The Use of Argumentation in Haitian Creole Science Classrooms

In this article, Josiane Hudicourt-Barnes critiques the claim that Haitian children cannot actively engage in science classrooms. Drawing from her own work as a bilingual science teacher and educational researcher, Hudicourt-Barnes highlights the Haitian cultural practice of bay odyans, a form of discourse similiar to scientific argumentation, as a potential building block for engaging Haitian children in scientific inquiry. She offers specific examples of Haitian students recreating bay odyans in science classrooms, and suggests that these students have a cultural experience that predisposes them to scientific inquiry. In making links between culture, scientific inquiry, and pedagogy, Hudicourt-Barnes seeks to broaden the research perspective on Haitian students and discourage the use of research paradigms that ignore the impact of culture in the classroom. (pp. 73-93)

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