212
remarks were echoed in the observations of the administrators, teachers,
and custodian at the school.
Perhaps one of the biggest problems the children
face in learning English is their poor knowledge
of Spanish. Not only those who left Cuba but those
who remained, even those at the university level,
have a very poor background in their own language.
They do not know the generic names for many items
so they refer to many different items as "things."
This basic lack of knowledge about their own
language makes learning more difficult. After
most of the upper and middle class left Cuba,
what we had left was the very poor people who were
totally lacking in social skills. Not only have
we had to instruct these people in reading and
math, we have had to give them the most fundamental
education. We have had to teach them how to eat
with a fork and how to talk to a teacher, for
example. Their great lack of social skills has
been a problem for us because we have had to start
with the most fundamental elements of instruction.
Another serious problem we have had is the
shortage of experienced teachers. Because so many
teachers have left Cuba, we have had to use anyone
who could or would teach, even though these people
have had poor results. Many of the teachers are
very young and don't know how to discipline the
students. My wife and I have spent many hours
working with the teachers, preparing them, showing
them how to achieve discipline. In Cuba, everyone
works cooperatively together to bring about the
desired results in the children. We counsel the
parents, help the teachers, and try to bring an
element of human warmth to the students.
The previously cited Cuban teacher, who emigrated with 15 years
experience teaching in the revolutionary system, was completing course
work for a teaching certificate in the U.S. when she was interviewed.
She made the following observations about the two different school
systems.
The two systems are very different. In Cuba, the
teachers work constantly during the 4 hours of class
instruction. The classrooms are more narrow and
longer than the typical classrooms here. This design