Grace Wheeler

Topic: Developing special education in Guatemala

Lines of Inquiry: How did special ed develop in the USA? Are there laws set in Guatemala
regarding people with special needs?
Tension, Issue, Problem: There are not educated teachers or classrooms available in
Guatemala for children with disabilities.
Exigency: Children with or without disabilities deserve to receive and education.
Keywords: Special Education, disability, inclusion,

http://www.refie.org/fileadmin/user_upload/final-report/3-2-Country_Study_Guatemala.pdf
Publication source: Refie.org
Publication Reputation: Research for Inclusion Education in International Cooperation,
developed in Guatemala and Malawi, initiative for education for all
Writers name and background: There was not an author because the entire article was not
available, but throughout research about the organization, it seem credible and advocates for
children with disabilities in Guatemala.

This article talks about inclusion in classrooms in Guatemala. Inclusion is involving students with
disabilities to join in the classroom with children without disabilities. The article talks about how
poverty contributes to the lack of special education and inclusion in Guatemala. Another issue
are the public schools. Since there is a lack of education funds, most of the schools are public.
In these settings, teachers can have up to 100 students in one class. This leaves a lot of room
for students to fall behind. Especially for those with disabilities. The article also addresses policy
framework in Guatemala. Their education system guarantees education for students, however,
because of the large population and large amounts of poverty, there is not a very good checks
and balances system. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the public education is not very reliable.

https://www.unicef.org/about/execboard/files/2014-PL14-Guatemala_CPD-Final_approved-
EN.pdf
Publication Source: Unicef
Publication Reputation: Unicef has a positive reputation in advocating for children and this
article talks about improving education in Guatemala

In the article, it talks about Education for Life this talks about ways to raise the quality of
teaching and learning in Latin America. The talk about how educating families and communities
is beneficial to the education process. UNICEF wants to design programs to strengthen the
system. They want to work with the Ministry of Education to improve the quality of education
and provide more opportunities for children. There has been a drop in private school education
numbers so they want to improve these statistics.