Language troubles, the learning process, and students set up to fail

Abstract

Social norms and representations, socio-economic realities, teaching practices, and academic pace are often described as factors of school failure. However, situations clearly related to language and the learning process create a category of students who are in great difficulty. These students are often sidelined by the school with the excuse that there is no way to remedy their situation and that they represent a danger, whereas they should have been taught in a system conceived to protect them and enable their inclusion and their development. The problems these children face are caused by learning disabilities and language impairments that are unacknowledged and undiagnosed. Categorized according to old prejudices and received ideas, these students are considered to have failed at school, whereas an honest examination of their situation reveals that, instead, they have been set up to fail.This chapter analyzes data extracted from the practices of teachers and the learning process which show that outcomes for students in a situation of academic failure is linked to weaknesses in the Haitian education system. These students are educated and treated in a manner that does not engage them in the learning process. Language, the main vector of intellectual development, is rarely taught as an element of self-definition and a factor of success.