Eighteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

Education plays a vital role in today’s society and it is an important tool that can be used to heal and to bring the community together. That said, many times the true meaning and the purpose of education has been forgotten. An example of this is the transitional bilingual education that has been implemented in areas inhabited by indigenous peoples in Mexico where children are discriminated against and their linguistic and cultural rights are violated. This has damaged their personality and behavior. Children are shy, quiet, and isolated. The assimilation of indigenous children to the dominant society and with this forcing them to abandon their languages and traditions is not a problem that has happened only in Mexico or in other Latin American countries, but also in nations such as Canada and Australia where indigenous children were taken to schools where they were abused physically, mentally, and psychologically. In the case of Mexico, many indigenous children’s voices have been taken away since they have been taught in a language they do not understand. They have been silenced and their human, linguistic, and cultural rights have been violated. Therefore, it is emphasized that the creation and implementation of quality intercultural bilingual education can contribute to resolving this issue and to reconciling society. To do so, suggestions are given in this paper based on an ethnographic study conducted at a Spanish-Tsotsil elementary bilingual school located in Chiapas, Mexico.