and they are people that are part of it as well.”

Overall, ideas were both convergent and divergent when it came to Haitian perspective on RE.

Although the majority view was to include RE into the school curriculum, some views were completely opposed to the idea. According to certain responses, school should be separate from religion because they are two different things; one is spirituality while the other is education. With notable remarks, some participants considered the Vodou too superstitious to be included in the school curriculum.

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In summary, Haitian perspective on RE, based on the pilot survey questionnaire, was that Haiti can be considered as a religious country since out of 111 Haitian college students, 93 (a resounding majority) believe that Haiti is a religious country. Therefore, the first research question was obtained through the pilot study. In a nutshell, Haitian views on RE were described as such to answer the second research question: They believed that RE was a plus for the intellectual development of Haitian students, and a way to overcome misunderstanding between Haitians of different religious beliefs, in addition to being a way to transform the country. If people (including students) with different beliefs would have conflicts, and if being part of a religious group is a human right; then, peace educators must find a way to bring different existing religions into dialogue with one another in order to resolve conflicts and to create a democratic school environment in which social justice, tolerance, and respect to others are promoted. Haiti hence needs RE to reach that end.

From the perspective of promoting peace, religion can be a principal subject that teachers can use to facilitate student in class participation where students should learn to take up independent viewpoints and to make their contribution towards solving problems and resolving conflict situations. More importantly, teachers ought to take on the role of facilitator of learning, rather than the transmitter of knowledge. The Peace Education Working Group at UNICEF provides a concise and comprehensive definition of peace education as the process of promoting the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values needed to bring about behavior changes that will enable children, youth, and adults to prevent conflict and violence, both overt and structural; to resolve

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conflict peacefully; and to create the conditions conducive to peace, whether at an intrapersonal, interpersonal, intergroup, national, or international level (UNESCO, 2002).

3.1.2 How RE is taught in Haiti – from Pilot Interviews

As mentioned above, very few researches are made on teaching religions in school in Haiti. This specific field remained unexplored since we do not have too many religions, I focused on the very few we have, collecting experiences from people who are raised and educated in these religions to make a better analysis on advantages, flaws of the current teaching contents and methods of RE in Haiti.

According to Catholic faith, RE teaching is based on the seven sacraments, which are divided into three types: the sacrament of Christian (baptism, confirmation, Eucharist), the sacrament of healing (penance, reconciliation, anointing of the sick), sacraments to attend communion (marriage, sacraments of holy orders). Most people are Catholics in Haiti, even those who never attend church pretend to be Catholics. Catholic churches delegate the teaching authority to the schools which share their doctrine and beliefs. During the late Elementary school, all students from Catholic schools are taken catechism classes to get ready for a religious exam in order to take their first communion sacrament which enable them to take part in communion ceremony. It is a very popular religious tradition within the Catholic community in Haiti. During this day the pupils wear special garment with a crown (especially girls) and pray with rosary. After the ecclesiastical ceremony a party is given on behalf of the pupil. Plenty of people are invited to drink alcohol, eat copiously and dance.

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The Catholic RE program fosters spiritual growth in parishioners of all ages. The parishioners provide RE for children, with their sacramental programs prepare both parents and children to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist for the first time and to receive the sacrament of confirmation for the strengthening of faith. The church holds that parents are the primary educators of children in their faith development. (Notre Dame D’Haiti Catholic Church)

The following lines are the testimony of Simone (not her real name) who was raised and educated in a Catholic family. She explains that in her Elementary school time there was no formal religion class but her teachers always had them pray. During the prayer time all eyes were shut and every head bowed down. Her parents always did the same with her every night. She attended Sunday Mass every Sunday. She has her first communion at the age of 10 after having completed her catechism classes. According to Simone, catechism classes involved endless note-taking since there was not a textbook per se. In high school her teachers always taught her deep philosophical meaning of life and how God can help them to be a better person.

On the other hand, Protestant churches (Baptist, Pentecost, Methodist, Adventist and so on) they are somewhat different when considering their doctrine but they follow a similar method when it comes to RE. All the above quoted churches have their own school in Haiti, in which their doctrines are taught. In most cases, they hire teachers and personnel which share their beliefs. They have mandatory religious classes in their respective curriculum. Pupils are compelled to memorize part of scriptures every day. Such education is extended to the church. Some of those churches are affiliated with Christian missions in America which assist their respective churches in a way or another.

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Let’s consider this fragment of interview I had with Patrick (not his real name) who was raised by Christian parents and educated by missionaries from America. He said he was adopted by an American family since his early childhood and attended an American school attach to an American church called “Christian Church”. He said he had to attend devotion before leaving for school every morning. Once arrived at school he had to attend devotion again. Before 10 o’clock every morning he had a religion class with a different teacher who taught him steps to follow to remain a good Christian. Like Simone, Patrick did not have a RE textbook, but owned a Bible for personal reading and verse memorization. He was baptized when he was 14 and started having communion every Sunday. He reported such teachings were of great importance to him because he always uses what he had learned from that time to take sound decisions.

The experiences of the pilot interviewees show the manner in which religious schools shape Haitian citizens. According to Weithman (2002) religion and religious organizations provide citizens with civic and political resources of great value to liberal democracy. Recall that churches are of interest for present purposes because they are the primary institutional bearers of view of the world which motivate political action (Weithman, 2002 p.38).

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN