Intercultural Bilingual Education among Indigenous Populations in Latin America: Policy and Practice in Peru, Bolivia, and Guatemala Author: Mairead Rose McNameeKing Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/2629 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2012 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. INTERCULTURAL BILINGUAL EDUCATION AMONG INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS IN LATIN AMERICA: POLICY AND PRACTICE IN PERU, BOLIVIA, AND GUATEMALA by Mairead McNameeKing Submitted in partial fulfillment of graduation requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts Boston College International Studies Program Honors Program May 2012 Advisor and IS Thesis Coordinator: Prof. Hiroshi Nakazato Signature: Honors Program Thesis Coordinator: Prof. Susan Michalczyk Signature: Copyright © 2012 Mairead Rose McNameeKing All Rights Reserved Abstract In Latin America, Indigenous peoples still exhibit markedly lower qualities of life compared to their nonindigenous peers. One of the most direct ways to change this cycle is through reforms to existing and implementation of new systems of education, such as intercultural bilingual education (EIB), to reflect a greater understanding of and sensitivity to Indigenous linguistic and cultural needs. Through an exploration of EIB in Peru, Bolivia, and Guatemala countries, this study determines some of the primary conditions necessary for EIB’s success to be: national and regional stability; governmental support in both legal and fiscal terms; funding and resources; community support and participation; and system design, program adaptation, and flexibility. If these prerequisites are met, EIB can be an effective way to provide an education to Latin America’s Indigenous peoples in such a way that it is adequate according to local, national, and international standards while simultaneously fulfilling the Indigenous groups’ articulated desire and need for an educational system that appropriately respects, preserves, and fosters the distinct languages and cultures existing within a multicultural state. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Indigenous education in Latin America, an introduction ............................ 1 Education in a Latin American context: Successes and shortcomings .................................... 4 The State: Peace and recognition ..................................................................................................... 5 Access to funding and resources ...................................................................................................... 7 Communities and participation ........................................................................................................ 9 System design .................................................................................................................................... 10 Roadmap ............................................................................................................................................ 14 Chapter 2: Indigeneity ............................................................................................................ 15 Collective and minority rights ........................................................................................................ 18 The International Labour Organization and Convention 169 ............................................................ 21 UNDRIP: The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ...................... 25 Indigenous peoples in Latin America .......................................................................................... 27 Chapter 3: Indigenous education and Educación Intercultural Bilingüe ................... 33 An education of quality .................................................................................................................... 35 Origins of EIB in Latin America ................................................................................................... 37 Challenges for EIB in Latin America ........................................................................................... 41 Monolingualism and migration ..................................................................................................... 43 Teacher training ................................................................................................................................ 44 Responsibility to disappearing languages ................................................................................... 45 Validation of Indigenous peoples, cultures and languages ..................................................... 46 Chapter 4: Peru, a case study ................................................................................................ 48 Demographics ................................................................................................................................... 48 History of Indigenous education in Peru .................................................................................... 49 PEEB-P and further development of EIB in Peru ..................................................................... 52 Madre de Dios: “Lost Paradise” and the Arakmbut .................................................................. 58 Puerto Alegre and SIL involvement in the region .................................................................................. 59 San José and RESSOP .................................................................................................................................... 61 The Establishment of FENAMAD ............................................................................................................ 63 Three types of schools and communities in the Lowlands of Peru ................................................... 64 Remarks on Peru ............................................................................................................................... 66 Chapter 5: Bolivia, a case study ............................................................................................ 67 Demographics ................................................................................................................................... 67 History of Indigenous education in Bolivia ................................................................................ 69 Educational reforms and decrees of the mid-1990’s .................................................................. 73 Educational reform and foreign aid .............................................................................................. 81 Bolivia’s Guarani and EIB .............................................................................................................. 91 The Kuruyukɨ massacre and its 100th anniversary ................................................................................. 93 Modern EIB among the Guarani ................................................................................................................ 95 The Guaraní in Itavera ................................................................................................................................... 97 Remarks ............................................................................................................................................ 104 Chapter 6: Guatemala, a case study .................................................................................. 105 Demographics ................................................................................................................................. 105 ii History of Indigenous and Mayan peoples in Guatemala ..................................................... 109 History of Indigenous Education in Guatemala ..................................................................... 115 Policies, the Project of Bilingual Education and PRONEBI ............................................................ 117 DIGEBI: La Dirección General de Educación Bilingüe Intercultural .......................................................... 122 Iq’ and the current reality of DIGEBI .................................................................................................... 123 A study on actual success of EIB graduates in Guatemala ................................................... 126 Primary School Experience ........................................................................................................................ 127 Later Life of Graduates ............................................................................................................................... 130 Remarks ........................................................................................................................................... 135 Chapter 7: Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 137 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... 141 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without my advisor Prof. Hiroshi Nakazato. I am profoundly grateful for his support, patience, and feedback during this entire process. Not only was he always prepared to steer me away from unnecessary references to modern American poetry, he encouraged me to start to to cultivate an authentic academic voice of my own in