Michel DeGraff has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to pursue work for Haiti thoughout the academic year 2010—2011. He writes:
My NSF project title is: “Kreyòl-based and technology-enhanced teaching of reading, writing, math and science in Haiti.” I will help develop, refine and evaluate innovative Kreyòl-based and technology-enhanced educational materials and methods for Haitian classrooms. These materials and methods will be tested in situ in Haiti.
I will thus be on leave during the year to work on this project, which started earlier this year, especially during trips to Haiti over the Summer.
This project seems particularly timely in the context of the post-earthquake reconstruction of Haiti’s school system. Some of the rationale for it is explained in a couple of articles, in the Boston Globe (in U.S.) and in Le Nouvelliste (Haiti). Both articles discuss Haiti’s language barrier:
- http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/06/16/language_barrier_in_haiti/
- http://www.lenouvelliste.com/articleforprint.php?PubID=1&ArticleID=82891
I hope my NSF project and related efforts will help break down this barrier.
Congratulations, Michel!