Teaching in Bene, Haiti: One Teacher's Guide to Education in a Foreign Country.

This paper describes the experiences of an American teacher who taught English to individuals in Bene, Haiti for 10 days in the summer of 1993. The paper describes preparation for the teaching experience, discusses the experience itself, and offers a social and educational analysis of the experience. The paper discusses living conditions, transportation arrangements, the language barrier, Voodoo practices, physical expression in the Haitians' native language of Creole, fatalism, poor public health conditions, and Haitians' interest in American culture. Taking the view that the foundation for learning is set in the community, the teacher worked with the entire community of Bene, not just the children. Students included school-aged children and adults. The teaching approach emphasized that learning should be experiential, rely upon cultural strengths, and build upon the learner's prior knowledge and ability. The curriculum covered the English alphabet, introductions, body parts, telling time, days of the week, months of the year, expressions of time, verbs, American lifestyles, songs, Charades, and card games. The vocabulary and songs covered in the 10-day curriculum are appended. (JDD)