Mingas de Pensamiento: A Research Process with an Embera Chamí Indigenous Community for the Design of Culturally Responsive Early Childhood Education

This chapter presents research with Wasiruma, an Embera Chamí Indigenous community in Colombia. The research aim was to design an early childhood education and care pedagogic proposal that is culturally responsive to local knowledges and practices. The author describes how researching with the community from a decolonial perspective in a process called Minga de Pensamiento, or Walking the Words, resulted in a collaborative creation of a mural that became the main inspiration for the pedagogical framework. The research project aimed to address the limitations of Colombia’s national public policy on early childhood education and care, De Cero A Siempre (From Zero to Forever) (2016) which makes it difficult to implement culturally responsive education for young Indigenous children.