DOMINANT RACIAL AND CULTURAL IDEOLOGIES IN DOMINICAN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION Leovigildo Pérez Saba, B.A. (Political Science) Faculty of Education – Department of Curriculum Studies McGill University, Montreal A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Arts Montreal, October 2009 © Leovigildo Pérez Saba, 2009 Relevant Maps Map of the Caribbean Map of the Dominican Republic 2 Abstract This master’s thesis looks at the content of social studies textbooks used in public elementary education in the Dominican Republic, and analyzes the way discourse is used to construct a “national” identity. Particular emphasis is placed on the ways racial and cultural ideologies are embedded in the depictions of Dominican identity. The rationale for this study is to assess the Dominican curriculum, which rests almost entirely on the use of textbooks, and therefore draw conclusions as to the ways that Dominican children are socialized in their educational environment. To this end, this qualitative inquiry addresses the following questions: How do textbooks used in public elementary schools in the Dominican Republic portray Dominican identity? What notions of race and culture are included in these portrayals? I show that the prevailing notions of identity found in the DISESA textbooks consist of the celebration of “racial mixing,” which identifies the majority of Dominicans as mulattoes, and the recognition of Spanish culture as the foremost precursor to Dominican society. Résumé La présente thèse examine le contenu des manuels de sciences humaines utilisés pour l'éducation élémentaire publique en République Dominicaine et analyse la manière dont le discours est utilisé pour construire l’identité « nationale ». Un regard particulier est porté sur les manières par lesquelles les idéologies raciales et culturelles sont déterminées dans les représentations d'identité dominicaine. La raison fondamentale de cette étude est l’évaluation du programme d'étude dominicain qui repose presque entièrement sur l'utilisation de manuels scolaires. Cette évaluation vise à tirer des conclusions quant aux voies par lesquelles les enfants 3 dominicains sont socialisés dans leurs environnements éducatifs. À cette fin, cette recherche qualitative répond aux questions suivantes : Comment les manuels utilisés dans les écoles primaires publiques en République Dominicaine décrivent-ils l'identité dominicaine ? Quelles notions de race et de culture sont incluses dans ces portraits ? Je démontre que les principales notions d'identité trouvées dans les manuels DISESA se composent de la célébration « de mélange de race » identifiant la majorité des dominicains comme mulâtres et de la reconnaissance de la culture espagnole comme le précurseur principal à la société dominicaine. 4 Acknowledgements I would like to thank, first of all, Professor Nora Jaffary for encouraging me to take on this topic with the hopes of one day improving the quality of schooling in the Dominican Republic. I would also like to thank my thesis supervisor, Professor Teresa Strong-Wilson, for her guidance as I worked on structuring my argument. Finally, I would like to thank Professor Catherine LeGrand for offering advice on the Literature Review chapter of this master's thesis. 5 Table of Contents Relevant Maps..........................................................................................................2 Abstract/Résumé......................................................................................................3 Acknowledgements..................................................................................................5 Chapter One: Introduction.....................................................................................7 Textbooks and Ideology..............................................................................10 Dominant Racial and Cultural Ideologies in Dominican Elementary Education.....................................................................................................12 Chapter Two: Literature Review.........................................................................13 Historical Overview.....................................................................................14 Notions of Racial and Cultural Identity in the Dominican Republic.....24 Chapter Three: Methodology and Document Analysis......................................33 Research Question.......................................................................................33 Data Collection and Methodology.............................................................34 Document Analysis: Identity in DISESA Textbooks...............................35 Implications: Representations of the Oppressed......................................43 Chapter Four: Conclusion: Towards Curriculum Reform...............................50 References...............................................................................................................57 6 Chapter One Introduction The Dominican Republic currently boasts one of the most impressive growth rates in the region of the Americas. For two decades, its economy has increased at an average annual level of five percentage points, fuelled by the tourist industry, remittances from Dominicans living abroad, and traditional agribusiness commodities such as sugarcane, cacao, and avocado. The country is also now considered a stable democracy – since 1996 it has experienced three times the successful handover of power through the electoral ballot system. Dominicans today enjoy key components of an open society, including freedom of press and religion. Nonetheless, poverty levels in the Dominican Republic remain excessively high: unemployment is at a whopping sixteen percent of the labour force, the population living below the poverty line is about forty percent, and the education system lags behind most countries in the region (CIA – The World Fact Book, 2009). The present condition in the public education sector is especially dire. For starters, successive governments have traditionally spent more money on universities than on elementary and secondary schools. Dominican public schools usually run three separate shifts in order to fit the greatest possible number of students, due to the general lack of school infrastructure and qualified teachers. Although enrolment rates are relatively high for children between the ages of seven to fourteen, repetition and dropout rates are also exceedingly high, and secondary completion levels are significantly lower than most countries in the region. A study published in 2001 by the Partnership for Educational Revitalization in the Americas, or PREAL, revealed that Dominican urban public school students on average scored less than students in rural areas in 7 other Latin American countries (Murray, 2005). Similarly, the results of SERCE, a test of reading and mathematical skills administered by UNESCO in sixteen countries in the region, exposed that Dominican students scored way below any of the participants in the study (Puryear, 2008). For some analysts, the problem in the Dominican Republic’s public educational system is mainly political. There is plenty of evidence to support this claim. For instance, the same PREAL report cited above also mentions that the country is last in the region in terms of government spending on education at a mere 1.7% of GDP (Murray, 2008). Professor of Anthropology Gerald Murray (2008) argues that the precarious condition of Dominican education is owing to the failure of governments to address crucial systemic problems. He mentions excessive centralization of the public system as a major setback to educational quality. The Dominican Ministry of Education oversees everything from teacher payrolls to the acquisition of materials. School directors do not have the authority to hire potential candidates or fire incompetent teachers, not even for reasons of inadequate attendance levels, since this authority also rests with the ministry. Murray also points to the high level of political activism in public schools. Governments tend to assign jobs and salaries based on patron-client relationships rather than individual merit – a change in government for the most part leads to changes in school directors. Furthermore, all public school teachers belong to the Asociación Dominicana de Profesores, the main teacher’s union, and are generally militants for political parties. Excessive unionization and strikes on behalf of teachers often leaves students without proper hours of schooling. Low salaries also constitute a significant setback, since teachers are thus encouraged to leave the public system or take on second and third jobs that ultimately reduce their quality of teaching. 8 Murray further suggests that the Plan Decenal, a government scheme to improve the quality of public schools that began in the 1990s and continues today, neglects the majority of these systemic problems and thus fails to improve the overall efficiency of public education. In general, the Plan Decenal consists of a conversion to a competency-based curriculum, improvements in the quality of textbooks, the offer of professional training for teachers and directors, the implementation of a school breakfast program, and higher wages and benefits for teachers (Secretaría de Estado de Educación República Dominicana, 1991). While I agree with Murray that systemic reform is fundamental, I disagree with his assertion that pedagogical reforms, consisting of