Public Policies Supporting Education Quality for Indigenous Children in Latin America

• In Event: Indigenous students and education policy in Latin America

Abstract

This paper looks into how public policies support education quality for Indigenous children in Latin American countries. During the 1990s nine countries in the region amended their constitutions to guarantee Intercultural Bilingual Education as an educational right of Indigenous children. In five other countries this right is supported through education legislation. In all these countries new legislation, reforms to education policies, and the creation of new institutions focused on providing quality education that is culturally and linguistically relevant to Indigenous children. This comparative study of educational reform uses three central themes to analyze the implementation of these policies: pre-service teacher education, in-service teacher education, and the teaching and learning of the Indigenous languages. The information to support this study was generated by the countries through a qualitative survey designed by the author and sent to the Education Ministries in the region through the Interamerican Education Commission of the Organization of American States in the summer of 2013.

Author

• Regina Cortina, Teachers College, Columbia University