Decolonial practices based on student-centered education

Abstract

This article proposes to outline the possibilities of a decolonial Latin American rereading of educational theories and postures based on the Person-Centered Approach (PCA) - taken here as an epistemological model of psychology for educational practices. Because it is an approach that values interactions from person to person, the PCA has brought the possibility of thinking about truly meaningful learning because it is focused on the genuine interests of the students, therefore it presupposes non-oppressive and more democratic relations that value the traditional knowledge coming from our oral history, which transcend the Eurocentred and Northern hegemony. Thus, we present the main assumptions of PCA and its applications to education - what we call Student Centered Education, from what has been discussed and developed by Latin American authors of psychology and education. We understand that this approach can contribute to build a decolonial pedagogical dynamic. Therefore, we conducted a theoretical reflection here that raised us to a fruitful articulation between the two epistemologies presented here: the Latin American CPA and the Global south perspective on education. We believe that together they can help consolidate libertarian, democratic and decolonial educational practices.