Dissertation

Colonialism and education in Puerto Rico: Appraisal of the public schools during the Commonwealth period--1952 to 1986

Eliza Colon, Sylvia Maria

1989

Overview

This study focuses on the influences of colonialism upon education. It shows that, consciously or unconsciously, Puerto Ricans have been supporting structures which, due to their colonial origins, promote colonialism, that is, \"a state of inferiority or servitude experienced by a community, a country, or a nation which is dominated politically, economically, or culturally by another and more developed community or nation\" (Maddick, 1965). The commonwealth status and the school system are but two examples of the colonial condition. This situation has had serious damaging effects on the institutions as well as on the people of the Island. The evidence presented indicates that, as a colonized people, the Puerto Ricans have developed a distorted vision of themselves and of their society. The colonial schools, the governmental and economic structures as well as other socio-cultural institutions have led Puerto Ricans to see themselves and their immediate social reality as an imperfect replica of the North American metropolis. As a result, they have developed a \"dichotomized\" personality. They struggle to be more and more like people of the United States of America, while never managing to escape their distinctive Hispanic identification. The impossibility of asserting themselves either as equals to or as essentially different from the North Americans reflects in a series of contradictions that affect every aspect of their cultural life. The study shows the roots of the colonial heritage in both the Spanish and American eras of colonialism. The argument is then made that the so-called \"end of colonialism\" with the advent of commonwealth status in 1952 did not actually end the colonial condition at all. It exacerbated the problem in that the public schools were given the impossible task of trying both to make Puerto Rican students into U.S. citizens and to preserve their authentic Puerto Rican identity. It describes the futility of an endless series of commonwealth \"reform efforts,\" and how unacknowledged colonial influences lead to their failure. Examples are given of what could be features of a non-colonial education. The study ends by showing the dilemmas faced by Puerto Ricans as they seek to define their political and educational futures.

• Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subject: Education history / Education philosophy / Educational philosophy / Educational sociology / Latin American history
• ISBN: 9798206853674