Leiden University Student Repository

Louafi, Lea 2020

The preservation of Indigenous cultural heritage in the context of Intercultural Bilingual Education

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

closed access

Indigenous rights have been at the forefront of Latin American policymakers and the government’s agendas in the last decades. Due to the rapid cultural assimilation of indigenous groups in most...Show moreIndigenous rights have been at the forefront of Latin American policymakers and the government’s agendas in the last decades. Due to the rapid cultural assimilation of indigenous groups in most Latin American countries, governments have struggled to preserve the cultural heritage of these communities. This was partially due to the lack of recognition indigenous populations faced in Latin America until the 1980s. Due to the rise in threat of extinction to indigenous languages, debates have been sparked about the best way to preserve and revitalize them. Their recognition as part of a society is not enough and active measures need to be taken to adequately ensure the survival of these cultural heritages. These challenges have been tackled through various measures, one of which is the introduction of bilingual education in schools. The introduction of bilingual schools allowed for indigenous children to access education in their own languages. However, these were mostly shaped by the notion of subtractive bilingualism, essentially leading to the suppression of the non - Spanish languages. Still, Latin American governments in partnership with various indigenous representatives and local authorities continue to develop them to better accommodate specific regions and communities.Show less