Curriculum and Coral

Monday - October 3, 2011 -continued.

Our meeting with the leaders of art education in Cuba was most interesting. Cuba has an excellent school system. Their literacy rate is 99%. Truancy is unheard of. Everyone goes to school through high school and many on to college. The arts are held in very high regard. There are 15 “Arts” schools in Cuba at the elementary level and numerous higherlevel art schools through out Cuba. The elementary schools would be comparative to our magnet or charter schools. The students have to pass a test to get into the arts schools. The curriculum focuses on visual arts, dance, drama and media (technology -TV etc.) in addition to their core subjects.  Art is integrated into the curriculums and taught by classroom teachers at the traditional elementary schools. The teachers are trained at a four year Cuban college. (we visit it at a later date) All students in Cuba are required to perform their “Social Service” at age 16. This is basically 2 years of volunteer work for the government. They do not get a choice, they are told where to go - which just might be overseas in Venezuela. (for example Cuba traded with Venezuela 100 Drs. for 200 barrels of oil.) I think this “social service” explains the high teacher to student ratio in the classrooms we visited. There were many teacher assistants. Another side note -everyone works in Cuba. The students start at age 16. The special need students start at age 18. The average Cuban makes about 20 pesos a month -comparable to US $20 dollars a month. I will discuss economics in a later post.

Staircase at restaurant

After the meeting we went to a restaurant for lunch. The restaurant was located in a very large mansion on the water. My first dining mistake occurred here. I want to share a little background knowledge. Our hotel, all restaurants, schools and cultural events that we attended were government owned. In fact, the people of Cuba are not allowed to own a business. That is until just this year, family restaurants are now allowed - but a very high tax is paid to the government. We did not see any family restaurants but were told of this.  So, the same dishes and uniforms were seen at each restaurant, as were the selection of drinks. With every meal we had the choice of a Cuban made beverages. Wine, beer mojitos (rum, lime juice, "Sprite" and mint leaves), bottled water and Ku Cola were our choices. Today, I noticed a can of “ginger ale.” I pointed towards it and the waitress filled my wine glass. My first thought was wow this ginger ale has a lot of foam. After tasting it I realized it was beer. The Cuban “Cristal” beer is in a green and gold can that looks remarkably like our ginger ale cans. I drank most of it because once again, knowing how little the Cuban’s have, I felt guilty wasting anything. By the way, I have nothing against beer, it just gives me a headache and I prefer not to drink while conducting research. 

As I mentioned, this restaurant was located on the water. After lunch we ventured out to a garden built into the water’s edge. The pictures will have to speak for themselves. This entire garden was made out of coral reef. It was absolutely fantastic. A perfect place to read a book or play hide and seek. The only negative, was the polluted water surrounding the paradise. This pollution had a bright side. It allowed for me to study a culture from a “trash perspective.” My final day, I returned to this exact spot to conduct my “trash research.” What I found was not only informative but lead to a few treasures that only created more mysteries.

Bob Sabol - Pres. of National Art Education Association (NAEA) and our leader.

Note the size of people inside very large, gold roofed gazebo.

Whether it be curriculums focusing on art or art made from coral, Cuba's considerable attention to beauty and aesthetics is undeniable.