Escolaridad generalizada: ¿inclusión social o pérdida de la identidad cultural?

Indigenous-Colombian people have moved from the religious tutelage, intended to "civilize" them, to acquire the right to be schooled by the principle of ethno-education. This encouraging liberal change allowed the recovery of ancestral knowledge with which to shape new generations. The Guambiano people decided to educate their youth through a combination of indigenous and western knowledge. Primary schools became common and they also developed a high school program; now all children attend state institutions from the age of two. For the last ten years graduates from the Guambiano agricultural high school have been attending the Universidad del Valle. Due to the low performance and high dropout rate among indigenous students of different ethnic groups, in 2005 we initiated various support programs, such as the University and Cultures project. The realization that their poor performance was rooted in problems of poor schooling, rather than a cultural clash as we had initially expected, led us investigate how schooling was conducted in two indigenous reserves. Cultural psychology prompted us to explore the political and educational context that gave birth to the new institutions in which these youngsters are being educated. It also encouraged us to investigate the impact of the introduction, through technological media, of cultural models that promote values and behavior in opposition to their ancestral culture. We discuss whether or not schooling in Guambia promotes cultural continuity