Abstract

CASTRO, Inés  and  SMITH, Márcia. Public school in Mexico and the uncertain definition of the nation. Cad. CEDES [online]. 2011, vol.31, n.83, pp. 57-77. ISSN 0101-3262.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0101-32622011000100004.

In Mexico, schools have always been part of the discourse on integration, homogenization and the construction of national identity. The main interest was to ensure continuity to the Western European culture, filtered through the Hispanic singularity and penetrated by the idealized recognition of the autochthonous (indigenous peoples). However, the growth of poverty and the permanent historical tendency to ethnic discrimination, as opposed to the widening discourse on human rights, have invalidated the achievement of the original school's goals. In the last decade, strong ideas of multiculturalism have arisen, which wish to integrate and renew school's propositions. These ideas derive from the increasing recognition of the expanding cultural diversity and of the shortcomings of the cultural mestizaje project implemented in the country in previous times, which advocated an almost "forced" cultural integration that was impossible.

Keywords : Mexico; School; Diversity; Mestizaje; Identity.