Education in Puerto Rico By: Alexis Guadalupe

Fun Facts  Religion: 85% Roman Catholic, 15% Protestants and other  Population: 3,620,897  National Anthem: La Borinquena  capital: San Juan  Literacy Rate: 90.3% population  Spanish Alphabet has 27 letters.  Animal Symbol: coqui

Culture  Famous Puerto Ricans: Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Carlos Beltran, Yadier Molina  Music: Salsa, Guiro, Bomba y Plana  Sports and Recreation: Baseball, basketball, bowling, fishing, swimming, track.  Main dishes: bacalaitos, empanadillas, flan

Pre-Colonial  The first settlements date back to to 4000 years ago, with the establishment of the Ortoiroid culture.  The Arawak’s later followed to settle in the island, where they established Taino culture.  They nicknamed the island “Boriken” which stands for “The great land of the valiant and noble lord”.

Arrival of Christopher Columbus  In 1493 Christopher Columbus and his ships settled on the island, and slowly but surely the Taino rule was starting to vanish.  The Tainos were heavily mistreated and therefore many of them were exterminated  Their culture still lives in the Puerto Rican culture, like their music and some of the words they use.

Spanish Rule  The influence of the Roman Catholic church, stopped slavery of the natives and gave them hygiene, pay, and regulated work hours.  The island was then colonized, where it became home to one of the major dioceses.  After Puerto Rico became the first ecclestial island under Spanish rule, they were constantly under attack by the Caribs and other European Power but it was never successful.

U.S Control  When The Treaty of Paris was ratified, the United States military gained control of Puerto Rico.  Currency was changed : Puerto Rican Peso to U.S Dollar.  Highway systems were enlarged.  New political groups were made: Partido Republicano and American Federal Party.

Becoming a Commonwealth  More people from Puerto Rico started to migrate to the U.S.  U.S Congress passed a law in 1948 allowing Puerto Ricans to elect their governor. Leading to the election of Puerto Rico’s first governor: Luis Marin.  in the 1950s Harriet Truman passes a law for Puerto Ricans to to have their own internal Structure. It was later renamed “Commonwealth of Puerto Rico”

First School in San Juan  After Puerto Rico became U.S territory; Escuela de Gramatica was made.  It was established by Bishop Alonso Manso.  Located in the Cathedral of San Juan.  The school taught subjects such as Latin language, literature, history, science, art, philosophy and theology. (History of Puerto Rico)

Schools in Puerto Rico  Everyone wears uniforms from kindergarden all the way to high school.  Religion is also taught In public schools.  Same grading system as U.S.  Special Education was not introduced, but if kids had a disability they were recommended a special place just for them.

Primary Education in Puerto Rico  Kindergarten-6 th grade  Start Teaching English by 1 st grade.  Other subjects also introduced in 1 st grade science and social studies.  A lot of Book Reports.  Graduation in 6 th grade.

Intermediate Education  7 th, 8 th, 9 th grade.  Have the opportunity for more electives like cooking, music, and sports.  Graduation in 9 th grade.

High School  10 th, 11 th, 12 th  Spanish class is just literature and writing.  English class is the equivalent of taking a second language in the U.S.  Sports competition consisted of competing against classmates, and other schools were not involved.  Graduation in 12 th.

US VS. Puerto Rico Education There are not many differences between both types of educations. But one of the major differences is the stress on religion. Unlike the USA, Puerto Rico some public schools do teach religion. I did come to the conclusion that they do take learning English very seriously.

How Puerto Ricans are Portrayed in the US Educational System  Puerto Ricans in mainland schools are portrayed as loser and people who will never amount to anything  Some teachers do not have the patience to teach them.  The three themes for The Puerto Rican Educational Experience: Legacy of Colonialism, racism, ethnocentrism, and the quest of self- determination. Nieto, S. (1995). A History of the Education of Puerto Rican Students in US Mainland Schools:" Losers,"" Outsiders," or" Leaders"?.

How English is Introduced to Puerto Ricans in New York City  There is a lot of slang in the English of New York City: with that being the case teachers have a tough time teaching students.  Puerto Ricans tend to pick up on a lot of “Spanglish” so they also have a tough time understanding teachers.  To introduce English, they much first make a connection to student therefore helping them get rid of bad slang habits.

Intercultural Education  Not just Puerto Ricans, but all minorities are not giving fair chances in the school systems.  Teachers need to develop more skills to be able to teach all types of students.  By diversifying the lesson plans it can really help students learn better.  This is an ongoing change where more minorities are joining the school system and educators need to be ready for that.

Summary Overall, it was great to learn more about how Puerto Rico became to be. Catching up with my culture is always great for me. I also thought it was very interesting to learn about the education system that most of my family has gone through. I heard their stories of what they went through when they were in school, and it was kind of what I go through here.

References  Anastasi, A., & Cordova, F. A. (1953). Some effects of bilingualism upon the intelligence test performance of Puerto Rican children in New York City. Journal of Educational Psychology, 44(1), 1.  Dietz, J. L. (1986). Economic history of Puerto Rico: institutional change and capitalist development. Princeton University Press.  McCroskey, J. C., Fayer, J. M., & Richmond, V. P. (1985). Don't speak to me in English: Communication apprehension in Puerto Rico. Communication Quarterly, 33(3),  Mehra, B., Allard, S., Qayyum, M., & Barclay-McLaughlin, G. (2008). Aquí y allá (here and there) information-based learning corridors between Tennessee and Puerto Rico: The five Golden Rules in intercultural education. Education For Information, 26(3/4),  Morales Carrión, A. (1983). Puerto Rico: A political and cultural history. New York.

References Cont.  Rico, P., & Rican, P. History of Puerto Rico.  Schweers, C. W., & Hudders, M. (2000). The reformation and democratization of English education in Puerto Rico. International journal of the sociology of language, 142(1),  The world factbook. (2014, April 1). Retrieved April 10, 2014, from Central Intelligence Agency website:  Urciuoli, B. (2013). Exposing prejudice: Puerto Rican experiences of language, race, and class. Waveland Press.  Wolfram, W. (1974). Sociolinguistic Aspects of Assimilation: Puerto Rican English in New York City.