Despite evidence that an understanding of the individual's interpretive framework is an important factor in understanding effective teaching, there is little research in higher education which addresses this variable. The purpose of the study was to facilitate an understanding of the personal context within which the behaviors and strategies of effective teachers exist. Designed as a case study of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Distinguished Teaching Award winners from 1962 to 1995 (N = 47, 69% of total population, representing all of the Schools/Colleges within the University), it employed a written survey to gain data about faculty backgrounds and adoption of teaching attitudes and activities which the literature has identified as characteristic of effective teachers, followed by in-depth interviews (N = 14) to explore the participants' personal constructions of the process of teaching. The major findings include: all participants' definitions of teaching reflected a constructivist orientation to the process; a consistency in participants' definitions of the major goals and processes of teaching, and motivations and rewards for teaching across age, discipline, and sex; close attention to their own and their students' experiences is the primary source of learning about and motivation for teaching; the goal of relating to students is to facilitate learning, thus participants define an appropriate faculty-student distance in their relationships with students; teaching is considered an activity with intellectual value; evidence of individual shifts in the construction of their goals for teaching and of their relationships with students, their content and the context that parallel established schema for epistemological and intellectual development, indicating the possibility of a psychological developmental aspect to the development of effective teachers. Some implications for further research include the need for efforts to clarify possible epistemological developmental aspects to the development of faculty as teachers, to research the connections between developmental stage and teaching effectiveness and conceptualization of efforts to improve teaching as incorporating more than attention to methods.

This study observes and investigates the relationship between a predominantly White institution of higher education and its African-American student population. It explores how Black students conceptualize the uniqueness of their experience at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in terms of the Committee for the Collegiate Education of Black and other Minority Students (CCEBMS) Program. Three different methodologies were utilized to assess the inquiry. Focus groups, individual interviews, and survey-questionnaires were implemented to gain greater insights into the realities of Black juniors and seniors at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A total of fourteen--nine women and five men--participated in the focus groups and interviews. The focus groups met twice and took place over a two-week period. Six individuals out of the original fourteen volunteered to be interviewed, so as to look closer at the issues previously raised in the focus group sessions. Lastly, survey-questionnaires were generated based upon the information revealed via the focus group and interview sessions. Over two hundred-fifty surveys were disseminated across campus to African-American juniors and seniors in an effort to weigh their responses against the data previously collected. The qualitative and quantitative instrumentation used examined the attitudes of African-American students towards university practices and whether or not the construction of a culturally-specific programming, otherwise known as the Committee for the Collegiate Education of Black and other Minority Students (CCEBMS), helped shape or modify their opinions. The findings of this study revealed that: (1) Black students in social science courses encounter a highly racialized climate, which expects Black students to represent the entire Black collective; (2) Black students, initially, are frustrated by having to negotiate where they belong and how they're supposed to behave in a racially segregated setting in all contexts that relate to campus life; (3) the Committee for the Collegiate Education of Black and other Minority Students (CCEBMS) Program minimally influences or impacts how African-American collegians interpret their experience at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst; and (4) that many Black students believe that their success relies on their ability to effectively balance the duality of their reality, which requires them to be part-student/part-politician.

In this qualitative research study, I examined the autobiographies, oral narratives and life stories of twelve African American scholar-activists (including myself) who have used higher education as a vehicle for teaching and learning, as a tool for personal transformation and as an ingredient for social change. The research questions that the study was designed to address were: How have African Americans used scholarship as a means for personal and social transformation? What is the role and responsibility of scholar-activists who choose to root their genius in the academy? What lessons can be learned about how to use higher education for the purposes of transformation? Through a contextual analysis involving the personal lives of selected scholar-activists, I learned about the power that higher education has to shape identity and influence actions. This study also highlights how African American culture and spirit are components of research, teaching and activism; celebrates some of the contributions that African Americans have made to higher education; identifies five dimensions of teaching and transformation; and posits seven ways that higher education can contribute to the process of transformation.

A comparative case study was used to explored the orientations to teaching of three college teachers. The educational conceptions about teaching and classroom learning environments were investigated to determine how ideal orientations to teaching matched the reality of classroom practice. Each of the teachers was observed for the duration of eight class sessions (introductory level and upper level). Participants were interviewed on four occasions using a semi-structured interview format consisting of open-ended questions that focused on their conceptions of teaching and learning. Teachers' identified influences that affected their orientations to teaching and discussed their academic discipline, design and use of course syllabi, and their conceptions of students. Interpretation of the data revealed that the participants' ideal teaching orientation was based on their experience as a student and conceptions of the requirements of their academic discipline. Ideal teaching orientations were compromised based on a variety of contextual influences. The study builds theory on teaching orientations and forms a foundation for further research to investigate the influences of professional development, academic discipline, and gender on teaching orientation.

D.Technologiae / Higher education, as both a “place” and a “paradigm”, has throughout its history confronted challenges in the internal and external environments of its functioning (Brennan et al., 1999; Hirsch & Weber, 1999). In the twenty-first century, the nature of these challenges has necessitated that both the organizational character and curriculum offerings of higher education institutions be adaptive and responsive to changes occurring in the external environment. How institutions of higher learning react to these changes, is an issue of divergent viewpoints. “Reform” and “transformation” – in the same mould as “adaptation” and “responsiveness” – are viewed in this study as the fundamental points of departure in articulating a trajectory along which change in the curriculum perspectives has to occur. As a ‘product’ offered to its ‘consumers’ – the paying students – the higher education curriculum has been a fiercely contested epistemological terrain. On the one hand is the concern that it services the interests of industry and commerce, to the detriment of society; while on the other, the curriculum has been viewed as reproducing elitist values. The problem then, is located in the realm of the curriculum’s capacity to respond to the contradictory nature of the multiple stakeholder interests. The South African higher education system is faced with the problem of firstly, de-contextualizing and disengaging the curriculum from its erstwhile political ramifications (CHE, 2000b). Secondly, affordable and quality higher education is expected to be assimilated into the broader national socioeconomic imperatives. From this study’s perspective, the problem statement is situated in the context of the curriculum’s capacity to meet the local reconstruction and developmental needs; while also adhering to international imperatives ushered in mainly by globalisation and the concomitant proliferation of alternative providers who have challenged the claim to epistemological hegemony by traditional universities. In other words, are current curriculum trends in higher education directed at meeting society’s needs; or is the entrepreneurial imperative more sacrosanct? One of the main challenges for South African higher education curriculum reform/transformation policy concerns then, should be to define and determine how the local and global curriculum polemics are to be reined-in in the broader ‘public good’ and social contract in improving the lives of all citizens. Through its empirical phase, the study has attempted to investigate the extent to which higher education curriculum trends ‘conform’ or ‘deviate’ from worldwide curriculum practices. In that regard, policy rhetoric was able to be differentiated from actual policy implementation. In order that problems of critical generalisability be obviated, data and method triangulation were utilised; also taking into account the institutional reconfiguration that had major consequences for the curriculum, especially at institutions undergoing “comprehensive” organizational and curriculum restructuring. The extent of institutional curriculum ‘deviation’ or ‘conformity’ was therefore determined on the basis of the collective integration of literature-based and empirical data and information/knowledge. The case study research conducted through questionnaires and interviews at the designated research sites (two higher education institutions with disparate academic cultures) therefore serves as the basis upon which larger investigations and broader perspectives could be incorporated, particularly from the extensive literature review. While the two case studies could have limitations of generalisability, some practices and trends lend themselves to a greater degree of the transferability of the findings. For instance, the knowledge stratification inherent in the Western university model (Makgoba, 1998; Scott, 1997) has perpetrated an environment of epistemological ‘supremacy’ within local higher education curriculum policy formulation frameworks. In that regard, it has emerged from the case study that Africanisation (in its epistemological, rather than ‘anthropological/cultural’ sense) is not part of a critical and mainstream curriculum organization tenet. While this observation could be argued to be institution-specific, it certainly also reflects a systemic trend. In the light of the epistemological context cited above, is it to be assumed then that the ‘politics of knowledge’ (Apple, 1990; Lyotard, 1994; Muller, 2000) is an extant curriculum/epistemological nuance even in the twenty-first century? The realizable outcomes of the study materialized in the conceptualisation and development of a trilogy of models on Africanisation; in which the input, mediating/modulating, and output triad factor characterises an environment of possibilities for its integration into the mainstream higher education curriculum.

The focus of this dissertation is to identify, analyze, and critique what I take to be a fundamental contradiction between the ideal mission of the university to serve as the site for the pursuit of truth and the function of Traditionalist humanities curriculums. I argue that because nationalist education makes it nearly impossible for students to engage in the critique of ideology, nationalist education is antithetical to the university's mission. With anything less than the ability to engage in this critique of ideology, there is no way that students can participate meaningfully in the ideal of the university. In the opening chapter I argue first, that the development and preservation of national culture stands in a dialectical relation to the preservation and contestation of national identity; second, that post-secondary education in the arts and humanities is largely education in the national culture; and third, that nationalism mediates the dialectical relation between national culture and national identity. In the second chapter I critique nationalism on the grounds that underlying every nationalist movement (including curricular Traditionalism) is a universalist project which denies the reality of complex personal identity formation. In the third chapter I show that the Traditionalist position (articulated by Bloom, D'Souza, and Searle) seeks to support through curricular control nationalist versions of culture and identity. In the fourth chapter I critique Marx's and Mannheim's theories of ideology since they seek to devise methods for evaluating ideology through epistemic standpoints removed from the site of the production of ideology. And thus I conclude this chapter by asserting that in order to be a critic of ideology one must struggle with and acknowledge multiple and complex social identities. In the final chapter I defend the claim that nationalist education undermines the process of teaching students to be critics of ideology since such an education prevents students from engaging the complexity of the encounter between the knowing subject and the object of knowledge. Moreover, I argue that a decidedly non-nationalist multicultural education offers the possibility of developing heterogeneous group identity without the deleterious consequences invariably brought forth by nationalism.

The composition of classrooms in higher education is rapidly becoming more diverse, presenting new challenges to faculty regarding their teaching and curricular practices. One response in higher education has been the emergence of development programs aimed at helping faculty provide successful, quality education to diverse students. This study describes how faculty who participated in the Teaching and Learning in the Diverse Classroom (TLDC) Faculty and TA Partnership Project (1994–2000) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, reflected on their experiences and pedagogical practices as instructors in diverse classrooms. Participants were faculty members who exhibited variety across academic disciplines, levels of faculty rank, gender, race, and ethnicity. The procedure for this investigation employed quantitative and qualitative research methods. There were 29 responses to the mailed surveys and 10 interviews with participants, some of whom also responded to the mailed survey. The surveys were analyzed for possible correlations between gender and race in participants' responses; the interviews were analyzed for the possible relationships of gender in participants' responses. Whereas participants provided many different accounts of what diversity meant to them as instructors, they unanimously agreed that considerations of diversity were important to their teaching in diverse classrooms. This study's surveys and interviews generated strategies for improving faculty teaching and curricular practices—including the use of student-focused methods, multiple methods, course readings, and considerations of the teaching self—identified by faculty as components central to their perceptions of their experiences and teaching practices with diverse students. Additional strategies, such as fostering community in the diverse classroom and student-focused assessment, emerged from the interview data. Survey responses focused on a personal approach to faculty's sense of their growth as educators in diverse classrooms, whereas interview findings highlighted the need for further institutional support. This research may help development programs, such as the TLDC Project, provide continuing support for faculty to offer successful, quality education to multicultural classrooms.

Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))-- University of Stellenbosch, 2009 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to develop a curriculum framework for engineering introduction programmes offered at a higher education institution, using a case study design. The South African government is attempting to redress the social inequalities which prevailed in the education sector during the apartheid era. One of their efforts has involved the widening of access to diverse groups in society in order to increase participation within the higher education sector. However, many students attempting their higher education studies are academically under prepared. This is mainly due to insufficient life skills, communication skills, numeric skills and literacy skills. The lack of these skills has inspired various international and national higher education institutions to develop academic programmes aimed at bridging the gap that exists between secondary schooling and higher education. Introduction programmes for prospective engineering students have to ensure high-quality curriculum development procedures in order to secure these students’ academic success throughout their engineering studies. This, in turn, leads to quality graduates and addresses the huge shortage experienced by the industry. An overview of the contextual and conceptual views on curriculum development is given against the backdrop of the current higher education legislation in South Africa. The overview regarding curriculum development links the introduction programme curriculum to generic learning outcomes specifically set at the National Qualification Framework Level 4. It suggests the application of continuous assessments, in line with outcomes-based education criteria, together with quality assurance in order to fit the Higher Education Quality Committee and the Engineering Council of South Africa’s accreditation criteria applicable to higher education institutions. During the design and methodological stages, it was established, by means of a theoretical investigation, that the first phase of this study determines whether students that successfully completed the introduction programme perform academically better than students entering the diploma programmes directly. The theoretical investigation also established that the second phase of this study determines if the diploma students dropped out of the programme for reasons other than academic performance. A triangulation approach was used to increase the validity of the empirical part of the study and to enhance the rigorous use of both quantitative and qualitative data. The study results shed light on the need for introduction programmes. In addition, it proposed a curriculum framework for improved engineering introduction programmes at the Vaal University of Technology. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie was om kurrikulumraamwerk vir oorbruggingsprogram vir ingenieurswese-studente in hoër onderwys te ontwikkel. Die kurrikulumraamwerk is ontwikkel deur middel van gevallestudie wat die implementering van oorbruggingskursusse in die ingenieurswese indringend ondersoek het. Die huidige Suid-Afrikaanse regering poog om die sosio-politieke wanbalanse as nalatenskap van apartheid, uit te wis. Dit word gedoen deur middel van inisiatiewe waarin onder meer hoër onderwys prominente vennoot is wat aan diverse samelewing gelyke geleenthede bied. Die huidige, meer toeganklike bedeling in hoër onderwys in Suid-Afrika het groot toename van studente uit histories agtergeblewe gemeenskappe tot gevolg gehad. Die meeste studente wat in hierdie konteks die hoëronderwyssektor betree, blyk in groot mate onvoorbereid te wees vir hoër onderwys vanweë hul gebrek aan lewens-, kommunikasie-, numeriese en taalvaardighede. Hierdie tendens kom ook op internasionale vlak voor. Dit het inisiatiewe ten opsigte van akademiese ontwikkeling op nasionale sowel as internasionale vlak genoodsaak. Die doel van akademiese ontwikkeling is primêr om die gaping tussen die skool en hoër onderwys te oorbrug. Oorbruggingskursusse moet van hoë gehalte wees om sodoende te kan verseker dat voornemende studente vir hoër onderwys, en vir die doel van hierdie studie meer spesifiek ingenieurstudente, van groter akademiese sukses verseker kan wees. Die suksesvolle implementering van oorbruggingskursusse vir ingenieurswese-studente behoort in groot mate tot beter gehalte gegradueerde te lei en bydrae te lewer tot die vraag na ingenieurswese-studente vir die nywerheidswêreld. Kontekstuele en konsepsuele beskouings ten opsigte van kurrikulumontwikkeling in die hoër onderwys in Suid-Afrika word deur generiese leeruitkomste bepaal. Hierdie uitkomste is op vlak 4 van die land se Nasionale Kwalifikasieraamwerk vasgepen. Dit het ook tot gevolg dat alle programme volgens amptelike Departement van Onderwys-dokumente aan deurlopende assessering onderwerp moet word, dat die gehalte van die kursus onderworpe is aan die gehalteversekeringskriteria van die vi Hoëronderwys se Gehaltekomitee (‘HEQC’) en dat dit moet voldoen aan die vereistes van die Ingenieursraad van Suid-Afrika. Teoretiese raamwerk is tydens die ontwerp- en metodiekstadium van die studie daargestel. Die doel van hierdie eerste fase van die studie was om te bepaal of diplomastudente wat die oorbruggingskursusse suksesvol voltooi het, akademies beter gepresteer het as daardie studente wat nie die oorbruggingskursus gevolg het nie. Die tweede studiefase het bepaal of die diplomastudente hul studies vir redes gestaak het wat moontlik nie met akademiese sukses verband hou nie. Die navorsing het van triangulasie gebruik gemaak, ten einde die doeltreffende gebruik van sowel kwantitatiewe as kwalitatiewe data te verhoog. Die resultate van die studie werp lig op en onderstreep die behoefte aan oorbruggingskursusse. Die navorsing beveel kurrikulumraamwerk aan vir die ontwerp van verbeterde oorbruggingskursusse in die ingenieurswese aan die Vaal Universiteit van Tegnologie.

Este estudo trata das temáticas indígenas em espaços de formação docente a partir de uma perspectiva intercultural nos currículos de formação de professores na área da educação física. Tem por objetivo analisar como as temáticas indígenas são posicionadas no currículo de formação docente da Licenciatura em Educação Física da Universidade Pedagógica Nacional – UPN (Bogotá – Colômbia), bem como as condições de produção discursiva que possibilitaram o aparecimento destas temáticas neste programa de formação. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida partindo de um delineamento descritivo com uma abordagem teórico-metodológico qualitativa realizada em seis momentos: o primeiro constituído por uma descrição e contextualização do Sistema Nacional de Educação e da constituição histórica da formação docente na Colômbia. O segundo, uma descrição histórica do processo de consolidação da educação física no ensino superior colombiano, seguido de um mapeamento dos programas de formação docente na área ou afins ofertados atualmente no país, enfatizando específicamente no Projeto Curricular da Licenciatura em Educação Física (PCLEF) da UPN. O terceiro, um diálogo conceitual entre a teoria pós-colonial, a interculturalidade e a descolonialidade em relação com o campo das práticas corporais indígenas O quarto momento, realiza um mapeamento da produção acadêmica relacionada às práticas corporais indígenas tanto na Colômbia quanto no Brasil para, no quinto momento, abordar os fundamentos e percursos metodológicos desde a análise do discurso (AD), partindo de um conjunto diverso de arquivos que constituem as materialidades empíricas desta investigação. Na parte das análises e discussões resultantes do processo interpretativo argumento que as temáticas indígenas no PCLEF da UPN são posicionadas como socialmente relevantes dentro da concepção humanista que sustentou a reformulação do programa, mas no processo de concretização dos planos das disciplinas ainda é posicionado como um tema academicamente exótico. Nas considerações finais, destaco o quão importante é para o processo de formação dos estudantes a abordagem e o desenvolvimento das temáticas indígenas no programa de licenciatura da FEF da UPN, estruturada sobre uma concepção humanista, o que permitiria assimilar outras formas de conhecimentos e práticas culturais até o momento pouco tratadas pelo universo logicamente estabelecido, no qual se fundamenta a disciplina acadêmica e que fazem parte do campo de atuação profissional do licenciado no país. / This research approaches indigenous topics in teacher training environments. The objective of this research is to analyze how indigenous topics are introduced into the curricula of the teacher training environments at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional in Bogotá. The objective of this research is to analyze the way indigenous topics get positions in the teacher training curricula at the Physical Education Faculty of the Colombian Pedagogical University and in the same way the discursive condition productions appearance. The research was developed setting off from a descriptive outlining with a qualitative methodological - theoretical approach developed in six stages: the first one is constituted by the description and the environment of the National Education System and the contextualization of the Educational System and Teacher Training in Colombia. The second one is a historic description of the process of consolidation of the Physical Education in Colombia's Higher Education, followed by the mapping in the programs by Teacher Training in the field of physed and related programs. The third one is a conceptual dialogue among the postcolonial theory, the intercultural chain, and decolonization and their relationship with the study of indigenous bodily practice In the fourth stage there is an increase in the academic output related to indigenous bodily practice in Colombia and Brazil, and the fifth stage approaches the fundamentals and methodological ways to discourse analysis setting off from a diverse number of archives that constitutes empirical knowledge. In the section of analysis and discussions resulting from the interpretative process of indigenous themes in the PCLEF at the UPN are socially important positioned within the humanistic concept that supported the remake of the programs, but in the process of making it true these theories are seen as something exotic. It is important for the teachers to be to have into account the indigenous topics structured in a humanistic point of view because these topics are important for the graduate professional. / Este estudio aborda las temáticas indígenas en espacios de formación docente a partir de una perspectiva intercultural en los currículos de formación de profesores en el área de la educación física. Tiene por objetivo analizar cómo las temáticas indígenas se posicionan en el currículo de formación docente de la Licenciatura en Educación física de la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional – UPN (Bogota – Colombia), bien como las condiciones de producción discursivas que posibilitaron su aparecimiento en el mismo programa de formación. La investigación fue desarrollada partiendo de un delineamiento descriptivo con un abordaje teórico-metodológico cualitativo realizado en seis momentos: el primero constituído por una descripción y contextualización del Sistema Nacional de Educación y la constitución histórica de la formación docente en Colombia. El segundo, una descripción histórica del proceso de consolidación de la Educación Física en la Educación Superior Colombiana, seguido por un mapeo de los programas de formación docente en el área o afines ofertados actualmente en el país, para luego enfatizar la atención en el Proyecto Curricular de la Licenciatura en Educación Física (PCLEF) de la UPN. El tercero, un diálogo conceptual entre la teoría poscolonial, la interculturalidad y la decolonialidad y su relación con el campo de estudio de las prácticas corporales indígenas. En el cuarto momento, se realiza un levantamiento de la producción académica relacionada con las prácticas corporales indígenas tanto en Colombia como en Brasil, para en el quinto momento, abordar los fundamentos y caminos metodológicos desde el análisis de discurso (AD) partiendo de un conjunto diverso de archivos que constituyen las materialidades empíricas En la parte de los análisis y discusiones resultantes del proceso interpretativo argumento que las temáticas indígenas en el PCLEF de la UPN son posicionadas como socialmente relevantes dentro de la concepción humanista que sustentó la reformulación del programa, pero en el proceso de concretización en la planeación de las disciplinas todavía estas temáticas son posicionadas como un tema académicamente exótico. En las consideraciónes finales destaco cuan importante es para el proceso de formación de los estudiantes el abordaje y desarrollo de las temáticas indígenas en el programa de la licenciatura de la FEF de la UPN estructurada sobre una concepción humanista, lo que permitiria entender otras formas de conocimiento y practicas culturales hasta el momento poco tratadas en el universo logicamente establecido en que se fundamenta la disciplina académica y que hacen parte del campo de acción profesional del licenciado en el país.

Este estudo trata das temáticas indígenas em espaços de formação docente a partir de uma perspectiva intercultural nos currículos de formação de professores na área da educação física. Tem por objetivo analisar como as temáticas indígenas são posicionadas no currículo de formação docente da Licenciatura em Educação Física da Universidade Pedagógica Nacional – UPN (Bogotá – Colômbia), bem como as condições de produção discursiva que possibilitaram o aparecimento destas temáticas neste programa de formação. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida partindo de um delineamento descritivo com uma abordagem teórico-metodológico qualitativa realizada em seis momentos: o primeiro constituído por uma descrição e contextualização do Sistema Nacional de Educação e da constituição histórica da formação docente na Colômbia. O segundo, uma descrição histórica do processo de consolidação da educação física no ensino superior colombiano, seguido de um mapeamento dos programas de formação docente na área ou afins ofertados atualmente no país, enfatizando específicamente no Projeto Curricular da Licenciatura em Educação Física (PCLEF) da UPN. O terceiro, um diálogo conceitual entre a teoria pós-colonial, a interculturalidade e a descolonialidade em relação com o campo das práticas corporais indígenas O quarto momento, realiza um mapeamento da produção acadêmica relacionada às práticas corporais indígenas tanto na Colômbia quanto no Brasil para, no quinto momento, abordar os fundamentos e percursos metodológicos desde a análise do discurso (AD), partindo de um conjunto diverso de arquivos que constituem as materialidades empíricas desta investigação. Na parte das análises e discussões resultantes do processo interpretativo argumento que as temáticas indígenas no PCLEF da UPN são posicionadas como socialmente relevantes dentro da concepção humanista que sustentou a reformulação do programa, mas no processo de concretização dos planos das disciplinas ainda é posicionado como um tema academicamente exótico. Nas considerações finais, destaco o quão importante é para o processo de formação dos estudantes a abordagem e o desenvolvimento das temáticas indígenas no programa de licenciatura da FEF da UPN, estruturada sobre uma concepção humanista, o que permitiria assimilar outras formas de conhecimentos e práticas culturais até o momento pouco tratadas pelo universo logicamente estabelecido, no qual se fundamenta a disciplina acadêmica e que fazem parte do campo de atuação profissional do licenciado no país. / This research approaches indigenous topics in teacher training environments. The objective of this research is to analyze how indigenous topics are introduced into the curricula of the teacher training environments at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional in Bogotá. The objective of this research is to analyze the way indigenous topics get positions in the teacher training curricula at the Physical Education Faculty of the Colombian Pedagogical University and in the same way the discursive condition productions appearance. The research was developed setting off from a descriptive outlining with a qualitative methodological - theoretical approach developed in six stages: the first one is constituted by the description and the environment of the National Education System and the contextualization of the Educational System and Teacher Training in Colombia. The second one is a historic description of the process of consolidation of the Physical Education in Colombia's Higher Education, followed by the mapping in the programs by Teacher Training in the field of physed and related programs. The third one is a conceptual dialogue among the postcolonial theory, the intercultural chain, and decolonization and their relationship with the study of indigenous bodily practice In the fourth stage there is an increase in the academic output related to indigenous bodily practice in Colombia and Brazil, and the fifth stage approaches the fundamentals and methodological ways to discourse analysis setting off from a diverse number of archives that constitutes empirical knowledge. In the section of analysis and discussions resulting from the interpretative process of indigenous themes in the PCLEF at the UPN are socially important positioned within the humanistic concept that supported the remake of the programs, but in the process of making it true these theories are seen as something exotic. It is important for the teachers to be to have into account the indigenous topics structured in a humanistic point of view because these topics are important for the graduate professional. / Este estudio aborda las temáticas indígenas en espacios de formación docente a partir de una perspectiva intercultural en los currículos de formación de profesores en el área de la educación física. Tiene por objetivo analizar cómo las temáticas indígenas se posicionan en el currículo de formación docente de la Licenciatura en Educación física de la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional – UPN (Bogota – Colombia), bien como las condiciones de producción discursivas que posibilitaron su aparecimiento en el mismo programa de formación. La investigación fue desarrollada partiendo de un delineamiento descriptivo con un abordaje teórico-metodológico cualitativo realizado en seis momentos: el primero constituído por una descripción y contextualización del Sistema Nacional de Educación y la constitución histórica de la formación docente en Colombia. El segundo, una descripción histórica del proceso de consolidación de la Educación Física en la Educación Superior Colombiana, seguido por un mapeo de los programas de formación docente en el área o afines ofertados actualmente en el país, para luego enfatizar la atención en el Proyecto Curricular de la Licenciatura en Educación Física (PCLEF) de la UPN. El tercero, un diálogo conceptual entre la teoría poscolonial, la interculturalidad y la decolonialidad y su relación con el campo de estudio de las prácticas corporales indígenas. En el cuarto momento, se realiza un levantamiento de la producción académica relacionada con las prácticas corporales indígenas tanto en Colombia como en Brasil, para en el quinto momento, abordar los fundamentos y caminos metodológicos desde el análisis de discurso (AD) partiendo de un conjunto diverso de archivos que constituyen las materialidades empíricas En la parte de los análisis y discusiones resultantes del proceso interpretativo argumento que las temáticas indígenas en el PCLEF de la UPN son posicionadas como socialmente relevantes dentro de la concepción humanista que sustentó la reformulación del programa, pero en el proceso de concretización en la planeación de las disciplinas todavía estas temáticas son posicionadas como un tema académicamente exótico. En las consideraciónes finales destaco cuan importante es para el proceso de formación de los estudiantes el abordaje y desarrollo de las temáticas indígenas en el programa de la licenciatura de la FEF de la UPN estructurada sobre una concepción humanista, lo que permitiria entender otras formas de conocimiento y practicas culturales hasta el momento poco tratadas en el universo logicamente establecido en que se fundamenta la disciplina académica y que hacen parte del campo de acción profesional del licenciado en el país.