Maestros indígenas, burocracia frente a la identidad

Abstract

Educational policies aimed at Mexico’s indigenous population have been characterized for being contradictory. Language has been the element that has been ever present and has been taken up as a political tool, and the imposition of Spanish as the dominant language has been implemented as a strategy to homogenize and “ensure” national unity and Mexico’s transition towards modernity. As a tool of the State in the homogenizing process indigenous teachers are a by-product of those contradictions, and it is not clear for them what are the objectives of their teaching practice. Most of the time the teacher’s role has been to serve as a technician or operator of the programs. The lack of political will is evidenced by a series of problems, such as the poor preparation and training of teachers, the lack of properlytrained instructors to support teachers with the theoretical-methodological components that are necessary for an intercultural, bilingual education. By being singled out as indigenous teachers, they feel that their sense of identity is violated, that their work is not valued nor acknowledged, that they are excluded, that they are second-rate teachers.