Marginalized knowledge

: intercultural pathways and decolonial perspectives in science education

Abstract

This theoretical essay aimed to analyze the contributions of Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian knowledge to the development of intercultural and decolonial science education, based on reflections and findings developed in a doctoral thesis. It was based on the assumption that science education, historically structured according to Eurocentric epistemologies, reproduces hierarchies of knowledge that devalue forms of knowledge produced by Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples. Thus, the study proposed discussing how valuing these forms of knowledge can contribute to the decolonization of the curriculum and to the consolidation of popular, democratic, and culturally situated education. The analysis was organized around: (1) a reflection on the colonial roots of modern science and the epistemic racism that permeates the educational field; (2) a presentation of Kaingang ethnoscience as an expression of an ecological and symbolic rationality; (3) a proposal of theoretical and methodological pathways for incorporating Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian knowledge into science education, in accordance with Law No. 11,645/2008. It was concluded that decolonizing science education requires an ethical and political commitment to listening, dialogue, and co-authorship with historically silenced subjects, thereby constructing educational spaces of resistance and re-existence.