A “Cátedra por Nariño”: possibilidades para um currículo emancipatório

Abstract

The objective of this dissertation is to analyze the development of the alternative curricular proposal called “Cátedra por Nariño” implemented in the 1980s in Nariño, Colombia, so to understand and analyze how this curricular development interfered in the official curriculum as a way of challenging educational policies of the Colombian state. This dissertation also aims to explain the historical establishment of the “Cátedra por Nariño” in the Colombian context, from the participants of such establishment; compare the curriculum of the “Cátedra por Nariño” with the official curriculum proposed for the country in that situation; and to explore the picture that teachers have about the curriculum development of the “Cátedra por Nariño”. To achieve the objectives, several theoretical references were utilized, such as: Shirley Grundy, Jürgen Habermas, Paulo Freire, Michael Apple, Peter McLaren, Henry Giroux, Miguel Arroyo, Gimeno Sacristán, Helena Felício, Fernando González Rey, Wanda Aguiar, Sergio Ozella; among others. Also, in this qualitative research, a bibliographic study about the object of study was made, as well as interviews with some involved in this curricular process. For data analysis, qualitative interpretive constructive epistemology was used. As a product of this work, it is presented how the “Cátedra por Nariño” emerged and developed, and also the connection of the alternative curricular proposal with the social struggles of the time as well as the expansion of the project within Nariño, the obstacles it faced, and the way how it ended. In addition, the official curriculum used in Colombia in the 1980s and the alternative curriculum project were analyzed in the light of the theory of constitutive interests of knowledge, with the first being classified as a curriculum informed mainly by a technical interest and the alternative curricular proposal called “Cátedra por Nariño” as a curriculum as praxis. It is concluded that in the current times that are lived in Latin America, where the curricular terrain is more and more protected, it is feasible, necessary, and possible to make use, in a counter-hegemonic way, of alternative curricula as tools for social change. However, it is necessary that teachers are reflexive of the exercise of their educational activity in today's society and that, after this reflection, they move towards the appropriation in the curricular territory of spaces that allow them to sow utopia and hope for a better world for them, their students, their families and society.