Intercultural education articulated with the indigenous episteme in Latin America. The mapuche case in Chile

Abstract

This article discusses experiences of intercultural education articulated with the indigenous episteme, particularly the mapuche case in Chile. In the context of colonization, a school education and teacher training system has been developed based on the coloniality of knowledge and power, which restrict teacher's awareness of other epistemes value in order to understand school education from an intercultural perspective. The methodology used correspond to educational research and content analysis procedure. As a result, we proposed that interculturality is an ethical, epistemic and political proposal, to build democratic societies that recognize the different societies and cultures cohabiting in contexts of colonization. Thus, initial and continuous training of teachers should facilitate the acquisition of teaching competences based on the indigenous episteme. We discussed and concluded that: 1) intercultural education articulated with the indigenous episteme is relevant and approachable, from an intercultural educational approach; 2) indigenous pedagogy and education constitute a contribution to sustain an intercultural school curriculum; and 3) education from an epistemological pluralism, raises a challenge to establish a close relationship with the actors in the educational and social environment within the indigenous context.