ERIC Number: EJ1448581
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2374-8257
U.S. Americanization in Puerto Rico's Public Schools: Proposing Children's Self-Organization for Decoloniality through Photovoice and Philosophy for/with Children
Erick J. Padilla Rosas
Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis, v43 n2 p1-11 2023
The literature on U.S. Americanization in Puerto Rico's public schools suggests that "de jure" U.S. Americanization culminated in 1949 when an administrative order made Spanish the official language of instruction. However, the same literature seems to indicate that students continue to experience the impacts of U.S. Americanization because there has been limited systematic political intentionality to decolonize the educational system. In this article, I argue that to carry out a decolonizing process in the public schools of the archipelago, it will be necessary to engage in critical dialogues with students, listen to how they view their colonial reality, and push their thoughts to new spaces. To do this, I propose that educators use the photovoice methodology with children to see how they see and read their world. In addition, educators should practice philosophy for and with children (P4wC) so that children use the images they take as stimuli for communities of inquiry. In conclusion, I will demonstrate that the combination of photovoice and P4wC can be conducive to critically listen and attend to the voice and the gaze of children and begin to develop educational tools that allow children to critically respond on their own to the demands of their social and political context. In this way, the Americanization of Puerto Rico's public schools could be addressed by children's voices, visions, philosophies, and will for social change.
Descriptors: Decolonization, Public Schools, Photojournalism, Visual Aids, Philosophy, Social Change, Educational Change, Elementary Secondary Education, Perspective Taking, Children
Viterbo University. 900 Viterbo Drive, La Crosse, WI 54601. Tel: 608-796-3700; Web site: https://journal.viterbo.edu/index.php/atpp/index
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Puerto Rico
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A