Curriculum Innovation and Ancestral Knowledge

The School Garden for Holistic Development in Early Childhood Education.

Abstract

The proposal argues that traditional education has been insufficient to connect students with their biocultural reality. In this sense, the school garden (conuco) emerges as a living pedagogical space that transcends simple agricultural activity to become an integrating axis of learning. Through direct experience with the land, children develop cognitive, emotional, and social skills, fostering ecological awareness and a sense of cultural identity from an early age. The study highlights that the conuco is a bridge between academic knowledge and the ancestral wisdom of Indigenous peoples. It not only functions as a laboratory for learning science or mathematics in a tangible way, but also promotes the exchange of knowledge by involving the community (grandparents, parents, and farmers) in the transmission of historical and technical knowledge, such as respect for lunar cycles and the use of organic fertilizers. Finally, the conuco is defined as a pedagogical and political act that seeks food sovereignty and the decolonization of knowledge.