Inclusion and diversity in higher education: reflection on the design of a sentithinking curriculum at the University of the Atlantic

Abstract

This research proposes a reflection on the design of a sentipensante curriculum as a way to promote inclusion and diversity in higher education. The objective of this study is to reflect on the importance of incorporating a sentipensante curriculum at the Universidad del Atlántico, with the purpose of promoting an inclusive, equitable, and humanizing higher education that values ​​the cultural, social, and emotional diversity of its student community. From a decolonial perspective and situated in the Colombian Caribbean context, the need to rethink curricular processes based on historically silenced voices is raised, especially those of victims of the armed conflict and Afro-descendant, indigenous, and rural communities. For this purpose, the action research methodology was employed, given its participatory, reflexive, and transformative nature, allowing faculty, students, and administrators of the Universidad del Atlántico to engage in a collective process of analysis and improvement of educational practices. The analysis is based on epistemological principles that challenge the Eurocentric logic of knowledge, integrating pedagogical practices that recognize the emotional, the communal, and the experiential as legitimate forms of knowledge. This proposal is part of the curricular transformation experiences undertaken at the University of the Atlantic and seeks to pave the way for a more just, humane, and contextualized higher education.