Abstract

LIMON MENDOZA, Erika  and  HERNANDEZ LIMONCHI, María del Pilar. Bilingual and Intercultural Education in a Totonac Town. Rev. latinoam. estud. educ. [online]. 2023, vol.53, n.3, pp.157-181.  Epub Oct 06, 2023. ISSN 2448-878X.  https://doi.org/10.48102/rlee.2023.53.3.571.

The article invites us to reflect on the future of native languages because in educational institutions Spanish is the dominant language and education is monoculturalized. The objective is to identify how intercultural and bilingual education is taught in basic and upper secondary schools in the municipality of Huehuetla, Puebla. The methodology is mixed, based on the application of surveys, the development of focus groups, and participant observation in schools. Among the results, it is observed that there is inequality and discrimination in the right to education for indigenous Totonac children and adolescents, due to the lack of recognition of cultural diversity and the domination of Spanish over Totonac. Intercultural and bilingual education is a means to revitalize and strengthen native languages as well as to preserve and protect the cultural wealth of indigenous peoples and communities, the nation, and the world.

Keywords : education; interculturality; native language; indigenous peoples.