The Seri people, of Sonora state (Mexico), have traditionally fished and hunted turtles in the Gulf of California and gathered plants in the Sonoran Desert. Intergenerational transmission of the intricate environmental knowledge needed for these activities was accomplished through storytelling and observational learning, but is now threatened by…

This paper reviews factors contributing to the loss of language and culture of the Tarahumara people of Mexico and describes a program aimed at preserving Tarahumara language and culture. The Tarahumara people reside in the Sierra Tarahumara in the northern state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Although the Tarahumara people successfully avoided…

This study examines strengths and weaknesses of Mexican public education as perceived by educators within the system. Forty teachers and administrators from various levels in the public school system were interviewed in 1988. Interviewees were primarily located in southern Mexican cities. Mexico's public educational structure is highly…

Since the 1950s, ethnic relations in Tenejapa (Chiapas, Mexico) have shifted toward greater equality and less antagonism between formerly dominant mestizos and formerly dominated "indigenas" (Maya Indians). An important cause is the long-term promotion of indigenous education by a national agency, Instituto Nacional Indigenista,…

Describes how indigenous students in a remote Mexican village learned ways to document their culture and history; how teachers in this same village learned to teach reading and writing in Ayuuk, their native language; and what a Foxfire teacher learned as an instructor in the teacher workshop. Includes the Foxfire "core practices" in…

This document provides information about schools in Mexico and suggests ways that U.S. schools can use this information to improve education for Mexican and Mexican American students. Chapter 1 describes the Mexican educational system as a vantage point for understanding the expectations of Mexican parents in the United States. This chapter covers…

Central Mexico is home to over 20 indigenous languages whose speakers still occupy their original ancestral communities. In this region, acute language conflict between Native languages and Spanish, the official state language, greatly affects elementary school students such as those in San Isidro Buensuceso Tlaxcala and Mision de Chichimecas in…