Paper short abstract:

Based on the analysis of the evolution of educational policies applied to indigenous peoples in Costa Rica, it seeks to reflect on the scope, challenges and current obstacles in the effective inclusion of cultural patterns and indigenous languages in the formal education system.

Paper long abstract:

For many years, the Costa Rican state applied an educational system with a marked assimilationist approach to the indigenous population. Indigenous peoples have always represented a low percentage of the total population (they currently represent about 2%). It was in the last decades of the 20th century that educational policies and approaches began to change, with greater openness and recognition of indigenous cultural patterns and languages in the formal education system offered to this type of population. In this paper, we will first present the educational policies applied to indigenous peoples in Costa Rica between the 1980s and the present. From there, the main positive and negative impacts they have had on the country's indigenous peoples, who have different historical, cultural and linguistic particularities among them, will be discussed. Subsequently, innovative educational experiences will be mentioned through specific projects that have been developed between universities, the Ministry of Education and indigenous peoples. Finally, it is recognized that the Costa Rican state has made important advances in intercultural bilingual education from the 1980s to the present; however, there are still many challenges and obstacles to resolve.