Popular Education in Cuba
April Caddell
In our week of classes before our departure for the trip, I was very impressed by the high rate of literacy Cuba has, which is a result of the literacy campaign that took place during the 1960s after the Revolution. This literacy rate has been maintained, in larger part due to an educational system that is both comprehensive and free to all, even beyond the grade school level and into the training and professional level. While watching the documentary Maestra, I noticed elements of popular education, which made the campaign so successful, and while further researching in Cuba, both the education and the activism, I learned how popular education is woven throughout their society.
The literacy teachers of the 1960s, mainly city women, went to the countryside to teach, which shows an obvious social difference between the city and the countryside where illiteracy rates were the highest. But city-dwelling literacy teachers did not appear to think of themselves as better than their country students. In fact, they fully immersed themselves in the family life of their students, which often included the whole family and people much older than them. They did chores around the house, or what was referred to as “sweat equity” in some of my activism work. Although no one in the documentary called these elements popular education, I immediately saw them as such and attributed the success of the campaign to these elements.
During our meeting with the researchers and members of Juan Marinello, two of the women shared that they were teachers during the literacy campaign. Furthermore, when we visited he community project, Espiral, I fund out that one of their organizing frameworks is popular education. In fact, they shared that the name Espiral was chosen in reference to the popular education spiral, which begins with the step, “Start with the experiences of the participants.” I was very moved by this conversation. It showed me, evidently, that popular education is an organizing framework used around the world. Paolo Freire’s book and ideals, shared in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, have had a lasting impact on global activism. Apparently, his book being banned in Brazil did not keep his ideas from spreading to the rest of the world.
Another aspect of popular education I saw was the way Cinesex, the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, provided sex education for children and taught them about puberty starting from a young age. They even had a cartoon created for this purpose, entitled La Pubertad (puberty). Children shown in a documentary we viewed while visiting Cinesex talked comfortably and maturely about their bodies and sexuality, something our country could benefit from in teaching American youth about their bodies. In this aspect, the children were becoming experts, even at a young age, about themselves and their bodies.
The educational system of Cuba in general had already impressed me. Technical fields were not gendered or classed the way they are in the States. In fact, a doctor or engineer could easily make less money than a taxi driver since the taxi driver worked in the private sector. People of color and women are visibly present in the STEM fields, and performing arts are just as appreciated as technical fields. Our hotel was across the street from the ballet school. Popular education, in particular, which I saw evidence of within the educational system and community service organizations, was an inspiration to my own organizing work. It motivates me to connect to popular educators around the world, including Cuba.
April Caddell
In our week of classes before our departure for the trip, I was very impressed by the high rate of literacy Cuba has, which is a result of the literacy campaign that took place during the 1960s after the Revolution. This literacy rate has been maintained, in larger part due to an educational system that is both comprehensive and free to all, even beyond the grade school level and into the training and professional level. While watching the documentary Maestra, I noticed elements of popular education, which made the campaign so successful, and while further researching in Cuba, both the education and the activism, I learned how popular education is woven throughout their society.
The literacy teachers of the 1960s, mainly city women, went to the countryside to teach, which shows an obvious social difference between the city and the countryside where illiteracy rates were the highest. But city-dwelling literacy teachers did not appear to think of themselves as better than their country students. In fact, they fully immersed themselves in the family life of their students, which often included the whole family and people much older than them. They did chores around the house, or what was referred to as “sweat equity” in some of my activism work. Although no one in the documentary called these elements popular education, I immediately saw them as such and attributed the success of the campaign to these elements.
During our meeting with the researchers and members of Juan Marinello, two of the women shared that they were teachers during the literacy campaign. Furthermore, when we visited he community project, Espiral, I fund out that one of their organizing frameworks is popular education. In fact, they shared that the name Espiral was chosen in reference to the popular education spiral, which begins with the step, “Start with the experiences of the participants.” I was very moved by this conversation. It showed me, evidently, that popular education is an organizing framework used around the world. Paolo Freire’s book and ideals, shared in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, have had a lasting impact on global activism. Apparently, his book being banned in Brazil did not keep his ideas from spreading to the rest of the world.
Another aspect of popular education I saw was the way Cinesex, the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, provided sex education for children and taught them about puberty starting from a young age. They even had a cartoon created for this purpose, entitled La Pubertad (puberty). Children shown in a documentary we viewed while visiting Cinesex talked comfortably and maturely about their bodies and sexuality, something our country could benefit from in teaching American youth about their bodies. In this aspect, the children were becoming experts, even at a young age, about themselves and their bodies.
The educational system of Cuba in general had already impressed me. Technical fields were not gendered or classed the way they are in the States. In fact, a doctor or engineer could easily make less money than a taxi driver since the taxi driver worked in the private sector. People of color and women are visibly present in the STEM fields, and performing arts are just as appreciated as technical fields. Our hotel was across the street from the ballet school. Popular education, in particular, which I saw evidence of within the educational system and community service organizations, was an inspiration to my own organizing work. It motivates me to connect to popular educators around the world, including Cuba.