Culture and Processes of Revaluation Within the Framework of Literacy: Nazareno, Province of Salta

Abstract

This research is framed within the project “Breaking the Silence”, carried out in the northern part of the province of Salta, in Santa Victoria Oeste Department, at Cuesta Azul School, Nazareno. The name of the project is directly related to the particular features of the geographical and sociocultural context of Andean communities: the lack of means of communication such as radio, tape recorders, and television, as well as the limited communication among inhabitants and the difficulties they face in oral expression, reading, and writing.

From an action-research methodology, the school received technical collaboration and participation in in situ school practices from a team from the National University of Salta. This team was made up of specialists in education and students from Workshop IV, the final year of the Educational Sciences program.

The aim of the project was to improve oral expression, reading, and writing and to address geographical isolation through the creation of a school radio station. This made it possible to develop communicative competencies through the valuation of the community’s own culture. Accordingly, the preparation of radio scripts and the broadcasts produced by students and community members focused on the cultural events of the area, as well as on educational, informational, and recreational contributions.

The work was developed in four permanently interrelated stages: first, the elaboration of the project through reflection on the real problems of the institution and the community; second, the negotiation and commitment of the team responsible for carrying out the actions; third, the recording of the different actions, including both school tasks and the tasks of the research team; and fourth, reflection on the achievements and limitations of the project in order to generate further improvements.

One year after the implementation of the project, positive results can be observed in the community’s closer relationship with the school, in students’ communication, and in their interest in searching for and systematizing information about culture, reading, and text production.