Teacher education and interculturality in the Ecuadorian Amazon: Experiences of university students in bilingual educational contexts

Abstract

Teacher training in socioculturally diverse contexts requires pedagogical models that integrate academic instruction with ancestral knowledge, indigenous languages, and territorial dynamics. Within this framework, this study analyzes the pedagogical practice and community engagement experiences of student teachers in the Ecuadorian Amazon, through an inter-institutional academic mobility project between the National University of Education (UNAE), the Ikiam Amazonian Regional University, and Yachay Tech University. The research adopted a mixed-methods approach with a descriptive scope. The sample consisted of 49 students from the Science Education program. The study examined the relationship between the pedagogical practice carried out in Intercultural Bilingual Schools and a community engagement program structured around technical immersion sessions in communities of the Kichwa and Waorani nationalities. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative information was organized based on experiences, narratives, and incidents lived by the students. The results show that, at the beginning of their stay, the students experienced culture shock mainly related to the climate, language, and food. The initial adaptation reached an average of 4.25. In conclusion, the situated linkage is consolidated as a fundamental element in intercultural teacher training, since it allows valuing ancestral knowledge and contextualizing the teaching of sciences within Amazonian environments.