Helping Behavior

James Hayes Shofner "Jim" Cooper (born June 19, 1954) is the U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 5th congressional distric (based in Nashville), serving since 2003.  He is a member of the Democratic Party and the Blue Dog Coalition and he previously represented Tennessee's 4th congressional district from 1983 to 1995.

In his book Down on the Island, Jim Cooper talks about Puerto Rican culture through the eyes of a continental American professor teaching students in the Colegio de Mayagüez.   In his chapter Helping he references a specific phenomenon of the Puerto Rican culture that continues to be a debated topic everywhere.  Cooper brings up his concern that cheating was done in Puerto Rico in an open and public way, more than he had ever seen.  He states the difference of how cheating is seen in the States and how it is thought of here on the island.  He brings up the whole situation that since early stages of the development, teachers are encouraging their students to help each other, making it seem like a good and valid action.  He also points that the whole system “approves” of the cheating behavior since the behavioral model that is seen between students is a cooperative one rather than a competitive one.  The whole helping others idea (even though not the whole idea of it) is spread through the Puerto Rican culture impacting the preparation with which students got to college and it reflected in the teaching and learning of the English language on the island. 

            Reading this essay by Jim Cooper made me want to situate myself and my opinion among the many streams that the present debate unfolds.  It is true that Puerto Ricans exhibit a cooperative behavior most of the time, but it doesn’t mean that it shows up only on the academic aspect.  I don’t believe that we Puerto Ricans cooperate academically more than other cultures for no reason.  It is something that comes from the way the whole system is build up.  For example, most of the teaching done in our schools just focuses on specific tests that are coming up and not really on the learning experience.  I personally do not believe that tests (including standardized ones) reflect the true enrichment that a student is having academically, because it forces the learning process.  Students are pushed to memorize large quantities of material and the true learning process is lost; that is when cheating comes up. Even though I do not sponsor cheating on tests, I do believe that cooperative teaching and learning is the correct path to go through.  This means that the learning process (which is not the moment of taking a test) should be based on students helping other students for ideas to be transmitted in clearer and more familiar ways.  In contrast to the cooperative model, there’s the competitive model of behavior.  I prefer the cooperative model because I’ve never been a person who likes competition; in fact, I do not believe that there even exists a positive kind of competition.  Even though it is a fact that competition can bring out the best of someone, it is also true that it can bring out the worst.  Sadly, the organization of the educational process of our nation forces each one of us to become part of the competition in order to achieve what we want.  Only those who excel in standardized tests are the ones who get the opportunity to prove themselves good at something; only those who get the chance to relate to powerful people are the ones who get the chance to become what they want.  It is at this time that we are forced to become part of a competition that ends in no positive results at all.

            While it is true that the cooperative model is not correct in all aspects of our life, it is also true that the competitive model can also represent a threat to our integrity. Being in a competition towards a specific goal can make us blind and lead ourselves to step on others no matter how bad it could hurt them.  It is at this time that, no matter how good we could become due to competition, our basic human values become destroyed and therefore competition has destroyed ourselves.  That is the reason why we should maintain in a neutral position, where it is possible to maintain a balance between these two extremes.  We should be able to take competition as a way of trying to emulate the positive things those around us have, becoming better ourselves, but not to a level where we compete just for the destruction of the other competitors.  As a perfect balance we should practice a competition where the rules that guide the whole game are compassion and comprehension; that way a cooperative aura will come by naturally, establishing the perfect harmony in between them and the combination that better works for us humans. 

Jim Cooper focuses this whole debate in the English teaching in Puerto Rico.  Why Puerto Ricans know or do not know English has always been a sensitive topic because of the diversity of opinions.  I found a really curious site where different English teachers in Puerto Rico talk about their professional experiences in the island: Teaching English in Puerto Rico.  It is possible to see that not all teachers have had bad experiences and those who have had difficulties do not make reference to the "Helping/Cheating" behavior.  This may be a good link to read and take the time to reflect, as part of the education system, about the reality in which we are included and wether Jim Cooper made an objective characterization of the Puerto Rican students and the system.