A New Look at the Literacy Campaign in Cuba

Abstract

sIn September 1960, Fidel Castro announced to the world that Cuba would, within a year's time, teach more than one million illiterate adult Cubans to read and write. In this article, based on interviews conducted by the author in Cuba and on publications not generally available in the United States, Jonathan Kozol traces the history and documents the success of the Cuban literacy campaign. Outlining the immense logistical and pedagogical challenges of this effort, he describes the recruitment and training of the volunteer teachers and the development of instructional methods that were frankly political in nature and intent. Kozol concludes the article with personal accounts by two young members of the campaign forces that provide a case study of the application of Paulo Friere's educational principles.