Practical Learning and Epistemological Border Crossings: Drawing on Indigenous Knowledge in Terms of Educational Practices

Abstract

This article examines the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge into an intercultural bilingual teacher education program in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The article focuses on student teachers' and teacher educators' views on the ways in which Indigenous knowledge can guide educational practices. An ethnographic study was conducted in one teacher education institute in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The article is based on interviews with student teachers, teacher educators, and elementary school teachers. The student teachers and school teachers are Amazonian Indigenous (Shuar, Achuar, & Kichwa), and the teacher educators represent Indigenous and Spanish-speaking majority populations. The data suggest that the research participants recognize Indigenous knowledge in the communities, but have a narrow view of how to incorporate that knowledge into educational practices. The article argues that the teacher education program fails to connect with the Indigenous community, and does not help the students to cross the epistemological borders between Indigenous and Western knowledge.