The primacy of the common good: Mapuche children collaborating to achieve a learning goal in a science classroom

• In Event: Collaboration, Harmony, Attention & Acomedido: Learning Strengths among Mexican and Indigenous Peoples of the Americas

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study analyzing children's interactions among Mapuche boys and girls in a situated teaching activity. Chile recognizes nine First Nations peoples, with the Mapuche being the most numerous (1,745,147 inhabitants), mainly concentrated in the Metropolitan and Araucanía regions.

The Mapuche have their own educational model, kimeltuwün, which guides children’s learning toward becoming che (Mapuche person), the ultimate goal of Mapuche education (Carihuentro 2007; Llanquinao 2010). This model is based on principles guiding families and communities: respect, solidarity, and balance. Respect is practiced toward elders, nature, spirits, and Mapuche origins in the territory (Alonqueo et al. 2022; Llanquinao 2010). Solidarity implies helping, collaborating, and contributing so all community members achieve goals according to their capacities. Balance is expressed through reciprocity—rules and obligations to give, receive, and return—that regulate social and family relations.

Children's learning in Indigenous communities of the Americas has been described through Learning by Observing and Participating in Family and Community Activities (LOPI, Rogoff 2016, 2022), with seven facets: community organization, motivation, organization, learning goals, strategies, communication modes, and evaluation. Cultural learning patterns reflect shared representations about the world and human–non-human relations expressed in daily life (Gutiérrez & Rogoff 2003).

We conducted a microethnographic analysis of a recorded science class with eight Mapuche second-graders and their teacher. The activity’s goal was to prepare soil to fill a container where a seed would be planted. Three sociocultural interaction situations were identified: a) teacher guidance of children's learning, b) children's collective agendas, and c) a classmate contributing to a shared goal.

Results show that Mapuche children activate, in a practical science class, cultural elements of kimeltuwün, such as respect, group organization, initiative, and collaboration. They build collective agendas to reach the activity's goal and regulate interactions. For example, they respect teacher, peers, and elements of the land, leaving them undamaged in their spaces. Motivation is evident in their enthusiasm for a familiar task—working in a vegetable garden. Learning by doing is fully expressed as they first construct containers, then search for suitable soil.

Findings are discussed in light of the LOPI model, highlighting how Mapuche children transform instructional teaching-learning formats by manifesting their own ways of learning through collaboration, multimodal communication, and spontaneous motivation to assist in achieving a shared goal.

Author

• Paula Alonqueo, University of La Frontera