Resumo El objetivo de este ensayo es investigar las diferentes dimensiones formativas que los docentes del siglo XXI necesitan potenciar para transformar su realidad socioecológica, con el fin de repensar las políticas públicas educativas del Ecuador. Primero se abordan las concepciones epistemológicas de la educación transdisciplinar: la autoformación, la heteroformación, la ecoformación y la ontoformación. Después se complementa con los saberes ancestrales absolutos y alter-nativos. Como resultado, las ciencias de la educación para el buen vivir emergen como una praxis pedagógica transformadora a nivel ontológico, ético, estético, político y científico. En conclusión, el artículo integra un diálogo inter-epistemológico que conjuga una ecología de saberes para la articulación de una educación del buen vivir que emancipe, concientice y sensibilice.

The emergence process of the new area of knowledge, product of the convergence between the fields of neuroscience and education, is still in its consolidation stage. At this point of disciplinary evolution, it is essential to define a multidimensional framework for creation of knowledge, in order to support the consilience between the academic fields involved. In this paper, a critical review of the literature associated with the epistemological questions is carried out, which underlies the attempt of communication between disciplines, providing a theoretical framework that starts from basic epistemic questions, to finally base the synergy between the sciences of education and the brain sciences. In the set of reviewed literature, the state of terminological undefinedness of the area referred to as “educational neuroscience”, “neuroeducation”, or “mind, brain and education” emerged explicitly. This inconsistency in the nomenclature is correlated in the epistemological ambiguity of the different proposals, as well as the need to overcome unidirectional models of communication. In conclusion, this type of relational model, located in the interdisciplinary framework, could be demanding an evolution towards a transdisciplinary approach: with the establishment of an effective bi-directionality that incorporates professionals and educational researchers as active agents in knowledge construction processes of this new field.

In 2008, the new Constitution of Ecuador recognized the Rights of Nature, in order to restore the ecological footprint. For this reason, the main goal of this article is to reflect about the theories, practices, and public policies developed in Ecuadorian schools with the Environmental Education Program ‘Tierra de Todos.’ As a result, this work integrates scientific knowledge with ancestral wisdom, combining an ecology of knowledge as a transdisciplinary research methodology. Part of this program is an adaptation of the methodology TiNi and promotes a critical environmental awareness with all students of primary and secondary schools. The methodology TiNi has its origin in Peru and was approved by UNESCO for its potential to learn socio-ecologic didactics in direct contact with nature. As conclusion, environmental education public policies aim to face the complex civilizing challenges of the Anthropocene teaching how to feel-think-act in harmony with the co-evolutionary processes of nature, in order to (re)design regenerative cultures.

El objetivo del artículo es abordar, desde una visión compleja, intercultural y transdisciplinar, las prácticas pedagógicas que se llevan a cabo en las aulas universitarias. Además, se desarrolla un posicionamiento epistemológico que defiende la equidad social mediante la inclusión en los currículos de aquellos saberes ancestrales que favorecen la reflexión y el replanteamiento del actual modo de vida. La metodología usada es analítica, exploratoria e interpretativa, y responde a un diseño no experimental. La población de estudio la integraron 384 estudiantes adscritos a la Universidad Nacional de Educación, Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo y Universidad Técnica de Manabí. Como resultado, se discierne que el papel cohesionador, inclusivo y equitativo del currículum propone mecanismos para delimitar el tipo de sociedad que queremos y con quiénes la hemos de construir.

The main objective of this article is to explore new paradigms of teacher training in the field of environmental education. That is why this qualitative study explores the literature on ecological economics and degrowth to identify the most important theoretical principles that can be integrated into environmental education practices. From a transdisciplinary approach, the study integrates a philosophical and epistemological dialogue between scientific knowledge and indigenous wisdom of the Ecuadorian peoples. Then, the results of introducing the ecological economics foundations in the Ecuadorian environmental education policies are described with the analysis of the TiNi program. Subsequently, the emergence of the regenerative economics in the literature is discussed. To conclude, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are questioned for their conventional economic vision, and regenerative cultures are proposed to promote world futures focused in human well-being and environmental justice.