Puerto+Rico

Behavioral Multicultural Resource Guide ** “Puerto Rico” ** EEX 4601 Dr. Reyes Sara Baertels Teresa Durr Puerto Rico **__ Geograpghy __** Puerto Rico is the easternmost island of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, approximately a thousand miles southeast of Florida and just east of the Dominican Republic and west of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The island is approximately 90 miles wide in an east-west direction and 30 miles wide between the north and south coasts, it is roughly the size of Connecticut. The coasts of tropical Puerto Rico are flat but most of the interior is mountainous. About eight percent of the land is arable for agriculture. Droughts and hurricanes are the major natural hazards. Puerto Rico is also a territory of the United States. There are about four million Puerto Ricans, who reside on the small island. San Juan is the capital of Puerto Rico, with a population of 442,447. The average temperature ranges between 75 and 81 degrees Fahrenheit. **__ History __** Puerto Rico occupies a crux position in the history of the American continent. Colonized by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León in 1508, the island contains the oldest European-founded settlement under US jurisdiction. Long before Sir Walter Raleigh and the Pilgrim Fathers had tested the waters of the tempestuous Atlantic, the first granite ramparts of El Morro fort in Old San Juan had been chiseled deftly into place. Nearly 500 years later, they’re still there. While technically a US commonwealth, some natives still feel that the island should be a full-blown American state, others an independent nation, and still more, a compromise solution that is neither of the above. Then there is the exotic cultural breakdown: the caustic blending of ancient Taíno with brutally exploited Africans into a historical melting pot that contained Spanish, French, Cuban, Dominican and even Lebanese elements. What you’re left with is the essence of modern Puerto Rico, a proud [|Caribbean] nation with a distinctly Latin temperament that also happens to be good friends with the [|US]. The Taíno were an Arawakan Indian group who inhabited Puerto Rico and the other Greater Antilles. The time of Columbus’ arrival in 1493. Arawaks had first started settling on the island around AD 700, following a gradual migration north from the Orinoco River delta in present-day Venezuela, and by the year 1000 a distinctive Taíno culture had begun to emerge based on agriculture, fishing, hunting and the production of cassava bread. Taíno believed in a complex religious cosmology. They called their newly adopted island Borinquen (Land of the Noble Lord) and practiced basic crafts such as pottery, basket weaving and wood carving. The native society was relatively democratic and organized around a system of // caciques //(chiefs). Below the // caciques // was a rank of medicine men, subchiefs and, below them, the workers. In the golden age of piracy, Puerto Rico was revered by booty-seeking buccaneers like no other Spanish port. Everyone from daring British dandy Francis Drake to common cutthroats such as Blackbeard tried their luck against San Juan’s formidable defenses. Few were successful. In the eighteenth century, the Spanish initiated a series of improvements, reforming the system of land tenure and in effect initiating private ownership. Overhauled policies allowed trade with other nations. These measures fostered development and increased settlement, urbanization, and population growth; they also facilitated the emergence of a sense of culture. Cultural nationalism generated political activism, literary and artistic production, and economic development. In 1897, Spain granted Puerto Rico an Autonomic Charter that recognized its right to internal self-government. The first autonomous government was constituted in April 1898, but its accession was postponed when the United States declared war on Spain. The national consciousness that emerged under Spanish rule survived into the twentieth century under U.S. control. The United States saw itself as exercising a benign modernizing function, but Puerto Ricans saw it as eroding their culture and curtailing their autonomy. This tension was aggravated by U.S. capitalistic practices. The government facilitated the economic exploitation of the island's resources by absentee corporations and fostered the exportation of local workers as cheap migrant labor. Claiming that the island lacked resources and was overpopulated, the U.S. government encouraged migration, with the consequent formation of communities across the United States. Americanization efforts included English-only education and the implementation of an American educational system, the appointment of pro-U.S. officials, the incorporation of Anglo-Saxon common law principles and practices into the island's legal system, the grant of U.S. citizenship on the eve of World War I, and the introduction of U.S. currency and the devaluation of the local peso. The advent of the commonwealth in 1952 did not end debates over Puerto Rico's culture and colonial status. Many people view the changes over the last century as modernization and the introduction of a corporate capitalist culture that has spread around the world without erasing cultural differences. The U.S. House of Representatives, and the Jones Act of 1917, established all Puerto Ricans are born citizens of the United States with the identical citizenship of any US Citizen. You do not need a passport to visit Puerto Rico from anywhere in the 50 states. **__ Government and Politics __** Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States. Puerto Rico has a republican form of government, subject to U.S. jurisdiction and sovereignty. Its powers are delegated by the United States Congress yet lack full protection under the United States Constitution. Puerto Rico's head of state is the President of the United States. The government of Puerto Rico, based on the formal republican system, is composed of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. As Puerto Rico is not an independent country, it hosts no embassies. It is host, however, to consulates from 41 countries, mainly from the Americas and Europe. Most consulates are located in San Juan. As an unincorporated territory of the United States, Puerto Rico does not have any first-order administrative divisions as defined by the U.S. government, but has 78 municipalities at the second level. Under the Constitution of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico is described as a Commonwealth. Puerto Ricans enjoy a degree of administrative autonomy similar to that of a U.S. state. Congress, however, "may treat Puerto Rico differently from States so long as there is a rational basis for its actions." Puerto Ricans have been granted U.S. citizenship in 1917 due to the Jones-Shafroth Act. The act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on March 2, 1917. U.S. Federal law 8.U.S.C 1402 approved by the President Harry S. Truman on June 27, 1952 declared all persons born in Puerto Rico on or after January 13, 1941 to be citizens of the U.S. at birth and all persons born in Puerto Rico between April 11, 1899, and January 12, 1941, and meeting certain other technical requirements, and not citizens of the United States under any other Act, are declared to be citizens of the U.S. as of January 13, 1941. **__ Economy __** In the early 1900s the greatest contributor to Puerto Rico's economy was agriculture and its main crop was sugar. In the late 1940s, a series of projects encouraged a significant shift to manufacture. Manufacturing quickly replaced agriculture as the main industry of the island. Puerto Rico is classified as a high income country by the World Bank. Shortly after the great depression, Puerto Rico’s economic conditions improved greatly, however, on May 1, 2006, the Puerto Rican government faced significant shortages in cash flows, which forced the closure of the local Department of Education and 42 other government agencies. All 1,536 public schools closed. Puerto Ricans had median household income of $17,741 for 2007, which makes Puerto Rico's economy comparable to the independent nations of Latvia or Poland. By comparison, the poorest state of the Union, Mississippi, had median household income of $36,338 in 2007. **__ Cultural Specific Behaviors and Strategies __** **Behavior Misunderstanding Strategy** Touching (kiss, male hugging, pat on the back, and shaking hands) || Invade ones’ personal space || Show through example that there are differences in a good and a bad touch. Explain that each culture in different in the way that they “touch”. Allow students to express their opinion on being approached in this manner, || Cooperative learning and sharing (ex: helping one another during a test) || Cheating, not interested in learning, and/or doing their part in group work || Create more opportunities where students can work together on class work. Allow for class discussions. || Short-term goal orientated || Not planning for their future || Since Hispanics tend to live in the now, do not use timed activities. Instead, introduce assignments that take time to complete in advance. || Submissiveness to correction and immediate compliance to correction || This is often understood as not caring about work and as avoiding any criticism. || A teacher may, instead of pointing out mistakes orally, ask the student if another answer may be better. By probing the student the teacher ensures that the student is aware of self correcting skills. || Constantly off task or lack of attention to academics. || This may be misunderstood as disrespect or audacity. || A teacher can provide the student with culturally appropriate materials which align with the students personal attributes. By making the lessons personal to their lives, students realize the significance and value of learning || Reluctant to Compete and group approach to working || This is commonly misunderstood as being lazy or unmotivated. || A strategy to support this style of learning would be to cluster desks so that the student is always close to another student. The teacher may also provide more group work and partner activity. || **__ References __** //Culture of Puerto Rico - History and ethnic relations, Urbanism, architecture, and the use of space//. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2009, from http://www.everyculture.com/No-Sa/Puerto-Rico.html //History of Puerto Rico - Lonely Planet Travel Information//. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2009, from http://www.lonelyplanet.com/puerto-rico/history //Puerto Rico - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico //Puerto Rico Map, Puerto Rico Maps and Travel Guides//. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2009, from http://www.wordtravels.com/Travelguide/Countries/Puerto+Rico/Map Rosenberg, M. (n.d.). //Geography of Puerto Rico//. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/puertorico.htm //Table of Contents//. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2009, from http://www.literacynet.org/lp/hperspectives/contents.html //puerto rico - Google Images//. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2009, from [] re.