SMART TALK: How Cuban educators think about intelligence

by Kate Olden, MA Student of International Education, The George Washington University

WHY STUDY THIS?
- Concepts of intelligence are important not only to formal edu-
cation but to training in business and human resources. THEMATIC ANALYSIS
- There are important overlaps with learning, creativity, human
development, and social change. INTELLIGENCE AS PERSONALITY BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS
- Helps cultural outsiders understand how that culture influences - Intelligence is contained within a student‟s personality. PUBLICATION DATES OF CITED RESOURCES
thinking and behavior and envisions education. - A school‟s role is more holistic than just the accumulation Article References Difference
Authors Publish # Range Mean Median Mode Article-Mean
- Dynamics and concepts revealed could be useful to our own of knowledge (Castellanos & Cruz, 2007).
Castellanos &
cultural understandings of intelligence. - Thought arises from internal dialectic of personality, 2003* 54 1962-1994 1985a 1986d 1986 18 years
photo courtesy of S. Hennessey
Cordova
which is that of cognition and affect (Bosch, 2003). Castellanos & Cruz 2003* 23 1960-1997 1987b 1988e 1986 16 years

METHODS & MATERIALS

Castro Guevara 2003* 9 1986-1997 1990 1989 1987 13 years
INTELLIGENCE AS BEHAVIOR Canet, et al 2004 42 1964-1994 1984 1988 1989 20 years
Canet & Gomez 2004 33 1972-1997 1992c 1992f 1990 12 years
-Information on Cuban educational psychology is not easily - Some Cubans use “intelligent behavior” to operationalize
available (vs. info on methods, outcomes, reforms, and structures) the construct of intelligence. *The volume Inteligencia, creatividad y talento: Debate actual was reprinted in 2007.
a
controlled for outliers, uncontrolled mean is 1983 d controlled for outliers, uncontrolled median is 1986
- Culture has critical mediating role: fosters value of one‟s
b
controlled for outliers, uncontrolled mean is 1985 e controlled for outliers, uncontrolled median is 1987
-5 chapters in 2 books, purchased in La Habana, Cuba
c
controlled for outliers, uncontrolled mean is 1989 f controlled for outliers, uncontrolled median is 1990
intelligence, which foments desire for intelligent behavior The development
(listed far right bottom corner) of thought is not REGIONAL/CULTURAL-HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF SOURCES CITED
(Castro Guevara, 2007).
- Intelligent behavior, in turn, contributes to the further synonymous with ORIGIN OF SOURCES f %
-Undertook a thematic analysis to find common threads Total Citations 86 100.00
development of intelligence (Castro Guevara, 2007). the development of
-Analyzed bibliographies to discern availability of materi- intelligence. Cuban 32 37.21
- Different vocabularies are used to explore behavior: Soviet 16 18.60
als and regional origins of sources. -Castro Guevara
CREATIVITY AS INTELLIGENT BEHAVIOR US 17 19.77
-Also used contextualizing sources from Cuba and the US (2007, p.37) Western non-US 21 24.42
- Intelligence is a foundation upon which creative
potentials grow into talents (Castellanos & Cruz 2007). -Cuban works studied cited sources US researchers are less likely to
We look for how BACKGROUND - Accessing creativity will also access a student‟s intrinsic
motivations (Canet, et al, 2004).
be familiar with, because these sources are older and are predomi-
foreign knowl- PRE-REVOLUTION INFLUENCES nantly Cuban or non-US Western .
TACTICAL INTELLIGENCE -To what extent is the age of resources and lack of common resources

edge can be - familiar, traditional Western educational structure
- Jose Marti, 19th century patriotic leader
used here in - strong interest in development of personality (see right)
- worked from theory: Cuban educational conversations hinge on
Cuba, but we
theory, even to discuss concrete practice (Bosch, 2003).
don‟t apply it
SOVIET INFLUENCES
blindly. - Vygotsky & Historical-Cultural Methods
- Vygotsky: emphasized that individual develops in society
-Dr. Remedios - Cubans look for ways to use cultural & historical processes to
Gonzalez reinforce the academic process (L. Garcia Ramis & J. M. Remedios
(personal communication, Gonzalez, personal communications, November 23-26, 2009).
November 26, 2006) - Dialectic Structures
- embraces opposition as enriching rather than in need of solution
- Vygotsky: the conflict of individual‟s internal and external life
- Marxist-Leninist philosophies
- have a cultural capital in Cuba that is not true elsewhere
- scholarly vocabulary: tools as “weapons” and teachers as both
“designers and laborers” (Canet, et al, 2004, p.143).
CUBAN CONTEXTS
- Cuban poverty is unique: “Consumption per capita is low, but few
Cubans are „in poverty,‟ in the sense that they cannot get housing,
food, health care, and education” (Carnoy, 2007, p.28).
- Less social stratification: due to bridging divides between urban and
rural, vocational and academic, manual and managerial.
- Their psychological approach to education may be more egalitarian
and less focused on difference and pathology.
- The ability to orient oneself to a problem, incorporate
new ideas, arrive at solutions, and communicate those
decisions (Canet & Gomez, 2004).
- The connection between creativity and intelligent
behavior, evidenced in both activity and communication.
- Interacts with personality, which regulates behavior
(Canet, et al, 2004).
INTELLIGENCE AS SOCIAL JUSTICE
- Education and educational theory must be applicable.
- Intelligence is not limited by biology but by lack of social
structures to help it develop successfully (Castro Guevara,
2007, & Castellanos & Cordova, 2007).
- If a student is not progressing academically it is due not
to a deficit of intelligence but to a deficit of instruction
(Cuba Ministry of Education, 1999, cited by Bosch, 2003).
“The development and perfection of the capacities
of man...is founded in the conviction that the human
being is the architect of social progress, and conse-
quently, in the need to make the most of his or her
optimum creative and transformative power”
(Castellanos & Cordova, 2007, p.1)
Ares (2008). Ojos del sur. La Habana, Cuba: Imprenta Frederico Engels
a result of the lack of material wealth and/or the US embargo?
-To what extent is it the result of explicit or implicit Cuban govern-
ment controls on information sharing?
-Many articles referred to more current theories without citing them
(i.e. Gardner‟s Multiple Intelligences). If Cubans are aware of these
and implicitly agree with them, why not cite them?
“Pedagogy is more than books on pedagogy.”
(L. Turner Marti, personal communication,
November 26, 2006)
PRIMARY CUBAN REFERENCES
Bonet Gomez, M. M. & H. Suanes Canet, H. (2004). Inteligencia tactica y creatividad [Tactical intelligence and creativity.]
In L. J. Garcia Ramis (ed.) La creatividad en la educacion [Creativity in Education] (pp.227-253). La Habana, Cuba:
Editorial Pueblo y Educacion.
Castellanos Simons, D. & M. Cordova (2007). Hacia una comprension de la inteligencia [Toward an understanding of inte-
lligence]. In Inteligencia, creatividad, y talento: Debate actual [Intelligence, creativity, and talent: Current debate]
(pp.1-18). La Habana, Cuba: Editorial Pueblo y Educacion.
Castellanos Simons, D. & I. G. Cruz (2007). Una reflexion sobre la inteligencia y su desarollo [A reflection on intelligence
and its development.] In Inteligencia, creatividad, y talento: Debate actual [Intelligence, creativity, and talent:
Current debate] (pp.33-43). La Habana, Cuba: Editorial Pueblo y Educacion.
Castro Guevara, O. L. (2007). El acceso a la inteligencia desde el comportamiento inteligente [Accessing intelligence
from intelligent behavior.] In Inteligencia, creatividad, y talento: Debate actual [Intelligence, creativity, and talent:
Current debate] (pp.19-32). La Habana, Cuba: Editorial Pueblo y Educacion.
Ortega Estevez, G., J. M. Rodriquez Pendas, & H. Suanes Canet (2004). ODISEO: un proyecto educativo para el desarrollo
de la inteligencia y la creatividad [ODISEO: an educational project for the development of intelligence and creativity.]
In In L. J. Garcia Ramis (ed.) La creatividad en la educacion [Creativity in Education] (pp.139-160). La Habana, Cuba:
Editorial Pueblo y Educacion.