Valores Incluidos: A Study of Values, Humanizing Pedagogy, and the Cuban National Education System

• In Event: Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: Voices of the Latina/o Community

Abstract

Although the Cuban National Education System emerged from the Revolution of 1959, the moral foundation for Cuba’s education system rests in Jose Martí, who was the late 19th Century poet, political leader, and martyr for Cuban Independence. A popular Martí quote, "educar es librer"(to educate is to free), adorns school hallways and captures the liberating power of education that is an inherent belief in Cuba. This study’s purpose is to describe and report on a focused ethnography of the Cuban National Education System. The study uses Freire’s (1970) notion of “humanizing pedagogy” as a theoretical framework for investigation. The study’s sample was drawn from 28 Cuban participants who ranged in age from 18 years old to 60 years old.

Authors

• Erik Jon Byker, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Brandon L Fox, Stephen F. Austin State University