Cuban Youth and Revolutionary Values: Educating the New Socialist Citizen

Notes

Notes Introduction 1. Ciudad Libertad is the real name of the educational compound. There are only two in Cuba: one in Havana and one in Santiago. Both of these compounds used to be military strongholds of Batista. 2. The study of anthropology was abolished at the time of the revolution and only in the past decade has emerged as a “working group” in Havana. 3. Several Cubans explained to me that the verb inculcar (to inculcate) is used to define the process and practice of teachers instilling or teaching revolutionary values, whereas formar (to form) is used to refer to the process in a more general or abstract way. Therefore, I have adopted the use of “inculcate” and “inculcation” instead of “form” or “formation” in keeping with this explanation, the prevalence of inculcar in educational documents, and its common use in conversations within and outside the classroom. 4. I have chosen not to translate conciencia throughout this book precisely because I do not find a single English translation that fully conveys the revolutionary commitment and call to action that this word implies in Cuba and other Latin American countries. 5. The U.S. dollar was penalized until 1993, when it became part of the Cuban economy. Beginning in 2003, the U.S. dollar is no longer used. Everything is measured against the euro. Chapter 5 1. I found the ways in which education is conducted and interpreted to be varied and often conflicting among the Cuban populace. 2. See also Castro, “Estudio y trabajo,” in La educación en revolución (Havana: Instituto Cubano del Libro, 1974), Chap. 7; M. Suz Pompa, M. Menéndez Blanco, and A. L. Bernal González, “La actitud comunista ante el trabajo,” Educación 63 (October –December 1986): 110–116; Colaboradores, “Raíces históricas de la combinación del estudio con el trabajo,” Educación 15, no. 56 (January–March 1985): 94–101; and 246 Notes to pages 125–142 R. G. Paulston, “Changes in Cuban education,” in Educational innovations in Latin America, ed. R. L. Cummings (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1973). 3. To protect the participants in this study, I have changed the names of neighborhoods , schools, children, teachers, and other adults.The only exceptions are Nancy, my mentor in Cuba, and Dr. Patiño, an official at the Ministry of Education, both of whom asked that I use their real names. 4. See also Chapter 7, on the schools to the countryside program. 5. No statistical information on race at the school or in the neighborhood was available at the time of this study. I did ask for this information at the school and municipality but was either put off or told that the information was not necessary for my study. I did not press the issue. 6. The exact citation is not given, to protect the anonymity of the informants. 7. The Pioneer organization is a mass organization for students ages 6–14. It is an integral part of the Cuban school system, organizing cultural and sports activities as well as reinforcing a cooperative, collective, ideological socialist teaching and learning atmosphere (see Chapter 6). 8. Santería is a noninstitutionalized religion in Cuba representing a synthesis of the Yoruba culture and Catholicism. Yemaya is the name of one of the primary saints, or Orishas. 9. Spiritualist leaders in Santería. 10. Spiritualist leader in Santería, a level above santo. 11. Hiring practices seemed to show a preference for lighter-skinned Cubans where tourism was involved. 12. I was not present for value-formation hour at Ciudad Libertad. Consequently, I have no information as to whether this discussion was as popular there. 13. By 1998, civic education had also been added to the seventh- and eighth-grade curriculum. 14. To promote European tourism, Cuba became in 2002 the first country outside of Europe to use the Euro. Currently, there are three currencies in circulation in Cuba: the convertible Cuban peso (CUC), the Cuban peso, and the Euro. Since the documentation made in this book predates 2002, references to currency do not include the Euro. 15. The family I lived with did not have or use Ivory soap. 16. Options for printing from a computer are scarcer than paper. Nancy found my handwritten work unacceptable, and it took many drafts before she approved my questionnaire. 17. With a self-owned or cuenta propia business, the owner is obligated to pay a flat tax to the state regardless of income.Thus...