Ashéninka identity: Between education and art

Abstract

This study is the result of a classroom ethnography carried out in the two schools for the secondary level that were in the Gran Pajonal until 2012. The objective is to know in what way the formal education that is offered through the educational institutions influences the construction of the identity of Asheninka students. For this, we have focused on describing the deficiencies of the course “Personal development, citizenship and civic” and the artistic activities that are promoted in the Gran Pajonal. The main objective of this course is to equip students with the necessary tools to build their identity. However, the teachers in charge of these courses do not have the necessary competencies to achieve the objectives and, on the contrary, they encourage cultural assimilation to the detriment of the local cultural manifestations. For this reason, this article aims to reflect on the intercultural approach that teachers must use to support the identity construction of bilingual students starting from the conception of an intercultural citizenship and building multiple identities according to their social reality.