DISEÑO E IMPLEMENTACIÓN DE PROYECTOS DE AULA TRANSVERSALES CON LINEAMIENTOS ESTATALES, DESDE SABERES ANCESTRALES INDÍGENAS EN COLOMBIA

Abstract

This article aims to present the results of an action-research study targeted at incorporating ancestral knowledge in the curriculum of indigenous schools as learning resources. The innovation proposal was carried out by the researcher in joint collaboration with teachers and leaders of the Embera-chamí indigenous community of Marsella, Colombia. The process was accompanied by a research study whose objective was to know the mental representations of community leaders and teachers regarding which ancestral knowledge should be incorporated in the curriculum and how they envisaged the relevance and viability of the classroom projects elaborated with such a purpose. Our research documented the process of designing, planning, and implementing those classroom projects. The analysis of the data, obtained with ethnographic tools -participant observation and informal talks-, provided community leaders and teachers with relevant and sufficient information to scaffold intercultural education in that indigenous territory since they became aware that ancestral knowledge generates knowledge in various disciplines and can be mainstreamed with the guidelines proposed by the Ministry of National Education of Colombia. In turn, their participation in the action-research study empowered them as they became learning agents that could enable the Embera-chamí children to access the national curriculum without renouncing their culture and identity as an ethnic group.