Initial literacy teaching of indigenous children: designing pedagogy for urban schools

Abstract

This chapter presents a pedagogical design for the language and literacy learning of indigenous children within mainstream non-indigenous schools in the municipality of Oiapoque, located in the Federal State of Amapá, Brazil. It begins by describing the linguistic and cultural diversity that characterizes the area followed by the outline of the key tenets underpinning the educational policy that frames language and initial literacy education in indigenous communities. The chapter then problematizes the case of migrant indigenous children in urban schools, where there is no specific legal protection for their linguistic and literacy education. In response to this shortcoming, we present a culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogy based on the Linguistically Appropriate Practice method, aimed at guiding teachers to educate these children to become bilingual and proud of their cultural heritage. The design is innovative in the context of its application in Brazil and of potential relevance for similar contexts worldwide.