Intercultural Bilingual Education in the Miskito Coast of Nicaragua

Abstract

This chapter was inspired by our work with Miskito, Sumo-Mayangna, and Creole-English populations in Nicaragua and by our deep understanding of the complex Latin American historical backdrop and current global challenges to the education of indigenous and other minority populations. Our discussion centers on sociolinguistic, economic, and educational conditions of Miskito and Sumo-Mayangna, predominant languages in the North Caribbean Autonomous Region of Nicaragua (RACN) and English-Creole in the South Caribbean Autonomous Region (RACS). We describe the Nicaragua Basic Education Project/BASE II, (1998–2005), a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with the goal of launching and supporting bilingual intercultural education in these regions. Grounded on this goal, the project established and supported a national replication network of 170 Bilingual Model Schools, of which 28 were Miskito and Sumo-Mayangna bilingual schools located in the RACN and RACS. By 2004 these model schools equaled and/or surpassed Central and Pacific Spanish Model Schools on measures of academic achievement tests and active-learning indicators. The research, teacher training, and constructivist classroom activities employed in strengthening bilingual-intercultural education may contribute to a better understanding of bilingual intercultural education for indigenous and other minority language populations, and to the sociolinguistic, cultural, and economic challenges they face in a global society.

Dr. Johannessen was key consultant for Multicultural Bilingual and literacy education and designed, directed, and conducted activities for these programs described in this chapter.