Intercultural bilingual education: A multidisciplinary analysis

Abstract

The following thesis examines the intercultural bilingual education (IBE) model in public primary schools in Ecuador. I review its historical development and I assess the Right to Intercultural Bilingual Education (RtIBE) within the provisions of Constitution of 2008 and the Intercultural Education Act of 2011. To do so I employ a broad evaluative framework consisting of International Human Rights Law and the concept of interculturality. The analysis is conducted by looking at political, symbolic and material commitments of the State. I ask whether the IBE model displays proper participatory spaces, whether it gives the indigenous peoples a quality education required for maintenance of their cultures and languages, and how economic resources impact the access to and the quality of education for indigenous children. The latter question is considered using 3-As scheme covering accessibility, availability and acceptability of material commitments. Altogether, my findings indicate that although there has been an increasing economic coverage and a promising development in the Ecuadorian law, the uneven power relations and the over-legitimacy of the Hispanic mono-cultural and mono-lingual educational model partially restrict the full implementation of RtIBE.