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Puerto Rico

Summary



Familiarity with the story of the Puerto Rican educational system commands respect for the high level of its protagonists' commitment to the values of learning as these apply above all to the creation of social, economic, and political citizenship of a democratic sort. The fact that the leadership class in government has accepted to devote so high a proportion of the island's resources to education tangibly confirms this commitment.



While the accomplishments of the past century, especially of its second half, can be judged a success, there are several shortcomings. These have to do with the tendency within the Estado Libre Asociado to undertake projects of social engineering. Although recognition of the distinctiveness of the Puerto Rican experience as a colony is a recognized fact, this fact has seldom received the practical importance it merits in plans drawn up for the island's present and future. Thus, what ought to be done tends to replace what can be done, and what the people want to be done. Also the Commonwealth has relied on the social sciences to furnish studies that justify what its leadership wishes to do, often despite values deeply ingrained in the culture of the people. However well-meaning, passing a law that declares schooling obligatory and attendance at school compulsory does not mean it will work. If anything, the State's acting this way is less effective than the early practice of cédulas reales (royal decrees) issued from the Spanish monarchs; and it is as ineffective as the American attempt to make "good Americans" out of Puerto Ricans by foisting English language teaching on their children.

Developments like the Turabo "regionalism" and the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón Cataño initiative seem quite promising. The Cataño initiative has replaced the centralized vertical (from top to bottom, i.e., from government and specialist to people) model by a horizontal, communitarian view. In a school there are teachers, pupils, and administrators; there are families and parents; and there are social and economic characteristics. All of these components have an equal stake in a school; they should be brought together and made to heed one another.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

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—Karl D. Uitti

Additional topics

Education - Free Encyclopedia Search EngineGlobal Education ReferencePuerto Rico - History Background, Constitutional Legal Foundations, Educational System—overview, Preprimary Primary Education, Secondary Education