Teaching and Learning process of Rarámuri Students in an Indigenous Elementary School in Mexico

Abstract

This research has the aim of describing the teaching and learning process in an indigenous elementary school, exploring aspects such as the language that teachers use, as well as the planning design and teaching materials they make. It also considers student’s perceptions about their learning process, and how they experience face to face education and distance education too. The study was conducted in an elementary indigenous school located in the Tarahumara mountains of the state of Chihuahua in Mexico, with students of the rarámuri indigenous group. The research is framed in the interpretative paradigm with a qualitative approach. It uses the phenomenological method, with a questionnaire for the teachers and 10 students as key informants. Among the results, it was found that teachers follow the guidelines of bilingual education, since they use Spanish and the indigenous language; also, they adjust the curricular contents and didactic material to the student´s context, so they are significant to them. Furthermore, the need to implement an intercultural education becomes apparent, not only for indigenous students but with all of the student population, in order to overcome communication problems that occur due to the indigenous language variants.