ADVANCES AND CHALLENGES IN THE TRAINING OF INDIGENOUS PROFESSIONALS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA.
Access to higher education for young people belonging to indigenous peoples has been expanding in Latin America. From the first intercultural bilingual education teachers in the final decades of the twentieth century to professionals from a wide range of disciplines, at undergraduate and graduate levels, who have been trained in the twenty-first century, the higher education of indigenous professionals has raised important questions, among them: the what, the how, and the what for of such training. Thus, curricular questions concern the what: From what perspectives and epistemic positions is training approached in higher education institutions? What content, what histories, what knowledge, what languages should have a place in that training? And how should that knowledge be transmitted?—these are some of the questions that demand rethinking, from design to pedagogical practices in the broad sense, promoted in higher education, considering the plurality of ways of learning as well as the indigenous languages present among the peoples of the region and that indigenous students bring to the classroom.
The purpose, the what for, has led to the emergence of a variety of institutions and programs, some oriented toward training in professions relevant to the needs of peoples and territories, as is the case of many of the so-called intercultural universities, while others have sought to open space for indigenous youth in conventional professions and universities. This symposium invites contributions exploring this broad field, reflecting on advances in the training of indigenous professionals, the formation of a body of indigenous intellectuals in the region, the changes their greater presence brings to higher education, and the strategies that have worked best to guarantee access, retention, and completion of studies at this level. It also invites critical reflection on the challenges that remain, such as the persistence of racism and discrimination in higher education, barriers to building greater epistemic pluralism within the university, and the gap between initial expectations of training and working in one’s own community and the reality of migration in search of job opportunities in capital cities. Among the topics this symposium will also welcome is the presentation of studies on the training of intercultural bilingual teachers or indigenous teachers, not only because this is one of the first professions opening the door for indigenous youth into higher education, but also because of their role in training new generations of indigenous children and youth, within a context of accelerated changes affecting their identity, expectations, and life projects.
