Life experiences, knowledge and practices of tradition at the etnoformer observatory in Timor-Leste

Abstract

When one considers the histories of the colonized peoples submitted to hierarchical knowledge and their relation with the school, we can point to several consequences: the naturalization of the problems found as "no problems", the transnationalization of curricula, epistemic violence, the subalternation of peoples, among others. It is necessary to pronounce the world so that it returns problematized, says Freire (2005). This article analyzes knowledge produced by teacher formers of the basic education in a formation-action-research device – the ethnoformer observatory, produced from ethnosearch-formation (MACEDO, 2006), from an ethnomethodological perspective – organized from the production conditions, a paraphrased concept of Franco-Brazilian discourse analysis and referenced, still, fundamentally, in the Epistemologies of the South. These teachers were members of the Ethnoformer Observatory in Timor-Leste (2013-2014), a collective formed by six teacher formers who worked at the National Institute of Teacher Training and Education Professionals of Timor-Leste (INFORDEPE). We intend to reflect on what extent the traditional knowledge and practices can contribute to different readings and interpretations from the perspective of Timorian education. The analysis shows the contextual nature of knowledge, the importance, and the scope of the interpretations and understandings of social and cultural subjects.