The core topic of the article is a review of the state of the art of intercultural education, based on the following questions: Does intercultural bilingual education respond to the demands of the Mapuche people in relation to a sociocuturally relevant education? Does it consider other political and economic demands that arise from the Chilean State? The objective is to reveal the scope and epistemological limitations of intercultural education in La Araucanía. The methodology consisted of a review of the normative and scientific literature at a national and international level, to achieve an understanding and explanation of the problem. The theoretical approach is critical interculturality in education. It is concluded that to advance intercultural education from a contextual epistemology it is necessary 1) to create spaces in the schools for the co-construction of teaching materials that systematize their own educational content, with the support of teachers, family, and community; 2) to incorporate Mapuche educational methods of their own in the implementation of intercultural education; 3) to promote collaborative work with community members who have knowledge of trades, in order to articulate the theoretical and practical learning in the classroom, from the western-indigenous perspective; y 4) to promote teaching-learning processes that are built on research activities both in the community, in the family, and at school.