Higher education in mapuche context: The case of La Araucanía, Chile

Abstract

This article analyzes higher education in La Araucanía, a Mapuche region, Chile. The method used is an analysis and a bibliographic discussion that considers four reference books, 17 scientific articles, and eight normative documents on higher education in an indigenous context. The thesis suggests that higher education is rooted in institutional scientific racism that does not incorporate indigenous epistemology in the formation and construction of knowledge of Mapuche and non-Mapuche students. We conclude that scientific racism in higher education has brought consequences such as low academic results due to the decontextualization of curricula. This racism has also maintained and perpetuated social, educational, political, and economic inequalities in the regional context, devaluing what is proper and valuing what is foreign.