Contesting Expertise and the Everyday Struggle Against Institutionalized Indigenous Education in Ecuador

Ethnographic fieldwork in a school in Quito, Ecuador, preparing for a book on how teachers use their expertise to advocate for their students. (12 months) On the surface Ecuador is often seen as one of the most successful examples of Indigenous schooling in the world. Since 1988 Indigenous policymakers and teachers have established and managed a national public school system for Indigenous students. Yet, the content of what most schools teach is similar to the other main school system or even translated directly from Spanish to Indigenous languages. Based on 12 months of ethnographic research, this project will examine one school that has, paradoxically, long struggled against its own school system in seeking culturally relevant education, rejecting the national intercultural bilingual curriculum and those who make it. It shows how teachers who aim to revolutionize what and how they teach find a challenge at the intersections of knowledge, power, and culture in claims to expertise.