Examining the Translingual Pedagogies of Resistance of Mayan Teachers in Yucatán

• In Event: Teachers of Color Learning, Resisting, and Designing for Equitable Futures

Abstract

Bilingual Education programs in Latin America have become increasingly popular and promoted as one way to address historical inequities in society that have continued to marginalize Indigenous communities (Santibañez, 2015). Specifically within Mexico, activism from Indigenous communities and policy reforms at the national level have reshaped orientations to bilingual education. Educational policies have moved from an assimilationist approach to one that acknowledges the linguistic and cultural varieties of communities and promotes education in the mother tongue of Indigenous children (Hamel, 2008; 2016; Tinajero & Englander, 2011). As Hamel (2016) argues, despite the history of flawed and assimilationist approaches to Indigenous language education, Mexico continues to be a leader in the Americas for legislation on Indigenous languages and education. However, studies have highlighted that the realities of bilingual Indigenous teachers in Mexico reflect educational inequities such as working in underfunded schools and a lack of resources and opportunities for professional development (Gellman, 2019; Santibañez, 2015).

In this paper, the authors examine the translanguaging pedagogies (Seltzer & Garcia, 2020) of five bilingual Mayan teachers who teach in a rural Indigenous community in Yucatán, México. Through the use of ethnographic and plática methods (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2016) for data collection, this study highlights how the pedagogical stances, design, and shifts of these teachers are impacted and shaped by larger sociopolitical contexts faced by Indigenous communities and teachers in México. Specifically, we draw on classroom observation data, as well as interviews and pláticas, or semi-structured conversations, to guide our understanding of teachers’ pedagogical practices. To guide our analysis, we ask: How do Mayan teachers create translingual spaces within their classrooms by drawing on their own experiences as Indigenous peoples of México, as well as their passion for language education? Situated within a larger educational movement for teachers’ rights in Mexico, this study demonstrates how the linguistic pedagogies and educational philosophies of teachers intersect with sociopolitical discourses and policy in the field of education.

The findings of this paper will highlight how translingual pedagogies within an Indigenous Mexican context are (1) impacted by the marginalization of Indigenous communities; (2) situated within dominant discourses about teachers and the teaching profession in México; and (3) guided by a resistant spirit and desire to support the educational futures of Mayan students. Collectively, the findings of this paper highlight the nuances and conscious decision-making that Mayan teachers make to engage translingual pedagogies in a Mayan bilingual school.

Little research has qualitatively examined the experiences and pedagogical philosophies of Indigenous teachers within the sociopolitical and pedagogical context of Indigenous education in Mexico. The long history of activism in Mexican Indigenous communities fighting for linguistic sovereignty provides a unique place to study linguistic hierarchies, language education, and linguistic resistance from the perspective of Indigenous teachers (Hamel, 2008, 2016; Paciotto, 2004). This paper demonstrates the powerful pedagogical negotiations of Mayan teachers and brings Indigenous languages to the center of theorizing translingual pedagogies.

Authors

• Monica Gonzalez Ybarra, University of Illinois

• Marisol Jimenez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Blanca Bustos, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Monica Celeste Sanchez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign