This article discusses the contributions of different worldviews to the debates on what a transformative sustainability education could be. It focuses on mainstream and alternative strands of thought present in the West, as well as Indigenous worldviews, taking the Zapatistas as an example. The Zapatista social movement of Mexico fights for the…

Changes in family life related to globalization may include reduction in the collaborativeness observed in many Indigenous American communities. The present study examined longitudinal changes and continuities in collaboration in a Guatemalan Maya community experiencing rapid globalization. Fluid collaboration was widespread 3 decades ago among…

Over more than three decades spent researching cultural aspects of how children learn, the author has had the opportunity to learn about how individuals and cultural communities change and continue. During her research on children's learning by observing and "pitching in" in a Mayan community in Guatemala, the author learned a great deal…

Social changes in indigenous Maya communities in Chiapas, Mexico toward increasing levels of formal education, commercialization, and urbanization are transforming traditional Maya developmental pathways toward adulthood. This mixed-methods study is based on interviews with a sample of 14 first-generation Maya university students who have also…

Women's schooling has been lauded as having a large, important impact on child socialization. Although there may be positive effects of schooling, there may also be effects from concomitant cultural changes that come with modernization. In this article we examine the findings that changes in textile production among the Zinacantec Maya over the…

Reviews the historical and contemporary social situation of the indigenous peoples of Guatemala and Nicaragua, including the current conflict between the Sandinista government and the Miskitu Indians. (GC)

This research study centers on the interrelations among culture, social change, informal education, and cognitive development. The study explored how changing cultural and social conditions influence processes of informal education and their cognitive consequences. The overall goal was to examine the relationship between important cultural tools,…

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,…

This unit is designed for a second-year Spanish language class. The focus is on the Mayans and the 1994 Zapatista uprising in Chiapas (Mexico). The topics addressed include: (1) the Mayans' historical problems; (2) the 1994 rebellion in Chiapas; and (3) the reactions of the world and of the Mexican federal government to the rebellion. Suggestions…

Based on research supported by the Peace Corps, this book about the Guatemalan Indians examines some of the cultural implications and problems of current efforts that aim toward national integration of traditional communities. There are seven major chapters. Chapter 1, "A Social History of the Guatemalan Indian," looks at the Indians…

A longitudinal study explored cultural historical change within the Zinacantecan Mayan culture to create theoretical and empirical links between individual processes of cultural apprenticeship and societal processes of cultural change. The study examined the transmission of culture from parent to child in an apprenticeship relationship as the…

A Guatemalan program teaches Indigenous working children where they work--in the streets. The teachers, who are also Mayan, accommodate student needs and involve parents. This program of popular education empowers poor children and adults to participate in public life and lead the way in the creation of a democracy. (Contains 20 references.) (TD)