Abstract
This chapter presents a case study using ethnographic research methods to examine prospective teachers' experience in educational fieldwork in Havana, Cuba and its impact on them. Triangulation of multiple sources of evidence validate the findings. The primary student goals of the program based on immersion in family, student, and local Havana neighborhood life were 1) to develop a cultural and historical understanding of Cuba and its people, 2) to learn about and become immersed in the Cuban educational system, and 3) to expand the participants' pedagogical knowledge and skills. Findings point to considerable growth in knowledge and understanding of the Cuban people, a substantial involvement in the Cuban educational system, and a more limited development of pedagogical knowledge and skills.
TopBackground
To accomplish successfully the above-mentioned goals within a four-week timeframe, the founding professor and Cuban colleagues designed a unique immersive experience in the Cuban language, culture, and education system. A program with similar goals had taken place on the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz from 2011-2013. The Santa Cruz program ran for three years with profound cultural and pedagogical results. A similar program in Cuba could have significant outcomes. Therefore, the founding professor and Cuban colleagues designed the following features:
- 1.
To develop the students’ cultural and historical understanding of Cuba and its people: a. Lodging and most meals with Cuban families in the university neighborhood and integration into Cuban family life and the surrounding neighborhood; b. Introduction to Cuban and Havana culture through lectures and visits to museums, cultural and recreational centers, current cultural events, and cities and monuments outside of Havana; c. Lectures on the history of Cuban Education and the National Literacy Campaign during the revolutionary period; d.The development of personal relationships between the US students and their Cuban counterparts in similar academic disciplines.
- 2.
To learn about and become immersed in the Cuban education system: a. Involvement in the campus life at the University of Pedagogical Sciences Enrique Jose Varona (UCP) and participation in the teaching and extracurricular activities of the University. b. Exposure to teaching and learning in Cuban pre-K to 12 schools.
- 3.
To expand the participants’ personal pedagogical knowledge and skills: a. Exposure to the pedagogical learning and teaching methods in the university; b. Accompanying disciplinary counterparts in their education and practice; c. The accompaniment of the CSI professor with the UCP professors in the instruction and practice of the paired US and Cuban students.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Ethnography: Participation in and documentation of the life and routines of an aspect of culture in its natural setting.
Internationalization: The policies and practices of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into all teaching, research, and service functions of a university.
Cuban Education System: The primary focus is on inclusion and equality of opportunity; also on adherence to political and ideological socialism.
Universidad de Ciencias Pedagogicas Enrique Jose Varona: The largest pedagogical university in Cuba, located in Havana.
Global-Mindedness: Refers to an openness towards and an interest in and respect for other cultures and other people, and an understanding of the need to become global citizens.
Short-Term Study Abroad: Study programs of eight weeks or less in countries outside of one’s own.
Marti, Jose (1853-1895): Cuban poet, writer, philosopher, and nationalist leader and revolutionary whose writings on education are a primary basis for modern Cuban educational policy and pedagogy. Jose Marti’s words: “No social equality is possible without equality of education and culture.”
College of Staten Island, City University of New York (CSI-CUNY): A senior college in the largest city university system in the United States – 274,000 students.
US and Cuba Relations: The trade and travel embargo that the U.S. government instituted in 1962 and still in force that has impeded collaboration and regulated travel to Cuba.
Literacy Campaign: Over 200,000 youth literacy brigades (“brigadistas”) participated in an eight-month long effort to abolish illiteracy in Cuba from April 1961 to December 22, 1961, raising the literacy rate over time to 99%.