Intercultural Bilingual Education in Chubut, Argentina: Local actors’ actions for policy implementation

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Inclusion of non-dominant languages in multilingual education: Language-in-education policy change around the world

Proposal

Despite being an ethno-linguistically diverse country, governmental actions that recognize Indigenous and migrant peoples’ rights to access education in the students’ first language(s) (L1s) are only recent in Argentina. The Constitutional Reform of 1994 and the National Education Act of 2006 denote a shift from the historically homogenizing nation-project to a new paradigm of cultural diversity. In addition to the mainstream educational track, the National Education Act organizes the education system into eight ‘modalities’ that aim to address the needs of specific groups, including the Intercultural Bilingual Education modality (EIB in Spanish). The general objectives of EIB are to foster respect and appreciation for cultural and linguistic diversity and to revitalize Indigenous peoples’ knowledge, languages, worldviews, and identities at all educational levels (Ley Nacional de Educación, 2006).

However, the introduction of EIB in the national legislation does not necessarily mean democratization and flexibilization of the power structures in schools. Using Kosonen and Benson’s (2021) analytical framework to examine language-in-education policy change, this presentation explores the mechanisms used by teachers, community leaders, and advocates for Indigenous people’s rights to advance the implementation of EIB in Chubut, the province with the highest percentage of Indigenous people per inhabitant in Argentina (INDEC, 2010). Given that the strategies used by these actors tend to be under-documented, this study aims to shed light on the types of actions below and side actors can take to influence policy change and the level of participation Indigenous people have in these decision-making processes, particularly when the local and national governments do not undertake adequate implementation activities to guarantee children’s right to education in their L1s. This study proposes that the case of EIB in Chubut is an example of change from below in Kosonen and Benson’s (2021) analytical framework, with a crucial role played by local side actors.

Author

• Maria Pia Maiti, Institute of International Education