Intercultural bilingual education (IBE) has been discussed in Bolivia since the 1970s. The first Educational Act with a bilingual and intercultural curriculum adapted to cultural and linguistic diversity--Ley de Reforma Educativa--was passed in 1994 with implementation starting in 1996. However, discussions continued: when the Evo Morales…

Educational reform efforts in Bolivia have created possibilities for teacher-training institutions to focus on bilingual intercultural education. How teacher trainers and future teachers embark upon this endeavor differs somewhat depending on the sociolinguistic, historical, and institutional contexts of each community. This article reports…

Argues that bilingual education in developing countries represents an encouraging facet of efforts to improve primary schooling both quantitatively in terms of participation and qualitatively in terms of learning processes. Using examples from Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Mozambique, and Bolivia, demonstrates advantages of bilingual programming in…

Given the unique character of bilingual students and the programmes that support them, primary bilingual teaching is a challenging job in any country. However, bilingual teachers in developing contexts are especially challenged; they are often undertrained and underpaid, and must function in under-resourced schools with undernourished students.…

Bolivia has a multilingual population divided among three language families: Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara. In practice, however, the country has a monolingual system, since Spanish is the language of government, education, and professional and technical fields, and dominates in urban areas. Quechua and Aymara prevail in rural areas and in native…

Bilingual programs and the socio-cultural circumstances surrounding the programs of the United States are compared with the programs and socio-cultural circumstances of three Latin American countries: Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. The legal frameworks are different. In the United States, bilingual education acts and subsequent programs came as a…