Shipibo-Conibo kenebo and the notion of topological space in 5-year-old children

Abstract

For the Shipibo-Conibo, the view of the designs—or “kenebo”—is fundamental to understanding their relationship with the natural, the spiritual, and the notion of their being in space and time. For some authors, the notion of space (NS) in pre-school children improves over time and depends on the environment. The aim of the study is to determine the
influence of the Shipibo-Conibo designs on the NS in pre-school children. Methodologically, the research is quantitative, applied, descriptive, and experimental. The sample consisted of 48 children from two educational institutions in Yarinacocha, Ucayali, Peru, in 2019. Two groups of 24 children—control and experimental—were formed. The latter was intervened with workshops on Shipibo-Conibo kenebos and with an observation guide. The competence score on the NS was measured in each group, with an experimental design and pre- and posttests. The statistical analysis was descriptive and inferential, based on measures of both central
tendency and of dispersion. For the comparison of medians, the Mann-Whitney U test was used. For the analysis of differences between the distributions of scores, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used. The results found that the intervention was effective. It is concluded that the Shipibo-Conibo kenebo had a significant influence on the abilities related to the NS.