Mapuche family and community in intercultural schooling: contributions to overcoming educational discontinuities

Abstract

This article explores the educational discontinuities that exist between the Mapuche family educational model and the educational model based on the institutional school. These discontinuities, which have their roots in processes of evangelisation and subjugation since the beginning of the 19th century, are based on a colonialist way of establishing relations with the native peoples under the logic of disidentification and ignorance of the communities’ own being. In order to unveil these dynamics and propose decolonialist solutions, a research process was developed based on intercultural pedagogy and indigenous research, developing a process of interviews through an open script with three types of actors in a school located in Mapuche Lafkenche territory: actors in the school environment (directors, teachers and traditional educators), in the family environment (parents of students) and in the community environment (kimches and traditional Mapuche leaders). The results allow us to conclude that there are some key elements for overcoming these discontinuities, such as the construction of spaces of trust, participation in decision-making, the incorporation of Mapuche funds of knowledge and intercultural curriculum management, elements that can be concluded from the testimonies collected.