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You
are here: Long-Term Educational Leadership in Venezuela
Following is a brief summary of a remarkable educational project that I have been observing for over twenty years. In 1979, I attended in Minneapolis a conference of the World Future Society that focused on education. There I listened to a small man with an enormous vision. Dr. Luis Alberto Machado had just been appointed by the president of Venezuela as the first in the world Minister for the Development of Human Intelligence. He was assigned the task of raising the level of intelligence of the entire population of Venezuela from birth throughout life. He was given an office, a secretary, and no budget and told, "Go to it!"
He was of course the laughing stock of his country, but within a few years people were no longer laughing as his program began to take effect. It started in the maternity hospital of Caracas where over a hundred babies were born every day. There, parents were empowered to learn how to create environments that could lead to the healthy, happy development of their children. Community centers were created to which parents and caregivers could take their babies several times a year from infancy to age three. There they learned how to help their children develop appropriate to their needs and developmental levels.
Dr. Machado worked with an international team of experts to create curriculums in the schools. The teams included educational pioneers from the U.S. (from Yale, UCLA, and Project Zero at Harvard), Israel, England, France, and other countries in South America. Bolt, Baranek, and Newman, an engineering firm in Cambridge, Massachussetts, was hired to do the evaluation. The program not only helped children to master the basic skills, but also focused on developing higher level thinking skills—including logic, problem-solving, creativity, and decision making. Through community service projects students learned altruism and compassion. The arts were included in the curriculum at all levels.
At the university level, professors were taught how to ask thought-provoking questions in addition to giving lectures. The program also included educational programs for adults, including civil service employees, the military, and workers in all fields. The project was supported by all the media – twenty five-minute spots every day on all TV channels that offered tips on how to raise babies that were healthy in mind, body and spirit—and half-hour programs for adults called The Tools of Intelligence. The outcome of all this was that in seven years, the literacy level and academic achievement soared, youngsters were helping to solve civic and environmental problems, new creative, social and environmental projects were instituted throughout the country.
Then a sudden change came about when a new president of Venezuela was elected. The new president was threatened by the idea of creating a more intelligent population and he changed the focus to health and welfare. There was an attempt to dismantle the whole program, but fortunately some of it was so deeply imbedded that it could not be destroyed; however, funding was cut and support withdrawn.
At that point the project globalized as Dr, Machado decided to take what he had learned and share the project abroad. Under the leadership of Beatriz Cardozo Capdevielle, David Perkins, and Dawid van der Vyver, the project is being implemented it in S. Africa, (where now over 1000 schools are disproving the destructive message of The Bell Curve). Under Dr Machado's leadership, it is being implemented in many cities in China. And under the leadership of Maria Sanchez and the Instituto Tecnologico de Monterey, Mexico, it is being implemented in the universities of many countries in South America.
I have visited Venezuela several times and a couple of years ago found that Dr. Machado had begun the Intelligence Project in his own country once again—this time without presidential mandate—but with a grass-roots approach. Before a new school can be included, there must be total buy-in and participation of teachers, parents, students, and other members of the community. The educational program is being restored, but severe damage has been done to the country that will take many years to overcome.
Recently, New Horizons for Learning received an update from Venezuela where now nearly 500 schools are involved. The Governor of the State of Miranda (the state with the largest population where Caracas is located) has founded a public, autonomous organization called the Foundation for Educational Excellence to provide leadership as the Development of Thinking program is being implemented in all schools, public and private. While the country is in crisis economically, socially, and politically, academic achievement in these programs is soaring. Project directors believe that the crisis has made people realize that the only true long-term solution lies in education.
Are there lessons we can learn from this story for our own country? I can think of several. First, vision and persistence pay off despite the vagaries of political change. Second, For educational change to take hold, there must be both grass-roots involvement as well as strong educational leadership that is distributed and collaborative. Third, that problem-solving and other high level thinking skills, can be learned and affect academic achievement at all levels. Finally, sometimes a catastrophe or crisis can lead to breakthrough. You can undoubtedly think of other lessons relevant to your own situation.
Following is the latest report on the Venezuelan Intelligence Project from Beatriz Cadozo de Capdevielle, who has been involved with the project from the very beginning as Dr. Machado's assistant, and continues her work with the project today both in Venezuela and in South Africa.
Update from the Venezuelan Intelligence Project by Beatriz Cardozo de Capdevielle.
Dee Dickinson is Chief Learning Office/Founder of New Horizons for Learning. She has taught on all levels from elementary school through university, has produced nine international conferences on education and several series on educational television. Her publications include Positive Trends for Learning (commissioned by IBM), Creating the Future, and she is co-author, with Linda and Bruce Campbell, of Teaching and Learning Through Multiple Intelligences. Email: deedickinson@newhorizons.org.
© August 2003 New Horizons for Learning
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