Historical Context and Current Challenges for Professors at Cuban Universities

• In Event: Dreams, Possibilities, and Necessities in U.S.-Cuba Relations: Language, Policies, Resources, Resilience, Trust, and Position

Abstract

Purpose: This paper documents language learning in Cuba and the possibilities for increased salaries in higher education with U.S. and Cuban relations improvement.

Background: There are two important periods in public education in Cuba, before and after January 1, 1959. Before the triumph of the Revolution, people had little access to public schools. Most colleges were private, designed only for students of the higher levels of society. Learning a foreign language was a luxury, not many could afford. Nevertheless, during the second period things changed radically with the literacy campaign. For years, thousands of young men and women traveled to the most intricate places of the country to teach regular people from urban and rural areas how to read and properly communicate in their mother tongue. These people also learned the basics about mathematics, literature, and history. It was not until Cuba declared the socialist state of the revolution and became closely related to the Soviet Union that language faculties opened in other regions of the country other than Havana; but they were specialized mainly in Russian.

As a result of the Cuban- Soviet relations around 98 % of trade communication took place in Russian. More than 90 % of all available technology and services were Russian. Even technical careers were taught in The Soviet Union. During these years, many professors were sent there to learn Russian, favoring the spreading of that language throughout the population. Then, the Soviet Union collapsed.

Method: This self-study examines the current experiences of a language learning student at a Cuban university who is on track to become a Cuban world languages professor, and investigates how a to include Cuba in the international market given its history, in order to improve teaching salaries, but keep teachers in the profession and improve U.S. - Cuba relations.

Results: One of the many strategies was to teach other foreign languages like English and French, for commercial purposes. The only language professors were those who taught Russian; therefore, they had to undergo a massive training in the new languages incorporated to the curriculum. More language literature faculties and pedagogical schools opened; thus, creating a broader scope for language professionals, now open to the newly arrived tourism. However, tourism brought about a new challenge. Language professors who had lived for many years with their teaching skills now turned to the new sector since it offered better salaries and opportunities for professional thriving. This continues to be a pressing issue.

Significance and Conference Theme Connection: Most of the students that graduate replace professors who leave but it continues to be a never-ending cycle of transience. I know I will inevitably become one of those professors, but making a living out of teaching is nearly impossible. As this is one of the biggest challenges that the public education system has to overcome, a partnership with an institution or K-12 system in the U.S. facing similar transience due to low salaries may improve the contexts for both U.S. and Cuban academic spaces.

Author

• Nelson Daniel Hidalgo Ríos, University of Camagüey, Cuba