The Role of Intercultural Science Education: Reorienting a Socio-political Agenda for Latin-America

Scientific education in Latin America has been crossed through a prominent process of recognition and understanding of being a region with enormous diversity both from biological and cultural points of view, which characterizes it as a territory with an invaluable biocultural heritage. Despite ethnic-education programs being part of the education laws in most countries in Latin America to respect and perpetuate languages, knowledge, and traditions of different local communities and ethnic groups, this does not mean that these knowledge systems are taken by teachers to the classrooms where Western science still have a predominant role and configure discourses of superiority that perpetuate epistemic and ontological injustices. This work proposes a discussion, based on philosophical and theoretical-methodological foundations, on the role of Intercultural Science Education (ISE) in the initial and in-service training of science teachers, to develop intercultural attitudes closer to the classroom from the otherness and, culturally and politically sensitivity profile, to dialogue and negotiate with different knowledge systems. This last with the objective of recognize epistemological, ontological, and ethical commitments of the communities as a necessary proposal to reorient the sociopolitical agendas for Latin America, as a transversal axis related with culture and citizen participation, peace pedagogies, agriculture, productive projects, solidarity economy, and ancestralism. The panorama of an intercultural scientific education that is consolidated as a prominent and necessary field of research for the region is presented, based on the need for a science and technology approach that dialogues with other knowledge systems in favour of an education that is sensitive to cultural diversity and with an emancipatory approach.