The Integration of Paju into the Teaching Process: An Analysis of Teachers’ Worldview in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Abstract

This study examines the contradiction between the Intercultural Bilingual Education System Model to incorporate ancestral knowledge as a legitimate form of knowledge, and the prevailing perception of Western scientific knowledge as the only valid knowledge within the Ecuadorian educational system. This paper focuses on understanding how paju is integrated into the teaching process from the teachers’ cosmovision in a school located in the province of Pastaza, Arajuno canton. A qualitative study employing an ethnographic approach was conducted, utilizing tools such as semi-structured interviews and social mapping with Kichwa and mestizo teachers as the primary data collection tools. The analysis revealed a duality in teachers’ perceptions of paju, understood both as a spiritual power and an ancestral knowledge. It also highlighted a tension between recognizing paju as a legitimate knowledge from the perspective of Indigenous peoples and nationalities, and dismissing it as a “myth” or “folklore”. Finally, the findings show a division in intercultural pedagogical practice: ancestral knowledge tends to be integrated only into subjects related to Indigenous language and cosmovision, but not into subjects considered “scientific”, such as Mathematics or Natural Sciences. The study concludes by emphasizing the need to recognize ancestral knowledge as legitimate knowledge that contributes to all aspects of people’s lives, including formal schooling, where the role of teachers is fundamental. Acknowledging this legitimacy will enable these forms of knowledge to be preserved for future generations.