Copyright By Raul Olmo Fregoso Bailon 2015 The Dissertation Committee for Raul Olmo Fregoso Bailon certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: The Philosophy of Liberation of The Bolivarian Education System Committee: __________________________________ Noah De Lissovoy, Supervisor __________________________________ Keffrelyn Brown __________________________________ Paul R. Carr __________________________________ César A. Salgado __________________________________ Luis Urrieta, Jr. The Philosophy of Liberation of The Bolivarian Education System by Raul Olmo Fregoso Bailon, BA, BA, M.S. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2015 We must either invent or err, Simón Rodríguez Pancho Villa quemaba todas las riquezas de los hacendados excepto los pianos, y no porque supiera tocar, sino porque los destinaba a las escuelas… Dedication To my parents, rural teachers, normalistas, who reclusively raised three children; to Alejandra, compañera que merece todo; to Luvina and her little brother, Lucio Emiliano; to my sisters, Adonicam, Jagguit and their families; to Pepillo, July and their family. Acknowledgements Thank you so deeply from my heart to the professors that supported me throughout this academic process. Dr. Noah De Lissovoy, I am so grateful to you for all your help since you supported me a lot in doing this in a foreign country; without your patience I could not have achieved this, the most important goal for all my extended family; I will grateful to you always, really… I want to thank my committee members (in alphabetical order by last name), Dr. Keffrelyn Brown, Dr. Paul R. Carr, Dr. César A. Salgado and Dr. Luis Urrieta, Jr. from whom I have learned a lot about life itself. Thank you so deeply from my heart. I want to thank Dr. Sheila Shannon for all her support and inspiration as well as Dr. Angela Valenzuela for all her generosity. I really appreciate the help from Dr. Deb Palmer, M.Ed. Alicia Zapata, Dr. Cinthia Salinas, M.Ed. Lucy Camarillo-May, Dr. Douglas Foley and Dr. Adam Coon and his family. Dear Gilberto Lara and María Leija, thank you so much for everything. Dear hermano Juan Figueroa, thank you so much. I could not have done this without you all help; I will be always grateful to you all from the bottom of your heart. v The Philosophy of Liberation of The Bolivarian Education System by Raul Olmo Fregoso Bailon, PhD The University of Texas at Austin, 2015 SUPERVISOR: Noah De Lissovoy The purpose of this work is to explore the philosophical foundations of the Bolivarian education system. By studying the intellectuals from which the Bolivarian education system has been built, such as Simón Bolívar and Simón Rodríguez along with the national official curricula from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, several questions are addressed in this dissertation: What is the philosophical basis of the Bolivarian education system? Subquestions: a) How can Enrique Dussel’s philosophy of liberation help us understand the cultural, political, and epistemological orientation of the Bolivarian education system?; b) What philosophical possibilities does the Bolivarian education system suggest for the philosophy of critical pedagogy? A philosophical analysis was performed using the coloniality of power perspective (Quijano & Wallerstein, 1992a, 1992b; Quijano, 2000a and 2000b) and the philosophy of liberation (Dussel, 1980, 1978, 1990, 1996, 2007, 2009). The findings of this study suggest that vi there is an historical path of a philosophy of education from Latin America silenced by the dominant thought throughout history; that is, there is a Bolivarian philosophy of education rooted in Simón Bolívar, Simón Rodríguez and other Latin American intellectuals that can enrich critical pedagogy. Some components regarding national curricula, contents, learning projects and didactic materials related to the philosophy of education for the second and definitive independence of Latin America are discussed. vii Table Of Contents List Of Tables………………………………………………………………………………... xiii List Of Figures………………………………………………………………………………. xiv Chapter One: Introduction…………………………............................................................... 1 Background………………………………………………………………………….. 1 Statement Of The Problem…………………………………………………………. 6 Venezuela Before Chávez…………………………………………………… 7 Hugo Chávez And The Impact Of The Socialism Of The 21st Century…… 12 Bolivarian Revolution And Other Factors………………………………….. 18 Bolivarian Education And Critical Pedagogy…………………………......... 23 Research Questions……………………………………………………………......... 28 Why Elementary Education?....................................................................................... 30 Chapter Two: Review Of The Literature And Theoretical Framework……………………. 34 Literature Review …………………………………………………………………… 34 The Education Of The Socialism Of The 21st Century In The Bolivarian Republic Of Venezuela……………………………………………………… 34 Higher Education In Context……………………………………….. 34 Elementary Education………………………………………………. 37 Literature On Official National Curriculum Frameworks………………….. 45 Theoretical Framework……………………………………………………………. 49 Coloniality Of Power………………………………………………………. 51 Postcolonial Theory………………………………………………………… 52 Notions Of Coloniality……………………………………………………… 54 Further Scholarship On Education And Decolonization……………………. 64 Philosophy Of Liberation: Enrique Dussel’s Contribution To The Construction Of Philosophy From The Third World……………………….. 68 viii Philosophy Of Liberation’s Hypothesis……………………………. 69 Important Conceptual Categories of Dussel………………………… 71 Context And Critics On Coloniality Of Power…………………...... 82 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….. 86 Chapter Three: Methodology……………………………………………………………….. 88 Methods And Techniques To Do Qualitative Research…………………………….. 89 The Specific Methodology Of This Study………………………………………….. 91 Analectics…………………………………………………………………… 92 Xirau’s Use Of Images And The Search For “The Presence” To Grasp Philosophy…………………………………………………………………… 95 Criteria And Documents To Be Analyzed In Order To Grasp The Philosophical Basis Of The Bolivarian Education System…………………….………………………………………………………… 101 The Theoretical Documents………………………………………………………… 104 Simon Bolívar’s Carta De Jamaica (Jamaica Letter)……………………… 107 Simón Bolívar’s Discurso De Angostura (Angostura Address)……………. 111 Simon Rodríguez’s Sociedades Americanas (American Societies) And Luces Y Virtudes Sociales (Lights And Social Virtues)………………. 113 ix The Curricular Documents…………………………………………………….......... 117 The Bolivarian Curricular Documents In Context………………………….. 118 The Document “The National Bolivarian Curriculum”…………………….. 125 The Document “The Bolivarian Elementary School Subsystem’s Curriculum”. ……………………………………………………………….. 127 The Document “Education Planning In The Basic Education Subsystem”……………………………………………………………......... 131 The Textbook For Sixth Grade “Venezuela And Its People, Social Sciences For Sixth Grade”……………………………………………………………. 133 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………........... 138 Chapter Four: The Theoretical Documents………………………………............................. 140 Introduction…………………………………………………………………….......... 140 Bolívar, Colonialism, Independence And Education………………………………... 142 Historical Context………………………........................................................ 142 Jamaica Letter…………………...................................................................... 143 From Personal Letter To A State Paper……………………………… 143 From “Tributary Suburbs” To The Jamaica Letter…………….......... 145 Angostura Address…...................................................................................... 148 Colonialism As A Point Of Departure……………………………….. 149 Education As The Basis Of Bolívar’s Political Philosophy Of The State..................................................................................................... 153 Morality Y Lights............................................................................... 157 The Republic’s Moral Power............................................................. 166 Bolívar And His Philosophy Of Education To Gain Independence………… 168 Simón Rodríguez And Education As A Means To Transform Societies Into Republics..................................................................................................................... 176 Contextualization Of Sociedades Americanas And Luces Y Virtudes Sociales As Rodríguez’s Comprehensive Work…………………………….. 177 x Notions Regarding The Connection Between Colonialism- Capitalism In Latin America………………………………………. 181 Originality As A Philosophical Need……………………………… 186 Independence In Order To Found Republics………………………. 190 Social Economy And Popular Education………………………….. 195 Simon Rodriguez, A Poet In The Field Of Education……………………….. 200 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………. 204 The Bolivarian Thought On Education And The Contemporary Venezuelan Political And Educational Context………………………………………….. 204 Contemporary Political And Educational Implications In Venezuela………. 208 Chapter Five: The Curricular Documents…………………………………………………… 211 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………… 211 The National Bolivarian Curriculum……………………………………………….. 213 Simón Rodríguez And Bolívar In The National Bolivarian Curriculum……. 215 Simón Rodríguez In The National Bolivarian Curriculum…………. 215 Bolívar In The National Bolivarian Curriculum…………………….