Educational Inclusion for Mexico's Indigenous People

uscpublicdiplomacy.org

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Nov 25, 2015

José Francisco Martínez and Robert Myers, education scholars from the NGO Hacia una Cultura Democrática, A.C. (ACUDE) in Mexico, have published a new article. Their piece, "Defining and Improving Quality of Indigenous Preschool Education in Mexico: An Intercultural Perspective," appeared in the summer edition of the journal Childhood Education. Addressing the fact that approximately 10% of Mexico’s population (an estimated 11 million people) identify as indigenous, the authors highlight the need for greater cultural inclusion and academic instruction. The authors analyze and discuss the results of an intercultural education project carried out in Mexico’s Yucatán state—chosen because the majority of the state’s residents are from the Mayan culture—and conclude with a series of recommendations to help Mexico “become a truly intercultural society respectful of human rights, cultural and contextual differences.” As the authors conclude, “incorporating instruction in native languages and cultural education activities in student learning leads to more emphatic, culturally aware, and globally minded citizens.”

The full article is available here.