Education and Identity in Catholic University Sedes Sapientiae (Atalaya)

Abstract

This paper is the result of an ethnographic study applied touniversity students of the fi rst year in the Universidad Católica Sedes Sapientiae”™s Programa Magisterial de Formación de Docentes en Educación Básica Intercultural Bilingí¼e in Atalaya, during the 2015 academic year.The aim of this study is to show the infl uence of Intercultural Bilingual Education at university in the building identity of Arawak young people.This program off ers a diverse social context in which students from various indigenous populations live and build their identity on the basis of similarities and diff erences among them. In this paper, data about Arawak populations is provided as well as describing the indigenous language courses. The conclusion is that the education received at the university favors the production of identity by strengthening their own cultural bases.