in a Collectivist World:

Born in the U.S.A., Teaching in Caracas, Venezuela

Douglas F. Warring & Tonya Huber-Warring

Two U.S.A.-born American professors Demographics business center. The Gross National Income of education refl ect on lessons in family per capita of $3,490 compares favorably Venezuela is a country slightly larger and community gleaned while teaching with Columbia’s $1,810, but stands in stark than twice the size of California, the third 4 graduate courses to teachers in one of contrast to $37,610 in the United States. largest U.S.A. state in land area.1 Caracas, South America’s capitol cities: Venezuela’s population is 25,375,281, the capitol city, is home to a population of How does traffi c fl ow smoothly in a of which 85% live in urban areas. The 6 million people2 nested into a space that city of 6 million people with very few traffi c country’s diverse ethnic groups include is actually smaller in size than the area of control signals and a minimum of honking Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, Ger- Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A., a and almost no accidents? man, African, and indigenous peoples. city/suburb of only 2.8 million people.3 What accounts for the juxtaposition of Approximately 67% of the population are The name Venezuela, meaning “Little modern skyscrapers against mountains of Mestizo (of mixed Spanish and indigenous Venice,” originated with the Amerindian 5 patchwork high-rise shanties? blood), 21% are of European descent, 10% stilt villages which the Spanish explorers Why is everything so quiet on Sundays? of African descent, and 2% indigenous. encountered in the Orinoco River. The view Approximately 200,000 Amerindians, rem- reminded them of Venice, Italy. Today, stilt- Douglas F. Warring is a professor nants of a number of diverse semi-nomadic supported shanties continue to climb out with the School of Education hunter-gatherer , remain. Spanish of the valleys and up the mountains that at the University of St. Thomas, is the offi cial language, but more than defi ne Caracas, Venezuela. Stacked precari- Minneapolis, Minnesota, 30 Amerindian languages still survive, ously on top of each other, the impoverished and Tonya Huber-Warring is a professor predominantly belonging to the Arawak, dwellings, still lacking running water and of human relations and multicultural education Cariban, and Chibcha ethnolinguistic electricity in areas, provide stark contrast at St. Cloud State University, categories. The country is predominantly to the skyscrapers and high rises of the St. Cloud, Minnesota. Roman Catholic, accounting for 96% of

SUMMER 2006 11 the population, with approximately 2% are more comfortable with close proximity, undoubtedly be a multitude of traffi c ac- Protestant.6 according to Trumbull et al (2001). cidents without traffi c control devices. Key elements of collectivism include In cities in the United States, even and Collectivism a focus on interdependent relations, coop- with traffi c controls, there are numerous as Cultural Scripts eration, and group well being, stressing accidents. The lack of accidents and traffi c the importance of family, organizations, control devices in Caracas may be accounted Greenfi eld (1994) discusses the issues religious, and social relationships. Space for in part by the fact that in collectivist cul- surrounding individualism and collectiv- is shared, and close proxemics and contact tures people tend to be more socially aware ism as cultural scripts contrasting Ameri- characterize life in a collectivist . and conscious of proximity (Ho, 1994). The can European and Western European In contrast, key elements of an individ- image of Caracas traffi c recalls other collec- as more individualistic compared ualistic orientation, according to Trumbull, tivist cultures in major world cities where to African, Asian, Latin American, and Rothstein-Fisch, Greenfi eld, and Quiroz people on and in bicycles, xích lôs, mopeds, Native American (indigenous). Greenfi eld (2001), are fulfi llment, competi- taxis, and delivery trucks fl uidly negotiate contrasts “the dimension of an individual- tion, and independent relations stressing movement (see Huber’s description of Ho istic, private, or independent orientation the importance of self, individual success, Chi Minh City in “Remembrance of Vietnam (Western) versus a collective, social, or task accomplishment, and the importance as Memorial Kinship”). interdependent orientation (Africa, Asia, of physical objects and their acquisition. Latin America)” (p. xv). In such independent cultures, space is an Contrasting School Cultures— Greenfield clearly articulates how issue of privacy and walls are commonly Considering Collectivist schools in individualistic societies, par- used to designate the property lines in an and Individualistic Cultures ticularly the United States, are structured individualistic society. around competitive models that foster in- In Caracas, an unbelievable amount of From their earliest foundation, Ameri- dividualism at the expense of cooperation, traffi c moves with few traffi c accidents and can common schools, now called public supporting independence over community. without the benefi t of many traffi c lights schools, in the United States have been Triandis (1989) contends approximately or stop signs. A consistent jerky jockeying structured around an individualistic model 70% of the world’s cultures are collectivistic for space punctuates the streets. Unsigned, (Miller, 1990; Spring, 2005) that encour- as compared to individualistic. The Latin, unspoken rules govern the constant merg- ages individualism, fosters , collectivist of Venezuela is one of ing of traffi c. We watched in amazement and supports capitalism (Kliebard, 1987, the primary factors contributing to answers as people merged and allowed others to pp. 90-91). As a result of this orientation, to the questions posed at the beginning of do so with only inches to spare, whereas major differences exist between schools this article. In a collectivist culture people in an individualistic culture there would in the U.S.A., with this individualistic

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 12 macroculture, and schools in Venezuela, a predominantly collectivist culture. Differences can be identifi ed in many areas, with the following dimensions par- ticularly of interest to educators: learning environments; decision-making styles; and interactional styles—students, family members, and teachers.

Learning Environments In an individualistic culture students are usually encouraged to learn by listening, become self-reliant, become competitive, and pursue academic achievement. In this environment learners are taught that aca- demic intelligence is important above other types of intelligence. Compare this with the emphasis of learning environments in a collectivist culture where students are en- couraged to learn through participation and interaction, utilize the skills of the group, the untrained observer, as groups tend gested another pizza shop. But the sugges- cooperation, and foster a combined to monitor themselves much more effec- tion was clearly unacceptable to one of the sense of social and academic achievement. tively in that regard. In an individualistic teachers (a native Texan with Columbian In this type of an environment learners are culture students most often prefer voting heritage) who said that she would rather taught that social intelligence is important when decisions involving the group are have Thai take-out if the original pizza as well as other types of intelligence. to be made and are generally not good at was not available. The teacher trying to Students and teachers are much more monitoring themselves as a few of the more coordinate the effort was clearly concerned comfortable operating through cooperative vocal students will seek to control most of that one of the group was not happy with modes of learning, sharing, and discussion the discussion without regard for others. the switch to another pizza. The ex pat, to build consensus for understanding in a An illustration of the contrast between on the other hand, shrugged the situation collectivist society. Students and teachers the two orientations in decision making off with the explanation that more people whose primary orientation and style are occurred one afternoon when the teachers wanted pizza and they should stick with more individualistic will prefer individual with whom we were working in Caracas de- their original vote, even though the vote ownership, working alone, and voting as a cided to send out for lunch. The discussion had been for a different source. means of decision-making. involved the selection of pizza from a local We watched with interest (reserving restaurant. But the native Venezuelan who any comments that would interfere with Decision Making Styles was placing the call for his colleagues re- their process) as the group, particularly turned to report that the pizza could not be the person designated to place the order, Building consensus is seen as one of delivered during the desired time frame. worked to resolve the differences. Clearly, the most desirable traits for an individual One of the ex pats (in this case, a U.S.A. several students (all ex pats) believed the to possess in a collectivist culture. Turn- American who teaches internationally) sug- pizza should be the choice because that taking may not be readily apparent to was the original consensus. Also obvious, though, was the effort of the local Venezu- elan teacher to convince each member of the group to hear the other comments and fi nd a new consensus. Ultimately, Thai take-out was delivered for lunch.

Interactional Styles— Students, Family Members, and Teachers In a study of immigrant Latino families in the U.S.A., Valdés (2003) found that mothers saw themselves as participating actively in their children’s educación, that is, in raising children to be good and well-behaved human beings. They did not, however, see themselves as adjunct school teachers. They did not see their role as involving the teaching of school subjects. In their own experience in school, this had been the province of the teacher. (p. 166)

SUMMER 2006 13 The different perspectives on who teaches group, and prized for their social skills. the afternoon, every restaurant was fi lled and the role parents/guardians/family play Overall, the traditional emphasis of indige- with families celebrating the day. Very few is an ongoing concern in educational settings. nous cultures is typically more collectivist, people were shopping in the malls. As Joseph Suina admonishes in his repre- a factor often not recognized by teachers On June 24, The Battle of Carabobo sentation of issues for traditional Pueblo coming from individualistic cultures. Day and Army Day, a national holiday, all children moving from an interdependent Suina poignantly emphasizes the shopping malls were closed as were most natal culture to school culture to dominant awareness of proper contextualization restaurants. The few restaurants that society culture: “Teaching and learning in the and tradition in interdependent cultures were open were sparsely populated and more tradional Pueblos remain in the hands in relaying his own story of turning to his the few customers there were families. of all Pueblo members [emphasis added], in father to learn the appropriate wholistic When we talked with teachers and staff, contrast to formalized American schooling context for a ceremony to be performed in they reported sharing the day in gather- where education is the province of experts” his Pueblo village. The intergenerational ings of extended family members. This is (Suina & Smolkin, 1994, p. 117). interdependence and respect for tradition unlike the activities on similar holidays in Other potential sources of conflict, is emphasized in his story, as is the obvi- the individualistic culture in the United according to Quiroz and Greenfi eld (1996), ous contradiction for Pueblo students who States, where the shopping malls are open include the belief in an individualistic attend schools and work in a larger society and highly populated, and family is often culture that the child is seen as more of that privileges book learning over tradition, defi ned in smaller units. an individual deserving of independence, and the written word over orality literacy In another example of interdependent, praise for task accomplishment, and hav- (See Suina & Smolkin, 1994, pp. 118-119). collectivist cultural scripts, one of the ing more developed cognitive rather than Families are the center of activity in teachers with whom we worked in Caracas social skills. In contrast, in a collectivist collectivist cultures. Two examples from wrote: culture, according to Quiroz and Greenfi eld our recent teaching in Caracas highlight My husband and my son are in Spain, and (1996), children are seen as a part of the this characteristic. On Father’s Day, which Gaby (my daughter) and I will join them group, rewarded for helpfulness, criticized was a Sunday, even though the malls were in Madrid airport to go to Italy. I am still if they do not fall within the norms of the open, most people attended church and, in in Caracas waiting for Gaby, she is in her fi nal [college] exams. (Marycarmen, per- sonal , July 11, 2005) That she would depart without her daugh- ter, leaving her to travel alone, is not part of her cultural script. Ultimately, the stark difference be- tween independent and interdependent cultures is seen in the interactions with elderly parents. As a hotel restaurant manager shared with us, he had worked in for six years and was much happier there, but his parents had reached an age where they needed assistance, so he returned to take care of them. He gently suggested that such was not the way in the United States. As one of the teachers shared, her sister had moved to the U.S.A., married and stayed in the States to raise her fam- ily, distancing herself from the extended family in Caracas. Revi was now left to take care of her ailing mother. She asked if that would be an issue in the U.S.A. Her impression from fi lm and media was that we simply arranged for assisted living or placement in retirement homes—an option she explained was unconscionable to the Venezuelan lifestyle.

The Politics of Education Perhaps one of the most recent testi- monies to the value placed on collectivist culture in Venezuelan schools is found in the following coverage of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s comments and actions in May-June 2005. Revolution, suggests radical educator Paulo Freire, is “the ultimate teacher …

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 14 giving fi rst place to the indispensable role of education in the process of forming the New Woman and the New Man.” Al- though Freire wrote these words almost 30 years ago, in his preface to Jonathan Kozol’s book Children of the Revolution, he could have been writing about Ven- ezuela today. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez de- voted a May 15 call-in television program to education. Attending the inauguration of a new high school, he presented a “new educational model for a new citizen.” Com- petition and individualism in schools, he said, must give way to unity, brotherhood, and solidarity. “We are all a team, going along eliminating little by little the values or the anti-values that capitalism has planted in us from childhood.”7 Though military coups, bloody mass protests, and the August 2004 referendum have threatened Chavez’s presidency, his attack on poverty through seven projects known as missions has featured educa- tion as the cornerstone, aiming to reduce illiteracy and high school drop-out rates. A literacy rate of 93% with primary school attendance at 94% and secondary at 69% compares favorably with other nations.8 As the New Internationalist reported in a June 2005 “Country Profi le” of Ven- ezuela: The driving force behind the missions are the legions of Cuban teachers and doctors shipped in to train teachers and care for the sick in hilltop slums in exchange for cheaper barrels of oil for Cuba.9 When Fidel Castro visited Caracas during the celebration and parade for The Battle of Carabobo Day and Army Day, we were advised by the teachers to stay away from the large military gathering because of anti-American sentiment and violence during recent parades and military gather- ings. El Universal (June 25, 2005, pp. 1, 2, as to why people from some cultures oper- 3 Profi le of General Demographics Char- 4) reported 3,686 military representatives ate the way they do in schools and society. acteristics, 2000. Accessed July 16, 2005, from participated. The show of tanks and weap- Beyer (1998) clearly indicates “if we are to http://govpubs.lib.umn.edu/census/profile. challenge and replace the…emphasis on phtml onry was massive. 4 New Internationalist. (2005, June). Coun- individualism…we must revive a sense of try profi le: Venezuela. New Internationalist, 379, Choosing Community community…” (p. 256). The choice is ours. 36. over Contradiction 5 The Mestizo-Mexicano-Indian His- Notes tory, Accessed July 1, 2005, from http:// It is important to remember that in www.sonic.net/~doretk/ArchiveARCHIVE/ a collectivist culture or society there will 1 California covers 155,959 square miles, NATIVE%20AMERICAN/TheMestizo-Mexi- be individuals whose preferred style is with an estimated population of 35,484,453 in cano-Indi.html 2003. U.S. Census Bureau State and County 6 individualistic and in an individualistic Accessed June 25, 2005, from http://www. Quickfacts: California Quickfacts. Accessed culture there will be individuals whose absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/D/De/De- August 12, 2005, from http://quickfacts.census. mographics_of_Venezuela.htm preferred style is collectivist. According to gov/qfd/states/0600.html 7 Whitney, W. T., Jr. (2005). Education Ho (1994), “There is no necessary contra- 2 The population may be as high as 7 million gets huge boost in Venezuela. People’s Weekly diction for a person to hold individualistic since there are undercounts of individuals based World Newspaper 06/23/05. Accessed June 25, and collectivistic views at the same time” on the rapid infl ux of people. Accessed June 2005, from http://www.pww.org/article/arti- (pp. 304-305). 25, 2005, from http://www. absoluteastronomy. cleprint/7279/ Thus, it is not our intent to stereotype com/encyclopedia/D/De/Demographics_of_Ven- 8 New Internationalist. (2005, June). Coun- ezuela.htm and http://www.macalester.edu/ge- or generalize about Caracas, but to add a try profi le: Venezuela. New Internationalist, 379, ography/courses/geog261/APaz/Demographics layer of information that will provide cues 36. & Religion.htm 9 Ibid.

SUMMER 2006 15 References Beyer, L. (1998). Schooling for democracy: What kind? In L. Beyer & M. Apple (Eds.), The curriculum: Problems, politics, and possibili- ties (2nd ed., pp. 245-263). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Greenfield, P., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (1994). Cross-cultural roots of minority child devel- opment. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Greenfi eld, P. (1994). Preface. In P. Greenfi eld & R. Cocking (Eds.), Cross-cultural roots of minority child development (pp. ix-xix). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Greenfield, P. (1994). Independence and in- terdependence as developmental scripts: Implications for theory, research, and prac- tice. In P. Greenfi eld & R. Cocking (Eds.), Cross-cultural roots of minority child devel- opment (pp.1-37). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Ho, D. (1994). Cognitive socialization in Confu- cian heritage cultures In P. Greenfi eld & R. Cocking (Eds.), Cross-cultural roots of minor- ity child development (pp. 304-305). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Quiroz, B., & Greenfi eld, P. M. (1996). Cross- Indian students. In P. Greenfi eld & R. Cock- Huber, T. (2002). Quality learning experiences cultural values confl ict: Removing a barrier ing (Eds.), Cross-cultural roots of minority for ALL students. San Francisco: Caddo to Latino school achievement. Unpublished child development (pp. 115-130). Mahwah, Gap Press. manuscript. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Huber, T. (2003). Remembrance of Vietnam as Rothsteln-Fisch. C. (2003). Bridging cultures Triandis, H. C. (1989). Cross- memorial kinship. Multicultural Education, teacher education module (p. 117). Mahwah, of individualism and collectivism. Nebraska 11(1), 17-22. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. In G. Valdés, Con Symposium on Motivation, 37, 43-133. Kliebard, H. (1987). The struggle for the Respeto: Bridging the distances between Trumbull, E., Rothstein-Fisch, C., Greenfi eld, American curriculum, 1893-1958. New York: culturally diverse families and school (p 166). P., & Quiroz, B. (2001). Bridging cultures be- Routledge. Teachers College, Columbia University. tween home and school: A guide for teachers. Miller, R. (1990). What are schools for? Holistic Suina, J. H., & Smolkin, L. B. (1994). From natal Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. education in American culture. Brandon, VT: culture to school culture to dominant society Holistic Education Press. culture: Supporting transitions for Pueblo

Photographs provided by the authors

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