POWER OF LANGUAGE ETNOEDUCATIVE BILINGUE INGA , MOCOA, COLOMBIA

Geography

CONTENT

Geography

Linguistic map; Indigenous people; The colonization process; Population pyramid

Character

Respect

Global Goal

Skill

Questioning, Collaboration, Observation, Critical Thinking, Compare & Contrast

Age Group

14-15 Years / Grade 9

Learning Standards

McREL Grade 9 

Prerequisite

None

LEARNING GOAL & PURPOSE

This wonderful story from Etnoeducativa Bilingue Inga, Mocoa,  Colombia has brought to light a group of really thoughtful children from the ‘Inga’ community. These children have presented reflective thinking skills that are difficult to match up to by even grown-ups. These young superheroes perceived a loss of their ‘Inga’ culture and aspired to conserve their culture. In today’s day and age, when not many people care or even think about cultural preservation, these young minds developed a passion to do so. They mobilized their community to collaborate and found solutions to conserve the ‘Inga’ language and culture.

Lesson Plan

  • Students can be divided into groups. The teacher can give each a time interval in order to create a linguistic map of their country in that period. How has the situation developed over the years? What are the reasons?
  • The teacher can have a session on indigenous people. Do we know any? Students can choose one, and look into their origin, culture, and language. They can make a poster, and hold an exhibition. What similarities and differences can be found regarding their community?
  • The teacher can have a session on colonization. Did they discover or conquer lands? What consequences have there been? What legacy was left? Students can do research, and a discussion with assigned roles can be carried out. Is it easy to defend not supported ideas?
  • What is it like to grow old? The teacher can bring population data to the classroom and ask students to make a population pyramid. What conclusions can be drawn? The teacher can also play Diamond’s TED Talk to ask students reflect on: "How do we care for our elderly?" once we know that the population is ageing.