Between Struggle and Hope: The Nicaraguan Literacy Crusade
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Available in hardcover and paperback.
Westview Special Studies on Latin America and the Caribbean
Between Struggle and Hope: The Nicaraguan Literacy Crusade V alerie Miller
In July 1979, Nicaragua began a process of profound structural transformation to redistribute power and wealth in order to redress past societal inequities. This book critically examines the planning and implementation of one of the first programs of national transformation the Nicaraguan National Literacy Crusade, an educational effort directly involving almost one-fourth of the country's population. International experts praised the program as an exemplary model for national development and unanimously chose the campaign to receive UNESCO's 1980 grand prize in literacy.
A vivid combination of anecdote and analysis, Between Struggle and Hope is a study of policymaking and institution building within a revolutionary society. Written by an international adviser to the program, the book provides an insider's look at educational planning and political formation. A critique, it combines the human story of the struggle to create the literacy campaign with a detailed evaluation of program results, both positive and negative. Unique in the literature, it allows the reader to follow firsthand the behind-the-scenes development of an educational campaign designed as part of a national plan of structural transformation and to share the personal concerns, criticisms, and analysis of the program planners. Between Struggle and Hope offers a rare opportunity to examine the process of political change through education and to probe the internal dynamics of revolution.
Valerie Miller has studied and worked in Central America since 1964. Beginning her career as an educational specialist for the Peace Corps in rural Panama, she has been involved in area development and education programs ever since. Dr. Miller has worked with projects of the United Nations, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Organization of American States, the Central American Institute of Business Administration, the U.S. Congress, and Catholic and Protestant church organizations. She received her doctorate in international education from the University of Massachusetts and worked on the executive staff of the Nicaraguan National Literacy Crusade for one year. Dr. Miller presently serves as director of Central American programs for the Foreign Policy Education Fund of Washington, D.C.
Between Struggle and Hope: The Nicaraguan Literacy Crusade
Valerie Miller
Foreword by Carman St. John Hunter
First publishing 1985 by Westview Press, Inc.
Published 2018 by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright 1985 by Valerie Miller
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Miller, Valerie.
Between struggle and hope.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. LiteracyNicaragua. 2. Education and stateNicaragua. I. Title.
LC155.N5M55 1985 370.19'4'097285 84-11984
ISBN 0-8133-0081-9
ISBN 0-8133-0082-7 (pbk.)
ISBN 13: 978-0-367-00538-2 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-813-30082-5 (pbk)
To Enoc and compaeros,
To all those who have challenged me to question inequity, given me the strength to persevere, and helped me understand the poetry and power of people,
To all the many Nicaraguans who have shared their dreams with me and made this work come alive,
To Fernando and Kay,
These many pages belong to you.
Contents
, Carman St. John Hunter
With the publication of Between Struggle and Hope; The Nicaraguan Literacy Crusade, educators and social scientists all over the world will owe Valerie Miller a large debt of gratitude. Much has been written about other famous literacy campaigns, but this is the first time we have been privileged to go behind the scenes to join responsible leaders in their daily struggles and decisions. We know something about the Tanzanian, Chinese, and Cuban successes, but we do not know how those responsible for them assessed their own work. What went right? What went wrong? If they could start again, what would they do differently? What issues were most debated? Which ideas were considered and discarded?
It was Father Fernando Cardenal, the director of the Nicaraguan crusade, who understood this need for detail. He invited Valerie Miller to assume the role of an inside-outsider, a knowledgeable participant-observer and critic, with the task of documenting the crusade from its very beginning and assisting in the evaluation. Father Cardenal's wisdom, both in issuing such a invitation and in choosing this particular adult educator, is amply proved by the book that has resulted.
There appear to me to be at least three levels on which this book merits study and appreciation. First, adult educators will find in it a challenging account of the way in which many familiar, practical situations were met and resolved or, in some cases, not resolved. Although both the problems and the successes may appear larger than life, this incredible story is valuable on the level of information about the planning, administration, and implementation of any major educational initiative.
On another level, students of social and political history will find here a case study of a people who, having triumphed over the oppressive forces of a powerful dictatorship, began the process of constructing a more inclusive and democratic state. Why did China, Cuba, and now Nicaragua choose a literacy campaign as the first step toward the creation of a new society? What were the political and educational decisions involved? And why is it that the most successful literacy campaigns have been those that followed a dramatic social and political change? We get some insight into the urgency felt by leaders to act quickly and decisively against ignorance and poverty. We can also appreciate how such political pressure may conflict with the need for careful planning and logistic precision.
