Eco-Socialism Education in Cuba

• In Event: Poster session 2

Proposal

Abstract
Many innovative ways to achieve SDG 4 have been proposed, but almost immediately upon being uttered, they are met with a common refrain: “If only we had the time/money/power/coherence to really do it…” In the case of pedagogies of sustainability, there is a severe lack of all the aforementioned: schools are increasingly privatized, funding for education continues to lag behind need, teachers are put in impossible situations and blamed for their lack of results, and no one can decide whose responsibility it really is to ensure that the planet has a sustainable future.
In this context, the Cuban education system represents an intriguing look at what happens when time, power, and coherence all work together to ensure that sustainability is not only part of pedagogy in the classroom, but also in extension with community members and all families. As a socialist country with a largely command economy, Cuba has managed to ensure that pedagogy is not a question of tests and degrees, but rather one of school, family, community, and country. Most notably, in recent years, the concept of a pedagogy of sustainability has been embraced at all levels of education and government in Cuba, and as such, it has been a major focus of curriculum and classroom practice. In such a situation, it is possible to investigate what happens when all our normal limitations are overcome in education for sustainability.
This research thus investigates Cuban pedagogies of sustainability in environmental education, focusing specifically on how institutes of pedagogy are implementing sustainability and environmental concerns at all levels. Based on a phenomenological investigation of individuals at pedagogical institutes in two main provinces in Cuba, the researcher identifies several themes which support ongoing pedagogies of sustainability and examines the possibilities for implementing them in non-socialist countries.

Methodology
The researcher traveled to Cuba as a part of an investigation in Cuban Education graduate level research course designed and conducted by the University of Maryland-College Park in collaboration with two host institutions: The University of Havana and the Jose de la Luz y Caballero Higher Institute of Pedagogy in Holguin, Cuba. Seven participants were interviewed ranging from 22-108 minutes, and over 13 hours of conversation was recorded. In addition to keeping a detailed journal during the interviews to check initial biases and impressions during the duration of the study. Following each interviewer there was a debriefing period in which the researcher provided a brief synopsis of what was discussed. The following section discusses the major themes, as well as limitations, that emerged as each interview was conducted, coded, and analyzed.

Author

• Timothy Duane Reedy, University of Maryland-College Park