Colonial Education: a History of Education in Belize
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 448 087 SO 032 324 AUTHOR Lewis, Karla TITLE Colonial Education: A History of Education in Belize. PUB DATE 2000-04-21 NOTE 29p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (New Orleans, LA, April 24-28, 2000). PUB TYPE Reports - Descriptive (141) Speeches/Meeting Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Colonialism; Compulsory Education; *Cultural Context; *Developing Nations; *Educational History; *Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Government School Relationship IDENTIFIERS *Belize; British Colonies; British Honduras ABSTRACT This paper discusses the education in Belize (formerly known as British Honduras) during the colonial era and the lasting impact of the educational foundation of the country. The paper examines the influence the British colonial educational system continues to have in. Belize, 20 years after independence. It gives an overview of the history of primary and secondary education in Belize. Although education existed in Belize well before the arrival of the British colonizers and developed among various cultures during colonization, these are not highlighted in the paper because of the limited impact they had on Belize in general once school attendance became compulsory. Contains 92 references. (BT) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Colonial Education: A History of Education in Belize Karla Lewis Educational Policy Studies University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign AERA 2000 Presentation New Orleans, LA [email protected] 4/21/00 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND Office of Educational Research and Improvement DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER (ERIC) ye This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization a. originating it. Minor changes have been made to 1-eAdiS improve reproduction quality. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Points of view or opinions stated in this INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) document do not necessarily represent 1 official OERI position or policy. 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE The title of the presentation is vague and could be deceiving. Although the presentation discusses the education in Belize (formerly known as British Honduras) during the colonial era, this presentation also begins to show the lasting impact of the educational foundation of the country. This presentation, because of time limitations, gives an overview of the history of primary and secondary education in Belize. Although education in Belize existed well before the arrival of the British and developed among various cultures during colonization, those will not be highlighted because of the limited impact they had on Belize in general once school became compulsory. Colony/ Colonial/Colonialism/ Colonization Defining colonization can be difficult, depending on one's perspective. The following are definition's that I found relevant to the context of education and Belize. The first definition comes from a Belize history primer and describes the wide reach of colonization. The second definition ties the notion of colonization to the U.S. educational system. Ladson- Billings (1998) takes the stereotypical phrase and applies it to a non-so- called third world context, while retaining the obvious harm colonization does to a people. Colonialism is a system of external domination. Under colonialism, all aspects of a society economic, social, cultural are controlled by another country. (A History of Belize: Nation in the Making. (1983). Belize: Sunshine Books) Gloria Ladson-Billings (1998) discusses the two common notions of the term "colonial" The term "colonial" generally has two references in the United States context. On one hand it conjures the romantic notions of the revolutionary spirit of the early European (primarily English) settlers who steadfastly abhorred English taxes and rule without the benefit of representation. From that notion of colonial we generated a particular view of history, architecture, city planning, and decor. The other notion of colonial extant in the United States is the more sinister, malevolent pattern of conquest and imperialism perpetrated by European powers on so-called third world nations in Asia, Africa, and parts of the Americas. This notion, perhaps no less romantic, evokes pictures of black and brown- skinned men attired in European style military garb, while their children wear school uniforms and study for an English and French designed high school entrance exam. (p.247) 2 3 Objective There has been little work on education in Belize (Bennett, 1972, 1979, Lundgren, 1992, Shoman, A. , 1994, and Shoman, K., 1991); most of the research has been anthropological in nature (Gmelch, 1992, Gonzalez, 1988, Kerns, 1983, Levine, 1987, Sanford, 1971, and Wilk & Chapin, 1990). However, there has been extensive work on colonization ( Altbach & Kelly, 1978, Ashcroft, 1973, Fanon, 1967, Gordon, 1997, Magubane, 1979, Memmi, 1965).Twenty years ago, Bennett (1979) discussed the need to reevaluate the educational system, and his work needs to be revisited. Bennett (1979) states, "It (the decolonization process) must enable us to develop our own national philosophy of education and give us confidence that working together we can equip our youth to play constructive roles in Belizean development" (p.23). Those sentiments are still relevant today, because many Belizean youth are not fully able to participate in Belize's social and economic development because of a lack of educational opportunity. Belize's Origins Belize is surrounded North by Mexico, West and South by Guatemala, and East by the Caribbean Sea. Belize is the least densely settled of the Central American nations. Officially known as British Honduras until 1973, Belize has historically been regarded as a West Indian nation in a Hispanic region. Therefore, subject to both the political, economic, social and ideological issues of both cultures, West Indian and Latin. The population consists of Creoles (descendants of the British settler's and/ or African slaves), Spanish, Maya (indigenous peoples), Carib (descendants of the Carib Indians and/ or Africans), Mestizo, Mennonites, Lebanese, East Indians, Chinese and whites. 3 Before the arrival of the Spanish and the British, Belize was part of a Mayan civilization that had spread throughout the Central American region. Belize became a Spanish colonial holding because Spain had claimed sovereignty over the entire New World, except for the regions in South America assigned to Portugal. However, the Spanish could never occupy the interior of the land or assimilate the Maya peoples. British settlers, called the Baymen (who were really ex-pirates), eventually settled near the mouth of the Belize River in the mid-1600s. (Taylor, 1949) They had shipwrecked in the bay on their way from Jamaica in 1638. More Baymen would arrive after the British captured Jamaica from Spain in 1655. Spain and Britain were rivals and periodically the Spanish would expel the Baymen from Belize. Eventually, the indigenous peoples made a treaty with Britain in 1739 giving them Honduras. In 1763 under the Treaty of Paris, Spain granted the British the right to cut timber and occupy the territory. The British were also allowed to bring African slaves, but they were not allowed to build permanent settlements, which affected the population until the nineteenth century. (Grant, 1976) In exchange, the settlers would recognize Spanish sovereignty over the region. The Treaty of Versailles in 1783 confirmed the boundaries and the logwood industry. However the Spanish continued to attack the settlement, until the settlers and African slaves with assistance from the British Navy defeated them in 1798. The Battle of St. George's Caye is still celebrated on September 10th of every year. A treaty settled the boundaries of Belize with Guatemala in 1859 (which is still being contested by the Guatemalan government) and with Nicaragua in 1860. (King, 1955, p.3) The settlers of Belize were self-governing, and managed by the Jamaican government. After two hundred and thirty 4 5 years of occupation Belize became the official "Crown Colony" of British Honduras in 1871. In 1884 all the administrative connections with Jamaica were severed. The British abolished the importation of slaves in 1807. Slaves were emancipated throughout the British Empire in 1838. (A history of Belize: Nation in the making. (1983), p.38) The slave owners in the colonies were compensated at 20,000,000 pounds (Wesley, 1932) and the slaves got freedom. Hammond (1946) states, "The French colonies followed suit in 1848 and the Dutch in 1863, abolition in these dependent territories thus preceding abolition in the principal independent territories of the Western world in which slavery existed" (p.428). Although slavery was abolished, it did not mean that the former slaves were treated as equal citizens, in fact attempts were made to "keep them in there place" by limiting access to jobs outside of the logwood and mahogany industry. On September 21, 1981, Belize gained its independence from Great Britain. However, its educational system was still based on the British colonial model. It was a model that did not want to educate the colonized, especially ethnic minorities within the colony. If was a model that limited access to secondary education and lacked true educational opportunity, even though it claimed to assist in social mobility. What I try to do in this paper is look at the history of education in Belize during the rule of the British and the influence it continues to have, twenty years after independence. 5 Methodology As a Belizean and a Garinagu (also known as Carib, descended from African slaves and Carib Indians), this paper cannot be "value-free"; as a researcher I cannot be neutral or distant. (Gluck and Patai, 1991) Moss (1996) states, "...no neutral framework exists against which we can evaluate competing theoriessuch frameworks are always historically and culturally situated (e.g. Baynes, Bohman, and McCarthy, 1991; Bernstein, 1985, 1992; Greene, 1994)" (p.2'7). I acknowledge my multiple identities in engaging in this research.