Indigenous caregivers and indigeneity in Bogota: between two worlds

Abstract

ABSTRACT Recently, the government of Bogota (Colombia) has focused on improving Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services in a way that considers diversity. The national policy and the political project for Bogota recognise ECEC services based on a positive discrimination approach. Among them there is an indigenous ECEC service, known as House of indigenous Knowledge (HIK), staffed by Indigenous professionals. Based on ethnographic research in three HIKs this article aims to study the legitimacy of indigenous caregivers (ICs) as early childhood professionals (ECP). Using the political sociological approach of Boltanski and Thévenot On Justification, the paper aims to analyse the professionalism of ICs in terms of competing ‘regimes of actions’. It shows the importance of ICs’ implicit cultural knowledge compared to the ‘western’ ECEC practitioners’ expertise. It sheds light on what IC practice ought to be: rooted in Indigenous traditions, while at the same time, acknowledging a ‘western’ vision of ECEC professionals’ practices.