Between the crystal and fire: the nature and use of scientific and traditional knowledge in a discipline of Intercultural Formation Course for Indigenous Teachers of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (FIEI/UFMG)

Abstract

This paper discusses the meanings that involve cross-cultural training for indigenous educators from the tensions arising from the meeting of different cultures and the plurality of knowledge in the classroom. Reflections have as scenery the issues concerning to the social function of indigenous school education in their links with the cultural dynamics in their communities, considering both the construction of basic education in the villages and teachers training at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil (UFMG). For this purpose, some situations experienced in the classroom, in a training course for indigenous teachers, under the text metaphor viewed as flame or crystal, are analyzed. This experience has enabled a better understanding of the reality of school education of indigenous peoples as cultural contact, not as folklore.

Keywords:
Indigenous school education; Science education; Indigenous knowledge; Scientific knowledge