Movie Maker de mis Exp. de Campo

Reaction to Inés María Mendoza Rivera de Muñoz Marín's Educational Work

It is obvious to see that Mendoza had the vocation of being a teacher. This can be seen by the years in which she served as one and mostly by the educational spin that she gave to everything as Puerto Rico's First Lady. Whether it be campaigning for her husband or advocating in pro of environmental conservation, she saw it as an educational process.
Probably, Mendoza's most noteworthy educational feat was her defense of the Spanish vernacular as the primary teaching medium. This was done at a meeting with the Committee of Hays (a committee directed by the lawyer Arthur Garfield Hays that investigated civil liberties in Puerto Rico). At this meeting, Mendoza argued that utilizing a foreign and imposed language as the primary teaching language causes a mental confusion that will greatly hinder the formation of Puerto Rico's children. She said that the Department of Instruction (as it was known back then) was being used for political purposes directed by the government of EEUU.
Although I agree that all public educational systems are controlled by their governments and therefore promote a certain set of values and strive for certain objectives, I do not agree with Mendoza in that an education in a foreign language will confuse the children. It might create resentful feeling toward the language but not confusion. I am an example. All my elementary and high school level education was done with English as the primary teaching medium. This has not confused me in anyway shape or form. It gave a superior control of the English language. The reason that this did not confuse me was that although at the school environment English was the dominant language, Spanish was prevalent everywhere else. This scenario rather than confusing me, allowed me to learn both languages efficiently.
I may not necessarily want to change Spanish for English as the main educational language, but saying like as Mendoza said that teaching in a foreign language confuses the children is false.


Información proveída por la Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín