The Cuban pañoleta and the standardization of educational individuals

Abstract

The objective of the research is to analyze how the normalization of the individuals in Cuba is expressed through the meanings and rituals associated with the pañoleta, considered as a fetish, within the context of the Cuban primary educational institutionalism. The research seeks to understand how fetishes, as well as the rituals and myths surrounding them, contribute to the formation of political subjectivity, construction and normalization of individuals within the educational system, focusing specifically on primary education where the process of disciplining begins. Through a qualitative and interpretative methodology, the relationship between the concepts of normalization and control according to Foucault's perspective and the Cuban educational reality will be examined by means of a bibliographic review and interviews to teachers and elementary school principals. The final objective is to obtain a deeper understanding of how rituals and symbols, such as the pañoleta, influence the shaping of identity and adherence to norms within the Cuban educational context, which could provide relevant information for the analysis of the ideological discourse present in Cuban primary schools. In addition to the bibliographical review on the subject, qualified informants are interviewed to correlate the theoretical and historical aspects to the particular realities of teachers and principals of educational institutions in exercise for the last 20 years.