Entrevistas comunitárias, a recuperação do conhecimento comunitário desde a escola. O caso das escolas secundárias comunitárias indígenas, Oaxaca, México

Abstract

Interviewing community elders is part of the everyday activity of students in Indigenous Communitarian Secondary schools in Oaxaca, Mexico. In my present ethnographic studied carried out in the 7-9 grade school located in Santa Maria Tiltepec (Oaxaca), I observed that these interviews facilitate the transition of certain elements of local knowledge towards the classrooms. They also extend schoolwork towards the community, outside of the school grounds, promoting novel forms of teaching and learning. This paper analyzes photographs as documentation of different aspects of the interaction during the interviews. For instance, in the photos it is possible to observe the general context of the interview and the attitudes, stances, eye-contact, body postures and gestures of the participants. My analysis gives some evidence of the recovery of indigenous knowledge as a basis for the construction of scholar knowledge. My discussion contributes to the relevance of the intercultural bilingüe education (EIB) model for indigenous peoples in Mexico.