The relationships between the Montfort secondary schools in Haiti and the extended communities within the Montfort charism: An exploratory study

Abstract

The study explored the relationships that the Montfort secondary schools in Haiti developed with the extended communities within the Montfort charism for the well-being of the students in particular and that of people in general. The study used a qualitative method which required the researcher to go into the field to observe, to conduct document review, and to inquire about the perceptions of the participants on the relationships. ^ The researcher interviewed twelve participants selected according to the purposeful criteria-based sampling which advises to interview participants who have a deep understanding of the relationships. The participants were divided up into three groups: four Montfort Fathers, two lay assistant principals, and six students. The researcher interviewed all the participants with the same questions adapted to their respective status and positions of each group in the school structures. The interviews focused mainly on (1) the knowledge of the existing relationships, (2) the underlying rationales of the relationships, (3) the involvement in the relationships, (4) the meaning of the relationships. The researcher ensured the reliability and the validity of the study by triangulating the data through observation, document review, and interviews. ^ The findings of the research led to five emergent themes: relationships as a Montfortian way of promoting the human person, relationships as a Montfortian way to care for the poor, Christian education as a Montfortian way of promoting servant consciousness, Christian education as a means of renewing the society, and the Montfortian integrated education. ^ The findings revealed that the Montfortian charism has permeated the life of the schools through the relationships that the schools developed with the extended communities. The findings also indicated that the Montfort charism which has supported the life of the schools has fostered a Christian education which has empowered the constituents of the schools to contribute to the transformation of the Haitian society at many respects.^ The Montfortian education of the Missionary Priests in Haiti is in the process of becoming the Montfort Transformational School System which takes into account the reality of the poverty of this country. As a contribution to build the Montfortian Transformational School System in Haiti, the researcher proposes, at the end of the study, that their schools form a national consortium to share ideas, resources, educational personnel based on the Montfortian philosophy of education rooted in the treatise The Love of Eternal Wisdom of Saint Louis Marie de Montfort and in the research findings. ^