School choice in Indigenous families as a conflicting path between territories and cultures: The case of rural Mapuche families in Chile

Juan de Dios  Oyarzun; Laura Luna; Camila Moyano

doi:10.55146/ajie.v54i1.1035

Authors

Juan de Dios Oyarzun Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8168-076X
Laura Luna P. Universidad Católica de Chile
Camila Moyano Universidad Finis Terrae https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6357-3469

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55146/ajie.v54i1.1035

Keywords:

Indigenous families, school choice, Mapuche ethnicity, Chilean education, territories

Abstract

Chile has a highly segregated education system. Indigenous students tend to be one of the most disadvantaged socio-cultural groups in terms of educational access and academic outcomes, in addition to lacking consistent intercultural educational alternatives. Through in-depth interviews, we explored Mapuche families’ experiences from two communities in rural southern Chile regarding their secondary school choice processes. This study analyses ethnic, territorial and future labour-related aspects influencing families’ decisions regarding their children’s educational transition. Generally, the path from primary to secondary school in rural settings involves a change from a small, local, multi-grade primary school to an urban secondary school. The findings show that this decision involves the crossing of ethnic, territorial and social boundaries that affect the families’ educational definitions related to the aspirational expectations for their children. In this, secondary school choice appears as an event in which different aspects and tensions of contemporary Indigenous ethnicity emerge and are confronted.

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Author Biographies

Juan de Dios Oyarzun, Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile

Juan de Dios Oyarzún holds a PhD in education policy studies from University College London, and is currently an Associate Professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Juan de Dios studies the field of sociology of education and the sociological study of education policy from critical theoretical perspectives. In particular, he is interested in the analysis of the relationship between educational policy, its implementation at the institutional level and the processes of subjectivation of the actors involved. Recently, Juan de Dios has also participated in research on education, territory and socio-environmental crises.

Laura Luna, P. Universidad Católica de Chile

Laura Luna Figueroa is an Anthropologist, Associate Professor at the Villarrica Campus of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Director of the UC Center for Local Development. She is a graduate of Sapienza University in Rome, Italy, and holds a PhD in social anthropology from the University of Manchester. Her research and teaching work has focused on topics related to intercultural education, interethnic relations and development. Laura Luna is also dedicated to topics linked to the anthropology of education and educational inclusion.

Camila Moyano, Universidad Finis Terrae

Camila Moyano Dávila obtained her PhD in social science from the University of Lausanne at the LIVES Research Centre, Switzerland. She is currently an Associate Professor of the Faculty of Education, Psychology and Family, School of Family Sciences, at the Universidad Finis Terrae. In her previous work, she has followed a biographical approach with a focus on subjectivity. She has developed research on vulnerable children and minorities in the Chilean education system. Camila Moyano edited a book about educational justice in Chile. Currently, she is working on educational technologies and the production of stereotypes at school.

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