SFAA Conference Double-Session Panel
Engaging Education in Mayan Communities: Educational “Cuentos” from Guatemala, Parts I & II
CHAIR: PIMENTEL, Octavio (Texas State-San Marcos)
Octavio.Pimentel@txstate.edu
Title of Panel: Engaging Education in Mayan Communities: Educational “Cuentos” from Guatemala
This panel shows that anthropologists can contribute to understanding and improving education in a globalized world. Panelists present data gathered as part of an NSF-funded field school (SES # 0648278) in Highland Guatemala. Issues addressed include gender and educational achievement, pedagogy and curriculum, the politics of teachers and education, parental attitudes and participation in education, and language and bilingual education. Researchers use a combination of Critical Race Theory, globalization, and feminist theory to analyze Guatemala’s education system. The studies reveal various overlaying complexities of Guatemala’s education system, therefore making it difficult for Mayas to reach a high level of formal schooling.
BITAR, Martha (Texas State U) Contrasting Currents: Language Situation in a K'iche' Maya Community in Highland Guatemala. Even though there is a strong influence from the media and the Guatemalan government to castillianize the rural areas, an effort to preserve the K’iche’ Maya language can be observed in the rural community of Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán. The result of these opposing forces is a case of stable diglossia and code mixing. This is a natural process in the evolution of languages, but due to the years of repression against the Maya cultures and languages, in this case it could originate consequences in the economic mobility of the indigenous individual, especially on the labor market. martitabitar@hotmail.com
DAWSON, Amy (Texas State U) Gritos Mejor que Libros (Discipline before Books): Parents' Roles in Schooling their Children. Sixty-eight percent of parents in a rural Guatemalan aldea participate in parent-teacher meetings for primary grades fourth-sixth. However, only thirty-five percent of parents help their children with homework. Through participant observation and interviews, I learned that the community's primary school puts a much higher expectation on parents to attend meetings than to help their children with their homework. Additionally, since many of the parents lack formal schooling, they commonly feel more confident disciplining their children than helping them with their homework. Data was collected through ethnographic research in Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán, Guatemala. bigtallQberrymuffin@hotmail.com
DIAZ, Lizet (U Texas-San Marcos) Guatemala has Beautiful Laws but They Are Not Enforced. While living in the small town of Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan (Nueva), it is visible that laws are not present on the surface, but are integrated in the community by tradition. This presentation presents data collected over a ten-week period on Nueva’s laws and demonstrates how they draw from oral cultural practices. While none of the laws in Nueva were explicitly defined, the punishments for breaking the laws were well known throughout the community. Data will also be presented on schools and how they do not teach information concerning laws, and instead focus on “la ley de educación” (the law of education). Lizy18Diaz@yahoo.com
JUAREZ, Ana M. (Texas State U-San Marcos) Contextualizing Education in Guatemala: Race, Class, and Gender in a Global Nation. Education is globally recognized as essential for full participation in democratic nations and technology and science-based economies. Beginning with a broad conceptualization of education, this paper 1) provides the theoretical frameworks for analyzing education in two highland communities, including globalization, feminism, and critical race theory, 2) critically analyzes the literature on education in Greater Latin America, and 3) uses ethnographic data collected by undergraduate students during the summer of 2007 to examine the current status of education in Guatemala. This project was funded by the NSF REU Site on Culture and Globalization in Highland Guatemala (SES # 0648278). aj07@txstate.edu
ROMO, Tanya (Brigham Young U) Me van a dar la Oportunidad?: Guatemala’s Changing Gender Discourses. This presentation addresses issues concerning Guatemala’s recent economy, cultural roles, and resulting educational changes such as the rapid increase of student enrollment, especially amongst females. This paper will address these changes and show how they have played a significant role in parents' educational attainment expectations for their children. Lastly, the author will use “oral histories” to show how the expectation for school attainment, especially for women, has changed from discouraging children from studying beyond the primaria, to now encouraging students to attend diversificado, and in some cases, la universidad. Data was gathered while conducting a ten-week ethnography in Nahuala, Guatemala. tanyapromo@yahoo.com
SOLIS, Silvia Patricia (U Texas-Pan American) “Yo no quiero ser usada como un trapo”: The Discourse of Kâ’che Women’s Sexuality in Guatemala. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in 2005 and 2007, this presentation will focus on the sexual education of Maya women in Guatemala. This analysis examines what Kâ’che women are learning about sexuality within their cultural configurations. Discourses on violence, locality, and globalization inform Kâ’che women’s sexual education. Agency, formal and informal education, religion and different media sources are explored to provide a lens through which to comprehend the discourses at work. One Kâ’che woman’s life history is presented to bring together the collective voices allowing us to further explore and put into context the experiences of indigenous women’s sexuality. bonitamonet@yahoo.com
TORRALBA, Fabiola (NSF-REU Guatemala Site) The Politics of Education in Guatemala. Educational systems across the world are adversely affected by neoliberal policies forcing teachers to take collective action and push for government accountability. Data collected through a ten-week ethnographic study reveals the complexity of issues faced by indigenous teachers in a rural highland community in Nahuala, Guatemala, that is in the process of undergoing a national economic restructuring. The presentation will focus on the most recent teachers union movement and the outcomes of their struggle for educational reform, thus addressing the politics of education in Guatemala. fabytorralba@hotmail.com
VASQUEZ, Jennifer (U Texas-San Antonio) No Vale la Pena: The Early Educational Abandonment Practices of Ixtahucana Women. Through the lived experiences of twenty females from Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, Guatemala, this presentation uses feminist and globalization theoretical frameworks to examine the early educational abandonment practices among women from this Guatemalan highland community. These Ixtahucanas validate their reasoning by giving light to an array of socio-cultural constraining factors like harsh economics, patriarchal systems, and limited alternatives. This presentation will also highlight the oral histories from two women, who despite Guatemala's unkind educational system, have completed their formal schooling and now have visions of future success. tortuga108@hotmail.com
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