Browsing by Subject "Oaxaca"

I study the conflict between the state and the social movement in Oaxaca, Mexico since 2006. The recent phase is the resistance to the national educational reform. My research question is: what are the main issues to advance and views of the Indigenous teachers and citizens on the grassroot level in the Oaxacan social movement and in its conflict with the Mexican state? My method is an Indigenous collaborative method, which is holistic and relational and includes dialogue. My research results consist of three thematic findings. I conducted semi-structured collaborative ethnographic interviews in 2013 and 2016 with fourteen people, 8 men and 6 women, 9 of whom were teachers, all from one of the following Indigenous cultures: Zapotec, Mazatec, Mixe, Afro Mexican and Mixtec. Within the Indigenous discourse emphasis is on the non-fragmented, holistic nature, the metaphysical and pragmatic, language, place, values, and relationships. Indigenous pedagogies are intergenerational, relational and land based. Schools should offer differentiated educational plans in the bioregions and should care for the interdependence between language, culture, and territory, and consider multispecies thinking. The first thematic finding was that the Oaxacan teachers have the special knowledge needed: concerning environmental issues, Indigenous epistemology, pedagogies, and learning systems, all in the Sección 22 proposed land-based PTEO -educational reform plan. The second important theme was the cultural changes in Oaxaca connected to the Guelaguetza Popular making it an Indigenous celebration and the Indigenous women’s empowerment in the context of taking over the Canal 9 TV station. The third finding is that the teachers and other actors in the social movement have a strong social commitment, which is the optimal goal for a teacher to have. But there cannot be reciprocal cooperation if the governments of Oaxaca and Mexico do not start respecting the national and international law, especially concerning the human rights.