U.S. Americanization in Puerto Rico’s Public Schools: Proposing Children’s Self-Organization for Decoloniality Through Photovoice and Philosophy for/with Children

Abstract

The literature on U.S. Americanization in Puerto Rico's public schools suggests that de jure U.S. Americanization culminated in 1949 when an administrative order made Spanish the official language of instruction. However, the same literature seems to indicate that students continue to experience the impacts of U.S. Americanization because there has been limited systematic political intentionality to decolonize the educational system. In this article, I argue that to carry out a decolonizing process in the public schools of the archipelago, it will be necessary to engage in critical dialogues with students, listen to how they view their colonial reality, and push their thoughts to new spaces. To do this, I propose that educators use the photovoice methodology with children to see how they see and read their world. In addition, educators should practice philosophy for and with children (P4wC) so that children use the images they take as stimuli for communities of inquiry. In conclusion, I will demonstrate that the combination of photovoice and P4wC can be conducive to critically listen and attend to the voice and the gaze of children and begin to develop educational tools that allow children to critically respond on their own to the demands of their social and political context. In this way, the Americanization of Puerto Rico's public schools could be addressed by children's voices, visions, philosophies, and will for social change.