Developing Intercultural Science Education in Ecuador

Abstract

This article traces the recent development of intercultural science education in Ecuador. It starts by situating this development within the context of a growing convergence between Western and indigenous sciences. It then situates it within the larger historical, political, cultural, and educational contexts of indigenous communities in Ecuador, and goes on to explore ideas of interculturality in education and of native science as voiced by indigenous interviewees in Ecuador in 2004. The primary need voiced by native Ecuadorian leaders is that of defending their communities against various kinds of encroachment—economic as well as cultural—and the enterprise of education is viewed within this reality. The article goes on to describe a recently developed intercultural environmental studies curriculum unit and to indicate possible directions for expanding intercultural science education in Ecuador.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This article would not have happened without the help of many people including Ines Llumiquinga, Fernando Valencia, Segundo Tapia, Angel Ramirez, Hanna Lessinger, Carmen Martinez, and Michele Forsten, in addition to all of the people who generously agreed to be interviewed for the study. Their assistance is most gratefully acknowledged; I remain responsible for all errors or omissions. Fieldwork in Ecuador in 2004 was funded by a grant from the Professional Staff Congress of CUNY (grant no. 60130‐34‐35). My thanks also to the editors and reviewers of Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education: An International Journal, who “pushed the envelope” and made this piece better.

Notes

¹Questions of terminology are quite complex. Whereas native is used more frequently by North American English speakers, indigenous is the English translation of the term indigena used by many Spanish speakers in Ecuador. In this article, the terms indigenous and native are used interchangeably. The terms pueblos indigenas (indigenous peoples) and nacionalidades indigenas (indigenous nations) are frequently used in Ecuador, and the term pueblos originarias (original peoples) is now being used. Some indigenous Ecuadorians quoted here identify themselves by the term indio. In these cases I have used the English translation, Indian.

²All translations from the original Spanish are made by me. According to the university international review board-approved protocol, interviewees were informed that they would not be identified in any published report. Interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. They were then analyzed according to the original research questions as well as for additional themes raised by the interviewees. In June 2005, a Spanish version of this article was sent to all interviewees, and those whose quotes were included were asked if they would like to be named. Only 1 responded in the affirmative; therefore, the identities of all others are omitted.

³See Alderete (1996) for an excellent discussion in English of these issues from a pan-Andean perspective.