Afro community pedagogies and Ethnoeducation in the Colombian Pacific

Abstract

Ethnoeducation has become one of the main mechanisms for recognizing ethnic-racial diversity in Colombia and for incorporating Afrodescendant knowledge into schools. However, much of its development has remained linked to institutional, curricular, and schoolbased settings, limiting the understanding of other community spaces where pedagogical knowledge is also produced and transmitted. This article analyzes the organizational experiences of Afro-descendant women in the Colombian Pacific to understand how their community practices configure their own forms of pedagogical production. From a qualitative and interpretative approach, articulated with feminist, intersectional, and decolonial perspectives, the study worked with women’s organizations in Guapi, Buenaventura, and Cali through indepth interviews, talking circles, participant observation, and documentary review. The findings reveal that these organizations develop formative processes related to territorial memory, intergenerational transmission of knowledge, pedagogies of care, the defense of sexual and reproductive rights, and the political formation of Afro-descendant women. Based on these findings, the article proposes the category of Afro community pedagogies to recognize educational practices emerging within territories that exceed the limits of formal schooling. Rather than competing with ethnoeducation, this proposal seeks to broaden the understanding of education from situated Afro-descendant community experiences in the Colombian Pacific.