The Young Pioneers of Cuba: The Formation of Cuban Citizens through Civic Education

Abstract

In this article, we contend that Cuba's civic education system is highly ideological, and the Cuban Communist Party's ideology strongly permeates citizens' social obligations towards the state, as imparted through civic education. The research demonstrates that the Cuban education system embodies a form of inclusive nationalism that offers a clear definition of membership within the collective society. As evidenced by our findings, Cuba has, through its Constitution, textbooks, and curriculum, played a crucial role in institutionalizing a particular concept of Cubanness, delineating what it means to be a Cuban citizen. However, the imposition of specific values through socialist ideology faces threats from the economic crisis and the influence of the internet, tourism, and social media on Cuban society. Interviews with informants have unveiled the challenges posed by the rigid and one-dimensional imposition of this particular ideology in schools, revealing tensions, discontent, and fractures in the politicized teaching. The article also compares civic education in Cuba with the progressive Critical Global Citizenship Education. This article is based on 6 weeks of fieldwork (September to November 2019) in Cuba, where civic education was explored in a 5th grade and a 9th grade school in Havana. The qualitative study was based on interviews with important stakeholders, observation of classes, and document analysis of the Constitution, the curriculum, as well as textbooks.