| dc.description.abstract | Being taught in one’s maternal language is vital for the development process of children, especially in a country as Guatemala. The population consists of 24 distinct ethnic groups, of which 22 are distinct indigenous Maya groups, which all know their own Maya language and cultural identity. Over 50% of the population has some Mayan ancestry (INE, 2002). The education system in Guatemala is poor in many aspects, especially in the field of ethnic and gender inequities. Indigenous people are less likely to be enrolled in school, they are more likely to repeat grades, drop out early and are over-aged in primary schools. Rural indigenous children are the group that has the least access to basic education. Just 30% of rural students complete third grade, and two thirds of Maya first graders are taught by instructors who neither understand nor speak the children’s maternal languages (Rubio e.a., 2005). Therefore, Intercultural Bilingual Education (IBE) has been introduced to meet the needs of the indigenous population, since the 1990s. IBE teaches students to understand their culture and master the basic language skills of understanding, speaking, reading, and writing in a Mayan language, followed by mastering the same skills in Spanish. Besides, the role which culture plays in IBE is of high importance and almost as important as the language itself. Since its implementation, the benefits of IBE for indigenous populations in Guatemala are significant. However, although IBE programs have been implemented in several areas in the country, in many schools large deficiencies are found. Therefore, improvements are needed to foster educational achievements and the development process of children.
This thesis is designed around a study on Intercultural Bilingual Education (IBE) and its influences on the Achí culture and child development in rural indigenous communities in Guatemala, in collaboration with PLAN Guatemala. This thesis is carried out in the indigenous villages Tempisque and Chixolop, part of the rural areas of the department Baja Verapaz located in the center of Guatemala. The objective of this thesis is ‘an analysis of the livelihoods and current situation of IBE in the communities, followed by an analysis of the socio-cultural context of the Achí people, in order to indicate in what way IBE influences the Achí culture and how it is influenced by the Achí culture. Additionally, it is analyzed how education and other external and environmental influences that children are surrounded by, influence their development’. For PLAN Guatemala recommendations will be given in order to develop effective Intercultural Bilingual Education programs and increase the development process of children in indigenous communities.
The underlying literature provides knowledge about the history, development, costs and benefits of IBE in Latin America, and Guatemala in particular. Besides, underlying literature provides knowledge about the importance of education and early childhood development. Theories used are the rights-based approach, and as main theory and structure used within this thesis is the bio-ecological systems model of the development psychologist Bronfenbrenner. His theory looks at a child’s development within the context of the system of relationships that form his or her environment. This thesis focuses on education, therefore it has been valuable to analyze the development process of children by looking at the external influences of education.
The methods used to reach the objective of this study are 1) 82 household surveys conducted among families, 2) 16 in-depth interviews conducted among youngsters 3) evaluation of IBE in the primary school of each community, including classroom observations and 14 in-depth interviews among teachers (and directors) of each grade, and 4) 10 in-depth interviews conducted with main stakeholders in the field of education.
The research objective can be translated into the main research question;
‘How does Intercultural Bilingual Education influence the Achí culture, how is it influenced by the Achí culture and in what way does it affect child development?’. This question is threefold, therefore three sub questions have been identified and examined.
1) in what way does IBE influence perceptions on the Achí culture and other elements in community life? It is acknowledged that the influences of IBE on the Achí language, Achí culture and identity are big. Besides, education also has a lot of influence on people’s perceptions of elements in community life. However, a significant difference can be found between educated and non/low- educated people. Educated people believe that knowledge changes the way people perceive elements in life and provides someone with much more opportunities in life. In addition, it provides people with much more knowledge on their own culture and language, which strengthens their cultural identity. Further, the rising education level has its effects on the children’s views on life. Nowadays, the community norms, values and traditions are still very important to the youth, but their individual choices become more important. In contrary to their parents, educated children look at the future, at the possibilities outside the community besides working at the field or being a housewife.
2) In what way do cultural elements of the Achí culture influence and shape IBE? Cultural elements people value the most; norms and values, traditions and religion, influence education significantly, on several manners. The education system is now adjusted to needs of the Achí people(implementation IBE), importantly, without the voice of indigenous people IBE would not even exist. Overall, the people in Tempisque and Chixolop find it very important that cultural elements are included in the education provided at primary schools, the cultural identity of the Achí people will be maintained and strengthened on this way.
3) In what way does IBE and other external and environmental influences children are surrounded by, influence their development? It is acknowledged that education is next to a child’s parents, the second most important influence in a child’s development. However, quite some deficiencies can be found in the education system in the communities. It is especially the lack of knowledge about IBE, motivation and lack of financial-material resources which make that the IBE system is not applied how it should be. The way in which IBE is applied strongly depends on the teachers’ education and experience. It is just 50% of the teachers who implement IBE well. Other teachers do not have the knowledge, do not know how to apply IBE with the materials they have or are not motivated. Other important external and environmental influences that foster child development, are the strong community ties, family and extended family ties. Also the strong ties with the church, which is seen as part of the children’s education. However, the environment they live in hampers their development process; lack of good nutrition, lack of good available health care and a lack of financial resources. Unfortunately, these circumstances cannot easily be strengthened in the near future.
The quality of education is slightly improving, but IBE still shows many shortages which must be strengthened; which will not only affect children’s development process positively, but also provide people with better future opportunities and lead to overall development in the communities. Hopefully this thesis will provide more in-depth knowledge on IBE in rural communities in Guatemala and create more interest in the topic. | |
