Indigenous academic freedom: an approach from international human rights standards and the voice of indigenous educators

Abstract

This research seeks to answer the following question: to what extent does the right to academic freedom allows Indigenous peoples to impart knowledge in environments free of hostility and threats, and that considers their worldviews and the voices of their educators? The results of this research emphasize that, although international standards establish a right to Indigenous academic freedom, in practice there is no normative clarity regarding this right at the national level, which has allowed for various limitations. First, we analyze the regulatory content of the right to Indigenous academic freedom based on international and inter-American law, examining the concept of academic freedom from the perspective of Indigenous peoples’ rights related to education. Second, we look at the implementation of Indigenous academic freedom at the national level in the regulations and policies of Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Canada. Third, we collate this information with field interviews with Indigenous educators. The Indigenous perspective provided by this research demonstrates a clear sense of assimilation into Western education systems, an aspect that can be reflected in a suspicious category of discrimination in terms of providing and receiving information specific to Indigenous science.