Bilingual education and community participation : keys to successful transitions in Guatemala
Document type: article
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Abstract:
The Asociación de Promotores de Educación Inicial Bilingüe (APEDIBIMI) has developed its programme in the Ixil area of El Quiché Department in northwest Guatemala, where indigenous people account for 90 percent of the population. This is the home of the Ixiles, one of the 22 ethnic Mayan groups that make up 60 percent of the total national population. Their mother tongue, Ixil, is a factor in the area’s social cohesion as well as a means of transmitting and disseminating the group’s traditional culture and teachings. APEDIBIMI is a comprehensive effort to respond to the educational needs of the whole community, and particularly the early childhood group, using bilingualism to combat social exclusion. The association’s members originate from the same communities in which they offer their services and are elected by those communities. Their mother tongue is the same as the children’s, but they also have Spanish. As well as living in the community where they teach, they have a knowledge of the community’s history and culture and maintain regular contact with its leaders.
Authors:
Terraza, B.
Country:
Guatemala
Category:
Practice
End Page:
41
Serial number:
107
ISSN:
1387-9553
Journal:
Early Childhood Matters
Keywords:
education
,
children
,
indigenous peoples
,
communities
Language:
eng
Organization:
Bernard van Leer Foundation
Year:
2006
Region:
Central America
Right:
© 2006 Bernard van Leer Foundation
Subject:
Education, Science and Technology
Start Page:
38
Title:
Bilingual education and community participation : keys to successful transitions in Guatemala