Generativity and Rural Teacher Identity in a Mapuche Community of

Toltén (Chile): An Exploratory Study

Samuel Sánchez Henao

Universidad de La Frontera

Evelyn Huanquilén Ancan

Universidad de La Frontera

Eduardo Sandoval-Obando
Universidad Autónoma de Chile

Bastián Carter-Thuillier
Universidad de Los Lagos
Universidad Católica de Temuco

This article aims to develop an insight, from a narrative-generative perspective, into the knowledge that
characterizes rural teaching professionalism and its potentially generative implications in a Mapuche
community. Method: an exploratory-descriptive and cross-sectional qualitative research was carried out.
The participants were 4 educators working in intercultural schools in the commune of Toltén (Chile), with
an average age of 50 years and belonging to the Mapuche ethnic group. For data collection, in-depth
interviews were used. Subsequently, the collected data was interpreted through content analysis. Results:
The Mapuche epistemology that guides the professional work of the participants in intercultural
educational contexts is described. The participants generatively promote the Mapuche sense of belonging
in the students through play, positive affect, and critical reflection, integrating local knowledge and
ancestral authorities in the rural teaching and learning processes.

Keywords: pedagogy, generativity, Mapuche culture, rural school, interculturality

INTRODUCTION

The Chilean school system has been characterized by harboring different identities and manifestations
of cultural diversity (Stang-Alva et al., 2021; Oyarzún et al., 2022), although this has not necessarily meant
a positive recognition and valuation of this plurality (Gutiérrez-Saldivia and Rivera, 2020). Proof of this is
that educational policies have not been characterized by recognizing the particularity of the territories and
their actors, a fact that, among other factors, has implied the cultural impoverishment of the identities with
lesser quotas of power (Turra and Ferrada, 2016), as well as the total or partial exclusion of their knowledge
and wisdom from the school curriculum (Aravena, 2017).

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 In reference to teachers, although the role of teachers has been recognized as a fundamental role played
to achieve a positive and equitable management of diversity in the classroom, initiatives in this area remain
incipient and culturally irrelevant (Ibañez-Salgado and Druker-Ibañez, 2018). In fact, a significant volume
of Chilean universities does not consider or incorporate specific training on interculturality during initial
teacher training (Carter-Thuillier et al., 2022), and, as a result, future teachers are not prepared for the needs,
challenges and obstacles they are likely to experience in this area during their professional career (Castillo,
2021). This scenario is especially counterproductive in contexts that are densely inhabited by multiple
cultural identities such as the southern macro-zone of Chile, a territory historically linked to the presence
of the Mapuche people (Carter-Thuillier et al., 2022) and where the challenge of implementing intercultural
educational projects is usually intersected with the complexities of rurality (Silva-Peña et al., 2013).
The above described entails that, in many cases, teachers must face from their inexperience and scarce
training on interculturality and rurality, the challenge of self-managing and defining pedagogical actions
that make possible: working with several grades in the same space, (co)building social involvement in the
communities (Fuentes, 2019), developing their generative responsibility, transcending the hegemonic
logics of cultural and social reproduction that weaken local identities, favoring the decolonization and
transcendence of Mapuche knowledge, customs and culture in general.
Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand, from a narrative-generative perspective, the
knowledge that characterizes the rural teaching professionalism of educators working in the commune of
Toltén (Chile) and its potentially generative implications in the Mapuche communities in which they
exercise their educational work. This context is self-identified in territorial and identity terms as Mapuche
Lafkenche or “people of the sea” due to their ancestral, spiritual and economic relationship with the sea or
Lafken.

THEORETICAL - CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Generativity and Its Socio-Educational Implications

Some professions inherently have a demand for care and responsibility towards others (particularly the
younger generations), as is the case of pedagogy, (Sandoval-Obando, 2021b); where it is of great
significance to approach the concept of generativity (Sandoval-Obando, 2020; Zacarés & Serra, 2011). This
concept developed by Erikson (2000) describes a stage of human development in which people have the
capacity to transmit to other generations something to ensure their well-being in the future (Villar et al.,
2013; Sandoval-Obando & Calvo Muñoz, 2022a; Sandoval-Obando et al., 2022).
Generativity has been classified into four types (Kotre, 1996): biological, parental, technical and
cultural generativity; each of them can be presented with two forms of expression: communal: which refers
to the impulse to care for the other so that he/she survives and transcends; or genetic: referring to teaching
or caring for the other with the objective of persevering a particular characteristic (Zacarés & Serra, 2011).
Generativity can be expressed in the training of young people, social commitment, and civic and political
participation (Sandoval-Obando & Zacarés, 2020; Sandoval-Obando et al., 2021); as well as the interest
that adults have in transmitting elements, ideas, values, instruments or beliefs of a culture to future
generations (Kotre, 2004).
The previously mentioned types of generativity may have subtypes or variants, being of interest the
“indigenous cultural generativity”, named by Lewis & Allen (2017). Specifically, cultural generativity,
addresses the passing on of particular values, traditions and forms of knowledge directly linked to a specific
cultural worldview to future generations (Kotre, 2004). While indigenous cultural generativity emphasizes
the need and importance of preserving the history, language, values, culture and the specific community of
the original peoples, it also emphasizes the need to preserve the cultural and cultural heritage of the
indigenous peoples.

Generative Manifestations in the Mapuche People

From the Mapuche perspective, the transmission of knowledge is entrusted to the kimches (authorities
and bearers of traditional knowledge) (Quilaqueo & Quintriqueo, 2010) and to the other adults of the lof

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(basic form of social organization): the reñma (extended family), the küpan (family of origin) and the
fûtakeche (elders), the latter being those who have experienced and acquired knowledge and wisdom over
the years, and are therefore highly valued within the culture as active subjects with relevant leadership roles
(SENAMA, 2015). In other words, they are those who primarily assume a generative role in Mapuche
culture, since they are responsible for transmitting knowledge through the generative principles:
“kümeyawael (to be a person of good behavior), yamüwael (to be a person who esteems the family and the
community), küme che geael (to be a good person) and kim che geel (to be a wise person)” (Quilaqueo &
Quintriqueo, 2017 p. 350). This cultural transmission and Mapuche knowledge have been in constant
tension due to the cultural and territorial appropriation of other forms of government, education and way of
life external to the cosmovision of this people.

Characterization of Mapuche Education

In the Mapuche context, educational processes are constructed dialogically in the family and
community environment, based on a cultural logic that has its own frame of reference to contribute to the
development of new generations (Quintriqueo & Arias, 2019). However, this perspective contrasts with the
current structure of the Chilean educational model, which with its western, hegemonic and monocultural
logic has historically hierarchized as inferior the knowledge, wisdom and practices of the native peoples,
which has led to a progressive loss of ancestral wisdom and created an urgency to promote dialogues
between Mapuche knowledge-acting and schooling processes (Solano, 2015).
Mapuche ancestral education is based on learning by doing, observing reality, expressing knowledge
and wisdom in Mapudungun (spoken language), experiencing inatuzugun (Mapuche way of knowing) and
using gülam (type of formative conversation among young people) for the transmission of customs and
values, while rescuing traditional knowledge in the educational context (Arias, 2019). In this sense, teaching
is a task that far transcends school logic. In other words, Mapuche education is based on kimeltuwün
(Quilaqueo et al, 2016), an essentially formative and socialization action in which both family (küpan) and
territorial (tuwün) ancestry and the work of the principles kümeyawael (to be a person of good behavior),
yamüwael (to be a person who esteems the family and community), küme che geael (to be a good person),
and kim che geel (to be a wise person) are found. (Quilaqueo et al, 2016; Quilaqueo & Quintriqueo, 2017).
Another category is procedural, known as zapin, which refers to the teaching of attitudes to cultivate
knowledge; inatuzugu, understood as the search in family roots for the Mapuche being or az (features) of
the person; and gülam, a strategy used to teach values and attitudes regarding social knowledge, nature,
artistic-technological creation and the spiritual-symbolic (Quilaqueo et al., 2005). Thus, the Küme Mogen
(good living) assumes a relevant role.
This construct is observed transversally in Mapuche education, since it represents a shared cosmovision
to think about another reality in which human beings are part of a more harmonious whole with nature, with
other humans and with the otherness that enriches everyday life, recognizing the diversity of values and
mutual respect for all beings that make up this common home (De la Cuadra, 2015). From this perspective,
the process of awareness and involvement of people and communities is enhanced (Sandoval-Obando, Serra
& Zacarés, 2019) through the participation of the family, the community and the beings that surround us
(Aguado et al., 2016), admitting the emergence of potentially generative practices that recognize the
ancestral knowledge, wisdom and ways of life of the territory (Aguado et al., 2016).

The Chilean Rural School

Rural education in Chile represents 29.2% of the total number of establishments in the country,
according to the Ministry of Education (2021). This offer shows several particularities, such as, multiple
roles of teachers and managers, attention to diversity of realities and several grades in the same classroom
(Arriagada, 2018); representing a highly heterogeneous social and community space where community
meeting and support activities take place (Fuentes, 2019).
However, in Chile there is little evidence of the promotion of rural education in public policies, which
is paradoxical considering that, in 2021, teachers in rural contexts accounted for 11.8% of teachers in the
country (Center of Studies - Ministry of Education, 2021). For its part, the enrollment report of the Ministry

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of Education in 2021 points out that more than 277,844 students attend these educational centers, many of
whom face various economic deprivations (Arriagada, 2018).
Given this scenario, it is necessary to strengthen the work of teachers in these territories, achieving a
relevant and culturally situated university preparation (Díaz, 2016), enabling the deployment of potentially
generative pedagogical strategies that recognize and integrate the values and traditions of the rural
community where they practice their profession (Sandoval-Obando, 2019; Zacarés & Serra, 2011). It is
about strengthening the transcendence of ancestral knowledge, the historical legacy, and the sense of
belonging to the community (Lewis & Allen, 2017).

METHOD

Design of the Study

The research was carried out from a qualitative interpretative approach, following an exploratory-
descriptive and cross-sectional design.

Participants
A non-probabilistic convenience sampling was used, since the participants were selected according to
the particular characteristics defined for the development of this research. Therefore, the participants were
4 educators, who have worked regularly in intercultural schools located within the commune of Toltén
(Chile), have an average age of 50 years, and culturally self-identify with the Mapuche ethnic group.

Data Collection Techniques

In-depth interviews were used from the narrative-generative perspective (Brady et al, 2013; McAdams
& Guo, 2015; McAdams & McLean, 2013; Sandoval-Obando, 2022a). Complementarily, we resorted to
the Nütram, a Mapuche mode of conversation to transmit teachings, experiences and knowledge from the
life stories or narratives of the speakers (Llamin, 2015).
Each meeting was conducted in two phases: First, it sought to build trust and closeness between the
kimeltuchefe and the interviewer, where non-invasive questions were developed. Meanwhile, in the second
phase, the body of the interview was developed, exploring the following topics: rural schooling, ancestral
knowledge, generative potential of the teaching profession, and life experiences that influenced the
construction of the professionalism of rural teachers in Lafkenche territory and its generative potential.

Data Analysis Strategy

For the analysis and organization of the records obtained, we resorted to content analysis under the
logic of grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 2002). Procedurally, we proceeded to the textual transcription
of the data, then we began the process of coding the transcribed information (Strauss & Corbin, 2002)
through three stages (Bonilla & López, 2016 p. 308): open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. A
constant analysis of the results was maintained through description and interpretation, counting and
concurrence of codes, theoretical and empirical comparison of the content (Rodriguez et al., 2005).

Ethical and Scientific Rigor Criteria

The research protocol was constructed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and taking as a
reference the guidelines established by the Scientific Ethics Committee for work with human beings of
the University of La Frontera (Chile).

RESULTS

As part of the process of analysis and interpretation of the data collected (Rodriguez et al, 2005), ten
categories emerged around which the presentation of results was structured:
a) Life Trajectories of kimeltuchefe: Set of significant life experiences, positive and / or negative
that developed in the course of the life cycle of the kimeltuchefe interviewed, which together

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 led to the development of a potentially generative teaching identity. It was made up of the
following codes: redemptive identity, significant experiences childhood - adolescence,
religious and spiritual influences, turning points of the rural teacher.
b) Folil vocational kimeltuchefe: Folil (roots) and kimeltuchefe, (person who teaches): refers to
the set of people, entities or situations that prompted the / those interviewed to be professionally
trained as teachers and assume the role of kimeltuchefe, showing professional and personal
models that aroused interest in working in Lafkenche territory. It consisted of the following
codes: Incidental vocation of teachers, teaching vocation influenced by friends, educational
influence - Family, significant mentors of teachers, teachers vocational models.
c) Kimeltuchefe’s lifestyle: refers to the behavioral traits, lifestyle, hobbies, ethical and moral
standards that guide the work of teachers inside and outside the educational context. It is made
up of the following dimensions: Experiential self-criticism, Teacher mobility, Inclusion and
educational diversity, Use of free time, Cardinal values.
d) Challenges of teaching in the Lafkenche territory: demands and challenges experienced by
teachers in the Mapuche territory; related to the management and administration of schools,
knowledge and ignorance of the Mapuche kimün and other aspects that arise in the teaching
task. This is expressed in the following codes: precariousness in rural education,
Deconstruction of the pedagogical task, Responsibilities outside the teaching role,
Contextualized education, Emerging ignorance of the professional teaching task, Ignorance of
the Mapuche kimün.
e) Newen (force or energy) Kimeltuchefe: Ideals that give trajectory and motives to teachers to
exercise and maintain teaching in the lof. It has two codes: social awareness, School and
community in the piwke.
f) Relationship between the Kimeltuchefe - Lof: Links and types of relationship generated
between the teacher and lof of Agustin Millao as a result of his educational role in the Mapuche
community, showing types of unilateral and bilateral relationships between them. We highlight
the following codes and areas of analysis: Admiration towards the Mapuche kimüm, Desire for
‘Mapuchization’, School as a community space, Cultural clash, Intercultural relationship,
Multicultural relationship, Teacher’s evaluative perception.
g) Kimeltuchefe and its educational purposes in Lafkenche territory: set of personal and/or
community objectives that rural teachers imprint on their educational work, inside and outside
the classroom, promoting a marked generative and cultural interest. It has four codes:
Promotion of the Mapuche sense of belonging, Teaching of community ideology (lof),
Decolonization of knowledge, Intercultural teaching, and Intercultural education.
h) Kimeltuchefe and its generative potential: Manifestations of the teachers interviewed that
denote an interest in favoring and contributing to the development of future generations. It has
three codes: Teachers as generational link, desire and generative responsibility, generative
potential values.
i) Mapuche Kimün and teaching: set of networking and sharing that takes place between Mapuche
culture and traditional schooling processes, making possible the recognition of different
ceremonies, myths, stories, games, forms of relationship, teaching methods and others, typical
of Mapuche ancestral wisdom within the daily practice of rural education. It is made up of the
following dimensions: Epew, Dialogue in education, Mapuzungun and kimeltuwe ruka, Küme
Mogen, Learning by doing, Aukantun, Mapuche practices and ceremonies in school context,
Ancestral authorities in school context.
j) Generative responsibility of the Mapuche kimün: Assignment of roles, tasks and functions
associated with the transmission of Mapuche ancestral knowledge in the community, according
to the type of group, such as the lof (community), kimeltuchefe ruka (school), reñma (extended
family), fucha and kuche (elders), ancestral authorities and other community factors. Three
codes stand out: Generative lof, Generativity - kimeltuwe ruka, Generative responsibility of
Reñma.

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 Specifically, in order to contextualize and qualitatively deepen the resulting analyses of the categories
and their various relationships, the following results stand out:

Life Trajectories of Kimeltuchefe

Participants witnessed different significant experiences during the course of their lives that helped
develop their generative identity through self-learning of kimeltuchefe through all the experiences lived.
Moreover, the negative life experiences were conducive to obtaining different lessons and learning for the
future of their lives (redemptive identity):

“[...] I have many stories (laughs). But I always get positive things out of the negative
stories” (EK 2, 2020).

Also, the kimeltuchefe witnessed different significant experiences during their childhood, particularly
some critical events related to complex political situations in Chile during the military government, which
left a mark in their memory:

“[…] At night, the military arrived and took all the men out of the houses, my father was
sleeping in his underwear, with a gun and everything, they took him away, we were all
crying.” (EK 1, 2020).

On the other hand, the relationship with their family of origin during the interviewees’ childhood and
youth was characterized by a positive and secure attachment with their immediate family. Similarly, the
early links with social, cultural and/or spiritual groups had in common their orientation of helping others
and their interest in helping others. Their closeness to the spiritual was also evident during the course of
their lives, entrusting their work, experiences and especially their difficulties to the help of a god who
protected them.

Folil Vocational Kimeltuchefe

Regarding the process of building the kimeltuchefe vocation of the participants, the influence of
different actors such as family, friends, neighbors and tutors was observed in the decision to contribute and
work in the field of rural education in Mapuche territory. Some of the participants highlighted the teachers
who had during their basic or university studies, those who sowed a greater affection for the work and
commitment to rural communities located in indigenous territory:

“[...] A sensational boss, I had a woman who taught me what it was to educate and what it
was to teach, everything I am I owe to her. She was a spectacular woman, she was a woman
who I felt that she left her life at school” (EK 3, 2020).

In other cases, the teaching vocation developed intuitively, since the teaching job was an option they
did not contemplate in their lives, but it came fortuitously when they felt the need to practice the profession:

“[...] So when I was given the opportunity I took it, but it wasn’t something that I said: ‘I
want to be a teacher all my life’ no, I was related to the medical part” (EK 4, 2020).

Kimeltuchefe Lifestyle
Frustration in the face of unfulfilled achievements, or failure to act in the face of decisions considered
unfair by managers and/or co-workers, are aspects that the kimeltuchefe still remember and would like not
to live these situations again in the future, longing for the construction of work environments that enhance
the welfare of their students:

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 “[...] It may be that suddenly one omits many things, because sometimes because of
hierarchy or many things like that one does not have much power to make decisions, to
act... so I think that could be my regret, that I could not have been a little more...brave. [...]
Although I tried to be, but I wasn’t...” (EK 4, 2020).

Educational flexibility, awareness of different ways of learning and creativity in teaching were also
factors present in the narratives of the interviewees, describing different experiences in the school
environment where they observed infrastructure deficiencies and/or accessibility problems for some of their
students for reasons such as functional, sensory, cognitive or cultural diversity. This caused discomfort with
the omission of some of their peers to implement strategies that would provide accessibility of educational
content to their students who had this type of adaptation difficulties in their home contexts.
On the other hand, the participants expressed different values that guided their professional work in the
Mapuche rurality, represented in the Mapuche Kimün, manifested in the interaction of the person with his
community and his environment (people, nature and spiritual beings). These values were: peace, understood
as the desire to maintain healthy coexistence and good treatment of students, justice, highlighting the
importance of knowing how to act and the need to think about the future consequences of one’s own actions,
which should not negatively influence the lives of others, relating to the value of reciprocity, love
(dedication to others, to nature and to everything that surrounds them).
Therefore, it could be inferred that for the kimeltuchefe there are some values that are key to educational
action, such as respect and love. However, these are represented as a whole:

“[...] Well, for me everything is born from respect, love, surrender. Respect is the only thing
that keeps us alive here on earth, if there is no earth there is no.... There is nothing! [...] I
see it that way, as a delivery of knowledge, of knowledge, of love, I don’t know! I couldn’t
define in one word what I think, but for me, it's everything, that is; nothing works if you
don’t work, this doesn’t work, it has to be... everything!” (EK 3, 2020).

In addition to the above, the characteristic features of the kimeltuchefe give a primary value to the
family and to nature inside and outside the classroom:

“[...] So I also have contact with nature and I have a husband who has a very well-groomed
land. He...I don’t know po, he lives, he vibrates touching the earth, working the earth, it
makes him feel young, alive and revitalizes him, just like me, po” (EK 3, 2020).

Challenges of Teaching in Lafkenche Territory

The participants expressed various challenges that must be addressed in the Mapuche territory, starting
with difficulties of budgetary inequality, technological access, overloading of the educational staff and
aspects of the Lafkenche context. Among these was the need to create a contextualized education that
responds to the needs of the Mapuche community and lifestyle:

“[...]One has to know the environment, the context and the family. You have to know that
what my family lives is not the same as what my children’s family lives, so you have to
know and put yourself in their shoes too, and I think that is very important” (EK 2, 2020).

In addition, much of the knowledge and skills to develop as a rural teacher in Mapuche territory are
found in practice, that is, experiential learning becomes the main source of knowledge for teachers.
However, the lack of knowledge of Mapuche-Kimün on the part of teachers who have no roots or contact
with Mapuche culture during their lives requires constant interaction with the community in order to
understand and develop within the cultural norms located in the territory.

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 At the same time, the kimeltuchefe participate in different community roles, outside their teaching role,
taking charge of responsibilities assigned to other trades, requiring extra commitment and dedication to
achieve their work in the academic context and the objectives established as a person:

“[...] I am the one who sometimes has to go out during classes and I cannot leave the
children alone because I do not have an assistant to take care of them, or I do have an
assistant, but he has a schedule that does not coincide with mine. Therefore, that’s why I
call them my chicks, because I grab them all and go out with them somewhere else...” (EK
1, 2020).

As a result of this proximity, the creation of ties between the kimeltuchefe and the community is
observed, differentiating between the formation of multicultural and intercultural relationships. The first
refers to the interaction that is limited to the teaching role in school context, in which the teacher is aware
and respects the presence of the Mapuche culture in the classroom, but does not interact deeply with the
community, beliefs and / or customs of the territory. The second refers to the educator who seeks respectful
interaction and cultural recognition of the Mapuche community for the development of their classes, as well
as participation in activities and cultural spaces that transcend the boundaries of the school. However,
regardless of the type of relationship established between kimeltuchefe and community, the interviewees
showed interest and respect for the Mapuche-kimün (Mapuche epistemology), desire to participate and to
know it in greater depth:

"[...] I would like to feel a little more inserted in the community or with more roots, or with
more contribution, being a contribution to the community” (EK 1, 2020).

Kimeltuchefe and Its Educational Purposes in Lafkenche Territory

Different purposes and potentially generative interests were evidenced by the kimeltuchefe, developing
tasks or responsibilities that contribute to the community and the Mapuche identity formation of children.
Among them, the interviewees expressed the “decolonization of knowledge” as one of the purposes
established by the kimeltuchefe, which aims at the revaluation of ancestral knowledge that has been lost
since western colonization to the present; sowing in the students the benefits that brings the practice of
Mapuche ancestral wisdom, rescuing the pride and admiration of their students to the cultural roots of the
Lafkenche community.:

“[...] To make the child feel proud, proud because not everyone has the possibility of what
they have, of living life, of valuing the land as the Mapuche, the indigenous people, value
it. [...] One’s work is great because from a very young age we make them feel proud of
being Mapuche, of preserving their roots, of identifying themselves more than anything
else” (Interview kimeltuchefe 3, 2020).

On the other hand, the generative potential that the kimeltuchefe have within their teaching role allows
them to transmit something practical for the students and to transcend a personal identity formation through
the teaching of values and community service:

“[…] My great challenge is to form good people who have values and who serve society
and, above all, their community. Do you notice?” (EK 3, 2020).

Likewise, the role of teachers in Lafkenche territory transcends the fact of transmitting information to
the next generation, so they also promote the ancestral knowledge and historical events of the Mapuche
community, showing the need to transcend cultural information and local customs:

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 “[...] Besides delivering content, it also has to deliver this information that has been passed
on from generation to generation, there are no writings and everything has been said in
words... For example, the history of the past was very different from the history we know
today, because there was a time when that was hidden, and from then on, things have been
appearing. That has to be taught to the children” (EK 2, 2020).

Mapuche Kimün and the Teaching Profession

The Mapuche-kimün has permeabilized the traditional structure of the rural school context, favoring
the integration of different knowledge and teaching methods from the Mapuche culture for their classes.
The use of Mapudungun and learning by doing are methods that emerged in the analysis of the narratives,
teaching the Mapuche culture to their students through the link with family members and community
(Inatuzugu), as well as the importance of dialogue among students to find solutions to different problems
or situations of the class (Güxam). Use is made of aukantun (traditional games) and Epew, narratives or
stories that in their content transmit the knowledge of the Mapuche Kimün. One of the ancestral knowledge
most present and promoted by the kimeltuchefe was the Küme Mogen, promoting in the students the
knowledge of nature through a relationship of respect, care and promotion of lifestyles in harmony with the
environment around them:

“[...] Sometimes I ask the children, “Let’s see how the land is planted, what the
grandparents do, how they speak...it’s the language...Already? for me that’s ancestral
knowledge” (EK 4, 2020).

In connection with the above, the interviewees are aware of their generative responsibility for the
preservation of Mapuche ancestral knowledge, visualizing the school as an ideal space and time for the
teaching of Mapuche-kimün. That is, they highlighted the importance of working together with the lof,
where they are more involved in school activities, recognizing the generative implications of the reñma
(family), Fütakeche (grandparents), kimeltuwe (school), traditional authorities and lof in general, to transmit
and teach Mapuche culture and knowledge to future generations.

DISCUSSION

First, when delving into the relational dynamics constructed by rural Mapuche teachers, it was observed
that the findings obtained are consistent with the current literature, showing that the formation of generative
identity is built from reflection and continuous learning about the experiences accumulated throughout their
life trajectories (McAdams & Guo, 2015; Sandoval-Obando & Calvo Muñoz, 2022b), highlighting among
them, secure family relationships in childhood (An & Cooney, 2006; Brady et al, 2013), participation in
peer support groups in youth, and the influence of peer groups with whom they share prosocial values (An
& Cooney, 2006; Brady et al., 2013). In addition, some aspects of the teachers’ lifestyle were highlighted
that were related to potentially generative characteristics, such as positively signifying past mistakes,
investing time with the family (Brady et al, 2013), early linkage with rurality and active life at the socio-
community level (Sandoval-Obando, 2019; Sandoval-Obando et al., 2022); aspects that are also influenced
and coherent with the Mapuche-kimün. The values that govern the lives of teachers are an important factor
in Mapuche generativity and life, highlighting justice, respect and love in their professional work as cardinal
values that connect dialogically with the Mapuche-kimun, the yamuwün and the azmawün, dimensions that,
as a whole, strengthen community life and the connection with the territory (Ñanculef, 2016).
Secondly, the teachers interviewed expressed the development of a contextualized education that values
and integrates the historical-cultural particularities of the territory, opposing the homogenizing schooling
(Winter & Hernández, 2004) that responds to the ‘Chilean development of rurality’ (Oyarzún et al., 2022).
Therefore, they promote the deconstruction of traditional pedagogical knowledge, through the acquisition
of cultural skills suitable for working in the Lafkenche territory. However, they are aware of the gap left by
university training to work in a Mapuche community (Brumat, 2011), together with the difficulty generated

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by the lack of knowledge of Mapuche-kimun and ancestral customs. As in most rural schools, the teaching
role requires going beyond the logic of schooling to become actively involved with the community, so that
their professional work goes far beyond the limits defined by school space and time (Sandoval-Obando,
2021a), and at the same time, allows them to cultivate different types of relationships (intercellular and
multicultural) with the Lafkenche community.
Despite the above, teachers expressed a generative responsibility that mobilizes them to face this reality
in an optimistic way, tending to the development of relevant educational learning for the new generations
(Sandoval-Obando, 2022b). To this end, they encourage a sense of belonging in the student body,
decolonizing school contents and advancing in the configuration of an intercultural society (Figueroa,
2015).
Thirdly, it was observed in the educational practice of the interviewees the use of various Mapuche
knowledge and customs, such as: Inatzugu, gülam and epew (ways of learning by doing), the use of
Mapudungun (language of the land, Mapuche language), ceremonial practices, epew (stories), ankantun
(games) and the teaching of Kümen mogen, the latter being the basis for teaching a new way of relating to
the Mapuche cosmovision. This generative desire, added to the solid bond created between the teacher, the
students and the community, strengthens the newer kimeltuchefe (teaching force). This is expressed
synergistically on the basis of deep admiration for the Mapuche-kimun and the creation of a genuine
emotional bond with the practices and customs present in the community.
In addition, the teachers interviewed manifest characteristics consistent with ancestral generativity or
indigenous generativity, described by Lewis & Allen (2017), which is complemented by the wisdom
contributed by the kuche and fucha (elders), reñma (family), lomko, kimches and the lof in general,
reaffirming the idea that Mapuche generativity and community work is key in the transmission of ancestral
knowledge and the preservation of culture in future generations (Ñanculef, 2016). Therefore, it would be
possible to affirm that the generative potential of rural teachers in Mapuche territory can be used to address
different cultural issues, and at the same time, it would strengthen the construction of intercultural
education.
Fourthly, this work provides emerging pedagogical and cultural elements around the study of
generativity in rural teachers working in a Mapuche Lafkenche community in the Araucanía Region (Chile),
many of which can enrich the initial training of teachers and reaffirm the importance of knowing in depth
the diverse realities existing in rural Chile (Carter-Thuillier et al., 2022), thus reducing the existing gap
between teacher training institutions and the school system (Gaete, Gómez & Bascopé, 2016).
Finally, this study has some methodological limitations, mainly related to the design of the study (so
its results are only attributable to the participants and cannot be extrapolated to other groups or populations)
and the sample size (limited number of participants who met the selection criteria defined for the nature of
this research). On the other hand, the limits of traditional scientific research and the complexities associated
with the written translation of the ‘Mapuche-kimun’ are made explicit, since this is a culture of preferably
oral tradition. Precisely for this reason, readers are invited not to limit themselves to written bibliographies
or to what exists in traditional databases, and to learn about the reality of the Mapuche communities and
rural territory from their reality, through dialogue with the inhabitants of the Wallmapu, since this is a
knowledge that only the present experience can provide and contribute to the intercultural learning that is
so desired in Chile.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Work funded by National Research and Development Agency (ANID) / FONDECYT de Iniciación Nº
11190028 “Rural Teacher Professionalism: Socio-educational Implications from the Narrative-Generative
Perspective”.
Translated & edited by American Publishing Services (https://americanpublishingservices.com/).

80 Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice Vol. 23(13) 2023

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