Intercultural and Interepistemological (Inter)Action: Applying a Decolonizing Pedagogical Project for Education in Oral Health at the Guarani Indigenous School Mbya Nhamandu Nhemopu’ã

Abstract

This article presents a reflection on the Eurocentric epistemic heritage that formed our Western culture, inviting for an intercultural, decolonial and inter-epistemological discussion when considering the knowledge of traditional indigenous peoples in the implementation of a project on the oral health education. To this end, Adriana started from her experience as a teacher at the Guarani Mbya Nhamandu Nhemopu'ã indigenous school, located in the Pindo Mirim village. This action-research was structured by considering that children were presenting problems such as cavities, toothaches, tartar from consuming foods that were not originally part of traditional customs - such as soft drinks and sugars, for example. It was organized rounds of conversations with 85 community members (50 students from the school) where it was discussed the implementation of this project, entitled “Tai Porã / healthy teeth”. When establishing a bilingual interscience cognitive map, western and traditional knowledge met each other and we identified an epistemic resizing. The dentist, who serves the village through the Secretaria de Saúde Indígena (SESAI), offered to children brushes, wires, toothpastes and plaque-evident tablets for discussing the importance of brushing in the prevention of oral diseases. With the help of the community, a “bruschroom” was built at the school for daily brushing. At the end of this experience, researchers and community discussed the results. From this debate, it is brought here the reflection that school should be a place to provide a meeting of knowledge. Practices must be developed in a plural perspective of knowledge, providing in fact intercultural, decolonizing and interepistemic movements.