Towards an inclusive pedagogy to confront interlocking oppressions in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala

Although 1994 to 2004 was declared the International Decade of Indigenous People, and the deepening of inequalities in Guatemala between indigenous and Ladinos (mixture of Mayan and Spaniards) got national and international attention, their situation did not improve. However, social inequalities in Guatemala are not just based on ethnicity, since the United Nations Human Development Program (PNUD, 2005) reports inequalities based on gender, social class and geographic location as well. Although these large inequalities are not just between indigenous and Ladinos, but are multidimensional, the Guatemalan government has responded by permitting multicultural education in a few schools. This thesis describes the results of qualitative research to examine the various oppressions present in Santiago Atitlán, as a microcosm of Guatemalan society, and with the goal of identifying a pedagogy better able to resolve these inequalities. The outcomes of the study are firstly to provide evidence that there are indeed multiple oppressions interlocking in Santiago Atitlán. Secondly, because these multiple oppressions intersect in both society and the individual, a multicultural approach calling for more tolerance to diversity is shown not to be enough to address these complexities. This study concludes that any meaningful pedagogy has to consider the historic roots of inequality, the multiple oppressions interlocking in society and the individual, and the positionality of subjects. It must encourage critical self-reflection as an exercise preparing teachers to work with students and members of the community if the goal is, in fact, to eradicate all types of discrimination