Curricular
proposal that strengthens coexistence from an intercultural perspective
Propuesta
Curricular que fortalece la convivencia desde una catedra Intercultural
Ligia
Adriana Rico Bohórquez
Master in Education researcher Corporación
universitaria Iberoamericanalricoboh@ibero.edu.co ,
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6468-5975
Nilsa
Marcela Rico Bohórquez
Magister in Education researcher Corporación
Universitaria Iberoamericana ,nricoboh@ibero.edu.co
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6835-1304
...........................................
ABSTRACT
This psycho-pedagogical study focuses on interculturality in the
Colombian educational context, advocating strategies that promote harmonious
coexistence among individuals from diverse cultures. It highlights the
importance of an educational institution as a facilitator of equitable
interactions, promoting lifelong learning in everyday situations. Within the
framework of current challenges in inclusive pedagogy, it focuses on the
complex task of selecting and organizing knowledge to ensure educational quality
and equality. The research achieves a positive articulation of pedagogical
mechanisms, highlighting the transversality of intercultural education in the
curriculum of an educational institution in the city of Bogota, DC. The article
addresses the problem of the absence of intercultural factors as a human value
in educational centers in Colombia, focusing specifically on a school in Bogota
with third grade students. Its general purpose was to implement a pedagogical
strategy to strengthen intercultural bonds. The question was formulated as to
how to incorporate intercultural attitudes and values as a cross-cutting area
in the third grade of this educational institution in Bogotá D.C.. To achieve
this purpose, concrete goals were set that included the identification of[1] factors of intercultural intolerance
among students, the design of ludic-pedagogical strategies to support
interpersonal relationships, and the integral evaluation of the didactic
proposal in order to improve the coexistence of the IE.
Key words: Inclusive, interculturality, school coexistence, transversality, equity,
belonging.
RESUMEN
Este estudio psicopedagógico se centra en la interculturalidad en el
contexto educativo colombiano, abogando por estrategias que fomenten la
convivencia armoniosa entre individuos de diversas culturas. Destaca la
importancia de una institución educativa como facilitadora de interacciones
equitativas, promoviendo la formación continua en situaciones cotidianas. En el
marco de los desafíos actuales en la pedagogía inclusiva, se enfoca en la
compleja tarea de seleccionar y organizar el conocimiento para garantizar la
calidad educativa y la igualdad. La investigación logra una articulación
positiva de mecanismos pedagógicos, destacando la transversalidad de la
educación intercultural en el plan de estudios de una Institución educativa en
la ciudad de Bogotá, D.C. El artículo aborda la problemática de la ausencia de
factores de interculturalidad como un valor humano en los centros educativos de
Colombia, centrándose específicamente en un colegio de Bogotá con estudiantes
de Tercer grado. Su finalidad general fue implementar una estrategia pedagógica
para fortalecer los lazos de interculturalidad. Se formuló la pregunta de cómo
incorporar actitudes y valores interculturales como área transversal en el
tercer grado de esta Institución Educativa de Bogotá D.C. Para alcanzar este
propósito, se fijaron metas concretas que incluyeron la identificación de [2]factores de intolerancia intercultural
entre los estudiantes, el diseño de estrategias lúdico-pedagógicas para apoyar
las relaciones interpersonales, y la evaluación integral de la propuesta
didáctica con el fin de mejorar la convivencia de la IE.
Palabras Clave: Inclusivo, Interculturalidad, convivencia escolar, transversalidad,
equidad, pertenencia.
Introduction
This research arises from the
need to promote supportive and inclusive attitudes, not only in the academic
field but also in the promotion of peaceful and supportive attitudes,
recognizing the importance of learning from others to restore one's own humanity.
Interculturality, with its profound implications in school processes, is a
reality present in education and should be analyzed as a process of human
interaction from broad perspectives. Although Lev Vygotsky did not specifically
address interculturality, his principles on the importance of social
interaction and cultural influence on learning can be applied to the
intercultural school context. In this sense, the need to create educational
environments that foster the interaction and participation of students from
diverse cultures should be highlighted, using principles such as the zone of
proximal development to design pedagogical strategies that support students
with different cultural backgrounds. It is important to keep in mind that,
although Vygotsky provides valuable theoretical principles, the direct
application of his ideas to interculturality in the school may require the
integration of other approaches and perspectives specific to intercultural
education. In fact, it is considered from this approach that his proposals
could be relevant to design pedagogical strategies that support students from
different cultural backgrounds.
Since the appearance of the
General Law of Education (Law 115,1994 art.76) when the academic curriculum
appeared integrated as "Areas" of knowledge, knowledge that
previously appeared detached from each other was brought together. The theme of
the attainment of achievements supported by the development of
"competencies" related to them, allowed for a more comprehensive
vision of what the students were expected to "learn", that
competencies should be taken as forms of "know-how" with respect to a
certain branch of knowledge.
The importance of this
experience pointed to mutual recognition and respect and to the full
development of the capabilities of the students involved. At first, we appealed
to the methodology of Action Research IA, to be complemented in a second phase
with action (IAP).
From this perspective, the
problem was that the pedagogical and didactic strategies used did not seem to
have been the most appropriate in the gestation of intercultural spaces where
the dialogue of knowledge and feelings of the different cultures is made
possible, learning and practicing in conditions of equity, respect, empathy and
sense of preservation of their culture and supported from Transversality.
A connotation of the type of
study that was proposed and followed, implied the explicitness of the type of
categories that were involved. This, because the implementation of a
Transversal Area of Interculturality in the Primary Basic Education section of
an IE in Bogotá urged the consideration of several related categories in order
to ensure its authentic integral and effective approach. In the context of this
study, it should be noted that the term category has a specific educational
pedagogical definition that refers to the classification or grouping of
phenomena, themes, concepts or elements that emerge during the research. In
fact, the categories in this study were analytical tools that helped to
organize, interpret and understand the data collected.
For the same reason, they were
integrated according to the specific context of the school and the objectives
formulated within the scope of the research study.
· Infrastructure and Resources:
·
Physical
spaces dedicated to the area of interculturality.
·
Educational,
material and technological resources available.
· Community participation:
·
Active
and permanent inclusion of the community in the design and implementation.
·
Mechanisms
for community participation in activities.
·
Training
programs for teachers and administrative personnel
·
and,
intercultural skills development for educational teaching staff.
· Curriculum and Content:
·
Integration
of diverse cultural perspectives into the curriculum.
·
Selection
of content and materials that reflect cultural diversity.
·
Strategies
for managing and resolving intercultural conflicts.
·
Ongoing
promotion of inclusion and mutual respect.
· Intercultural relations:
·
Development
of activities that promote dialogue and mutual understanding.
·
Adaptations
for students with different cultural needs.
·
Research
on the needs and experiences of the community.
·
Ongoing
evaluation of the effectiveness of the Transversal Area of Interculturality.
These categories served as a
starting point and were adjusted according to the specific characteristics of
the EI, its educational and social community.
The migratory flow from Venezuela
significantly affected educational centers in Bogotá and generated social,
political and economic crises in various regions of Colombia. Colombian society
was not prepared for this invasion of Venezuelan migrants. Many educational
institutions, both rural and urban, opened their doors to these new actors,
some of whom were unprepared. The Ministry of National Education (MEN 2020)
became aware of the problem and began to address the conflicts. Bogota was the
main destination of migrants, and the education sector was especially aware of
the situation. The school's geographical location, at the northern entrance to
Bogota, exposed it directly to the migratory conflict, facing challenges in
understanding and absorbing the diverse ways of thinking and acting of
migrants.
Today, with more than 25 years
of experience, the institution is consolidated in the educational offer of that
section of the city as a school whose mission is related to the formation of
the being, that is, with the construction of a life project that serves to
position the subjects in formation in a competent world, but at the same time
makes them responsible for the social reality of the country. The education provided in different
geopolitical environments must seek to establish models of integral academic
management to ensure its quality and, of course, it must be oriented to the
promotion of a research culture.
Given this reality, the
intercultural educational approach has been, is and should be the goal of both
the state agencies responsible for education and of the educational
institutions themselves, which, from their own local, regional and zonal
reality, should join efforts and resources in pursuit of a real human approach
among all the actors of the educational process
The history of humanity is nothing more than
the story and remembrance that humans have been, are and will be apt and prone
to a universal process of intercultural communication. What today is the era of
globalization is the realization that man's horizon has always been to be
involved in culture(s): In other words, the reality of interculturality has
always been a natural desire of the human being. This inclusion has been
characterized by the diversity of peoples who, throughout history, every day
and with increasing frequency, live in ever closer proximity to one another.
Inevitably, the historical crossing of cultures has been and always will be
fluid, dynamic and profoundly transformative. All living cultures are, and
always have been, for intercultural communication.
The above text is described in
the National University of Colombia document, "Intercultural Competencies:
Conceptual and Operational Framework
The environment of the
contemporary Colombian world commits all citizens to the development of
competencies aimed at accepting the presence of other diverse citizens and
learning to build authentic options for the future from this mutual diversity.
The above goes in the direction of recognizing the differences within the
coexistence: that is to recognize the point of view of the reality of
multiculturalism, understood as a valid socio-political option, at the gates of
legal recognition.
With respect to foreign
antecedents to the school reality worked, René Valdés-Morales, Verónica López,
Felipe Jiménez V., (2019) of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso,
carried out a research called "Inclusión Educativa En Relación Con La
Cultura Y La Convivencia Escolar" (Educational Inclusion In Relation To
School Culture And Coexistence). Their study objective was to characterize
school coexistence and culture. They selected two extreme cases and carried out
an ethnographic approach. The results yielded conclusions such as: "The
school with low school coexistence and low inclusive culture maintains
fragmented interpersonal relationships, with disorganization of roles and
functions and with a priority focus on improving coexistence. On the other
hand, the school with higher school coexistence and high inclusive culture,
shows cohesive human relations, envisions roles and functions and focuses more
on its pedagogical tasks.
A wide coverage of schooling
has revealed ethnic, cultural, religious, sexual and/or physical pluralities
within schools, which are potentially more vulnerable to suffer situations of
discrimination and segregation. Therefore, it is an ethical and social
challenge of inclusive and intercultural education to respond to diversity in
all areas of the social group as a whole. From this point of view, inclusive
education is presented as the most authentic option to minimize barriers and
reduce exclusion from the educational system.
On the other hand,
From this horizon, inclusion in educational processes should be considered
as an educational strategy with an equity approach, a necessary element to
apprehend equality and the guarantee for the full enjoyment of political,
social and cultural rights
For the same reason, interculturality and all the forms of education that
it brings with it, should be an appropriate space to provide appropriate
responses to the broad spectrum of teaching needs in all learning environments,
both formal and non-formal. The consideration of the intercultural as a
fundamental axiological field, encourages approaches in preschool environments,
since children are original actors who do not avoid the closeness of others:
Friendship, divine treasure
But the destiny of every human
being is not culture, not even necessarily, society as an institution. The
destiny of every human being is his or her fellow human beings, the others
equal to him (
Jean Piaget in his book
Psychology and Pedagogy teaches that to educate is to adapt children to the
adult social environment, in other words, to transform the psycho-biological
constitution of the little ones according to the set of certain collective realities
to which a certain value is given. In other words, someone has to give
something to someone else, and that something will not be capricious, but
accommodated to the values that society sustains and applauds. The little ones
have to be initiated, because they will never do it alone. The person in charge
of this mission is the teacher and, at home, the parents. That is education: first teaching, then
learning.
It must be stated that the
development of inclusive education is uneven and by no means homogeneous. Nor
is it a finished and coherent theoretical field. Throughout the national and
Latin American geography, there are manifestations with different and dissimilar
conceptions, approaches and principles and, as expressed by Master Estanislao
Zuleta in Education, a field of combat: The spaces that characterize any
educational process are authentic fields of combat, spaces full of tensions.
For the same reason, it is necessary to leave aside the politically correct
acceptances that are commonly expressed by some, related to inclusion and
interculturality.
From the Conceptual Framework , concepts and experiences of
Interculturality were handled, shared and alternated, not as a simple
recognition of the difference and cultural diversity that the multicultural
reality already makes, but rather, the recognition based on respect, equality
and equity between cultures where through dialogue and exchange of knowledge
one learns from the other and is recognized in their culture, breaking down
excluding behaviors that have been built through time. In addition, all institutional
processes should be oriented towards an academic management of educational
quality for all, with efficiency and effectiveness, as a whole, without
distinctions.
For Catherine Walsh (2005) as
a concept and practice, interculturality means between cultures, understood as
an exchange under conditions of equity (Walsh, 2005); it also involves cultural
diversity as recognition, it implies fully distinguishing a person (or group)
within a given group and granting it (them) its (their) full value as existing
(s) capable of playing a leading role in history. Of course, it is necessary to
delve into what Culture and Cultural identity really mean: those customs,
ideologies, codes, art, beliefs, norms, cosmovisions, which are constructed and
acquired by human beings living together in a given social context as part of
it, and which become social heritage.
Materials and methods
Fundamentally, we worked under
the principles and statements of the Action Research Participation IAP,
initiating the processes with the application of a Diagnostic Instrument
oriented both to the schoolchildren and to the Teachers and Parents of the IE.
Twenty students (100% of the class), 10 teachers (50% of the total school) and
12 parents (60% of the parents of the students in the class) participated.
Since, in principle, it is the implementation of a Transversal Area Curricular
Proposal, the population was considered significant for the purposes of the
research.
There were four phases of the
Methodology: Integral induction stage, application of the diagnostic
instrument, integral report of results, Information of the results to directors
and teachers.
In terms of population, the IE
has 280 students (preschool, elementary and middle school). The current average
number of students per grade ranges between 20 and 23. The study group selected
to develop this study corresponds to the Third Grade of Basic Education. The
grade currently has 20 students between the ages of 8 and 9 years old.
Results
The following are the
substantive results of the qualitative study on Interculturality in the IE
Educational Institution of Bogota:
(a) Promotion of Interethnic
Coexistence: The study revealed that the implementation of intercultural
strategies in the school has contributed significantly to the promotion of
interethnic coexistence among students and among the members of its educational
community. An improvement in mutual understanding, respect and appreciation of
the diverse cultural identities present in the school community is observed.
This result indicates that intercultural practices are having a positive impact
on building harmonious relationships and promoting cultural diversity as an
enriching asset.
b) Increased Participation and
Commitment of the Educational Community: Another key finding of the study has
been the notable increase in the participation and commitment of the
educational community (teachers, parents, and administrative staff) in activities
related to interculturality. The implementation of intercultural programs and
projects integrated under a specific cross-cutting area has generated a greater
involvement of all educational actors in school life, evidencing a positive
change in the perception and valuation of cultural diversity as an essential
component of the educational process. This result suggests that intercultural
initiatives not only impact schoolchildren directly, but also generate a
broader transformation in school culture and in the relationship of the school
with the surrounding neighborhood community.
The discussion of the study of
the implementation of a cross-cutting area of interculturality focused on three
key areas. First, the impact of interculturality on school coexistence was
addressed, highlighting the challenges overcome and the improvements observed
in interethnic relations among students. Second, the participation and
commitment of the educational community was analyzed, exploring the factors
that facilitated this increase and evaluating how it has influenced school
culture. Finally, the perception of the benefits of interculturality was
examined, including the opinions of educational actors and the possible impact
on learning. From this horizon, the contributions of pedagogues of the stature
of Paulo Freire (Brazil), Lev Vygotsky (Russia), and Howard Gardner (USA) were
appreciated and contributed enormously and significantly to the understanding
of the importance of cultural diversity in educational processes
Long-term sustainability and
generalization to other educational contexts were also considered, with
discussion of future challenges an Odyssey not in space but with feet on the
ground, recommendations for continuity and adaptability of implemented strategies.
These themes offered a comprehensive view of the results of the study and
suggest possible directions for future research and improvements in
intercultural practices in educational settings. The main idea of the
discussion - for the authors - on interculturality in schools should focus on
the importance of recognizing, respecting and valuing the cultural diversity
present in society and, therefore, in the school environment. Interculturality
in education seeks to promote harmonious coexistence between people from
different cultures, fostering dialogue, mutual understanding and equal
opportunities.
Some key points in this debate
included the need to adapt teaching methods to address the diverse forms of
learning present in different cultures, the incorporation of educational
content that reflects cultural diversity, and the promotion of an inclusive
environment that celebrates differences. In this regard, the theories that can
serve as a foundation would be among others: The sociocultural theory of the
aforementioned Vygotsky, who as noted, emphasizes the importance of the social
and cultural environment in the cognitive development of the individual. Social
interaction and collaboration are fundamental elements in his approach.
Although Jean Piaget's work focuses more on
individual cognitive development, his ideas on knowledge construction and
active adaptation could be applied to the intercultural context, for Paulo
Freire, whose pedagogical approach focused on liberation and conscientization,
advocates an education that is a participatory and dialogical process. His
perspective could be relevant to the promotion of equality and intercultural
respect. Finally, Howard Gardner. His
theory of multiple intelligences highlights the diversity of abilities and ways
of learning. Adaptable to interculturality, he suggests with great insight that
schools should recognize and nurture a variety of skills and talents present in
different cultures.
It is essential to emphasize
that interculturality in a school is a multidisciplinary issue that encompasses
pedagogical, social, psychological and cultural aspects. The combination of
approaches from different educational psychologists can provide a solid basis
for addressing this educational challenge.
Conclusions
In the final stage of the
study on the implementation of a Transversal Area based on Interculturality in
Primary Education (Grade 3), the conclusions were supported by the results and
contributions of the participants, including schoolchildren, parents, teachers,
administrators and the community in general. Schoolchildren demonstrated
greater awareness of cultural diversity, highlighting the importance of
respect, integration and empathy. Parents advocated for greater participation
in their children's education and the creation of incentives for inclusion.
Teachers stressed the need for sensitivity to diversity and continuous training
in Intercultural Pedagogy.
Managers recognized the
positive impact of Interculturality on school climate and advocated for
integrating it into strategic planning. The community in general experienced a
positive perception towards the institution, greater integration and participation
in community events. The synthesis concluded that the proposal should be
grounded in the Curriculum, designing strategies based on the findings of the
study to address the needs of all stakeholders. The importance of maintaining
open and continuous communication to adjust the implementation according to the
dynamics and changes in the educational community of the Bogotá EI was
highlighted.
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