Pluriversal Literacies in Colombia: Honoring Ancestral Knowledges and Land‐Based Literacies in the Rural School Curricula

ABSTRACT This study examines one of the author's community‐based research experiences in a rural village of the Colombian Caribbean, collaborating with teachers, students, and local leaders to learn about the local reading and meaning‐making practices that community members depend on to thrive in the tropical dry forest they inhabit. These individuals, including artisans, farmers, and ancestral knowledge holders, shared sensory and ecological understandings—of smells, colors, and forms—that secondary Spanish and English language teachers later integrated into their curricula and classroom practices. Acknowledging such epistemic diversity requires educational practices that move beyond Western‐centric ideals and methodologies. This study employs a pluriversal literacies framework to expand conceptualizations of literacy education and to challenge the coloniality embedded in dominant educational systems. Grounded in participatory and community‐based research, the project emphasizes relationality and interdependence with the land through community walks and dialog sessions as data co‐generation methods. These nonhierarchical methods enable community members to guide the research process and co‐construct knowledge. Findings highlight the emergence of local, land‐based literacies and demonstrate how these can inform more contextually relevant curricular practices.