When a university opens itself to diversity: a brief report on the Intercultural Formation Course for Indigenous Teachers, from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil

Abstract

The Federal University of Minas Gerais (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – UFMG), located in the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, has been a committed partner of indigenous communities since 1996. This partnership began with the creation of spaces intended to elaborate and transform the traditional wisdom of these communities in favour of their village schools. In 2006, indigenous teachers from Minas Gerais joined the Intercultural Formation Course for Indigenous Teachers, creating a new teaching degree program at the College of Education/UFMG. This new course is a five‐year course (2006–11) and will graduate around 150 indigenous teachers from eight different ethnic groups: Xacriabá, Maxacali, Pataxó, Krenak, Xucuru‐Cariri, Caxixó, Aranã and Pancararu. The teaching degree will be for the primary and secondary school levels. This paper presents some key components of this intercultural experiment, its background, the implementation process, the intercultural approach used, its organization, the knowledge to be acquired and anticipated challenges for the future.