Mapuche-Pewenche knowledge transmitted by teachers and parents: perception of schoolchildren in rural schools of the Araucanía region (Chile)

ABSTRACT

In Chile, two public policies focusing on teaching-learning among primary school children have been implemented to contribute to the development of the language and culture of indigenous peoples and to the formation of intercultural citizens: 1) the Bilingual Intercultural Education Programme (PEIB); and 2) the Indigenous Language Sector (SLI). The present study assessed perception of Mapuche knowledge among schoolchildren in schools located in the Mapuche-Pewenche territory of the Araucanía Region. The methodology used for data collection was analytical-observational with a Likert-type questionnaire, applied to children in schools registered and not registered for these policies. The statements had two dimensions: the roles assumed in the transmission of knowledge by these public policies and by families respectively. The results showed that the children belonging to schools registered for these policies, expressed disagreement with most of the statements concerning the transmission of that knowledge; while the children in schools not registered for the policies considered that there was indeed transmission of knowledge. The latter result was related to the loss of valuation of this knowledge by these children. In both cases, the children recognised that knowledge is transmitted fundamentally within the family.

KEYWORDS:

• Mapuche-pewenche
• knowledge
• rural schools
• indigenous language
• intercultural education

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT) under Grant No. 1181531: ‘Sentido del lugar como conocimientos educativos y territoriales mapuches para una educación intercultural’. Our thanks to Elías Andrade for his dedicated work in preparing the cartography.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Fernando Peña-Cortés http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0489-1555

Jimmy Pincheira-Ulbrich http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9841-7426

Notes

1. Area of land in common legal holding in which a certain number of people live (generally a tribal or family group). The legal assignment of the land is evidenced by a deed called “Título de Merced” originally issued to the head of the group under a system instituted in 1883.

2. Official data of MINEDUC Study Centre 2014 http://centroestudios.mineduc.cl/index.php?t=96&i=2&cc=2519&tm=2

3. A ‘community’ is a space formed by one or more reductions; in the first case the borders of the community are the same as those of reduction, in the second case the borders of the community coincide with the external borders of all the reductions that form it.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT) [grant number 1181531: ‘Sentido del lugar como conocimientos educativos y territoriales mapuches para una educación intercultural’. Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico.