Abstract

MENDES SILVA, Ivone Maria. University as an Intercultural Space of In/exclusion from the Perspective of Kaingang Indigenous Students. Rev. latinoam. estud. educ. [online]. 2023, vol.53, n.3, pp.501-538.  Epub Oct 06, 2023. ISSN 2448-878X.  https://doi.org/10.48102/rlee.2023.53.3.570.

This article discusses the educational inclusion of Kaingang students in Brazilian public higher education, based on an empirical study that investigates the place and importance of interculturality in this process. It is based on the contributions of Latin American decolonial studies in dialogue with postcolonial studies, as well as the productions of Brazilian indigenous intellectuals. As part of the research development, individual and group interviews were carried out with five indigenous students of a federal public university, and the analysis of a publicly accessible document, prepared in 2020, gathers testimonials from fourteen other indigenous students from the same institution. Audio and video-recorded materials are analyzed based on the assumptions of content analysis. The results show that challenges such as distancing the academic curriculum from values, knowledge, and forms of production knowledge of indigenous peoples, as well as the existence of diverse oppressions, prejudices, and discriminations that mark the relationship with colleagues and teachers. It is concluded that intercultural dialogue can contribute to facing these challenges and its appreciation by the university is a project under construction in Brazil.

Keywords : indigenous peoples; democratization of higher education; interculturality; decoloniality.