https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1209-2988
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ABSTRACT
This article critically examines bilingual, intercultural education policies and practices in the context of the implementation of these policies in early childhood education. Specifically, it seeks to provide ethnographic background on the incorporation of Indigenous communities into preschools, through the participation of the Indigenous Culture and Language Educator (ELCI in Spanish) for language teaching. The analysis stems from an ethnographic study carried out in an alternative intercultural preschool, located in the Araucanía Region, Chile, which teaches Mapudungun (the language of the Mapuche people). Among the main results, we found: (a) appreciation for the work of the ELCI (b) expression of the Mapuche culture through acting, (c) precarious intercultural education, and (d) disconnection with Mapuche communities. We conclude with recommendations for educational policies in Chile, and suggestions for future nationwide research and connection to the global context.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
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Rukmini Becerra-Lubies
Rukmini Becerra-Lubies received her Ph.D. from the College of Education at the University of Washington in Seattle. Originally from Chile, she earned a professional degree as a language teacher and a master's degree in Linguistics, both from University of Chile. In 2015, she joined the Pontificia Universidad Católica of Chile, Campus Villarrica, and the Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Research in the same institution, where she is currently an Associate Professor. Her main areas of research interest are intercultural and bilingual education, teacher education, indigenous language revitalization and applied linguistics.
Catalina Fernández
Catalina Fernández Contador received her undergraduate degree in anthropology from Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile in 2018 with her ethnographic thesis research: "The Role of the Indigenous Language and Culture Educator in an Intercultural-Alternative Preschool" and in 2021 obtained a Diploma in Educational Psychology: Tools and Conceptual Techniques for the Promotion of School Learning of Universidad Alberto Hurtado. Since 2022, she works in the advocacy team of ONG FIMA (Environmental Prosecutor's Office Corporation). Her main areas of research and interest are interculturality, indigenous education, environmental education, socioenvironmental conflicts, environmental democracy and deliberative democracy.
Laura Luna
Laura Luna Figueroa is an anthropologist and in 2010 she obtained a PhD in Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester. Since 2001, she teaches at the Villarrica Campus of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where she is currently Associate Professor. Her main areas of research are: interculturality, indigenous education, school diversity and inclusion, school ethnography. She is adjunct researcher of the Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Research (CIIR) and associate researcher of the Cape Horn International Center for Global Change Studies and Biocultural Conservation (CHIC)
Dayna Moya
Dayna Moya Sepulveda is an early childhood educator and has a masters and a PhD in Neuroscience and Education from Columbia University. Since 2018 she works in the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile in the Villarrica Campus as an Assistant Professor. Her areas of research are focused on second language acquisition associated with music and a focus on Mapudungun revitalization with its neurophysiological correlates. She also specialized in early childhood education and is an Associate Researcher in the Center for Learning Sciences.