ZAPATISTAS AND THE MEXICAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF CURRICULUM

The Zapatistas, an indigenous group from the Mexican state of Chiapas, began a rebellion on January 1, 1994 with the purposes of demanding their rights, including the right to education. The uprising highlighted concerns about the Mexican government's perpetual policies towards integrating indigenous people into the dominant mestizo culture. This project seeks to determine if the Mexican government has increased multicultural educational concepts into its curriculum since the Zapatista's emergence. Curricula were reviewed from the federal government before and after the Zapatista uprising, from the State of Chiapas, and from the autonomous Zapatistas. The review found that the current federal and state curriculum has incorporated more multicultural concepts into the education system. However, the primary focus of the Mexican educational system is to improve particular competencies of the indigenous that will foster integration into the dominant mestizo society.