Imagining Possibilities for Guatemalan Mayans in the U.S. Schools: Creating a Community of Practice Through Study Abroad

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Study Abroad and Cultural Exchange (Table 7)

Abstract

This paper will present results of a multi-institutional single collective case-study (Stake, 2000) on the impact of a month-long Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad program to Guatemala for pre-service and in-service educators using Critical Race Theory, Transformative Learning (Mezirow, 1997) and communities of practice (Lave & Wegner, 1991). The program’s design included the intensive study of Spanish and K’iche’ (a Mayan language spoken widely in Guatemala and in the participants' local settings) at rural and urban educational centers, embedded in the historical and present day contexts of the Guatemalan social, political, and economic landscape, with emphasis on the educational system. For some participants, this was a first experience abroad, while others had previous experiences abroad or as immigrants to the US themselves.

Authors

• James Cahan, University of Rhode Island

• Rabia Hos, Southern Connecticut State University

• Erin L Papa, Rhode Island College