Colony to Commonwealth: Puerto Rico's Postcolonial Education System

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Perforating the Boundaries of Qualitative Research

Abstract

Public schools were central to the colonization and oppression of Puerto Rican people by the United States. Through use of postcolonial theory, we discuss the change of status from colony to commonwealth, and the political and economic outcomes of such. We argue that Puerto Rico’s education system was and continues to be meaningfully influenced by the United States both as a colony and now as a commonwealth. The transfer of status from the former to the latter has led to differing outcomes, but through our analysis of cultural, political, and financial effects, we find consistent evidence of colonial status and perpetuated power differential between the United States and Puerto Rico in the schools of the island.

Authors

• Meghanne Bartlett-Chase, The University of Iowa

• Tania Lefevre, The University of Iowa

• Fouz Abuzaid, The University of Iowa