Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Zapatisa meeting with the perople of the world

zap | 02.01.2007 15:51 | Oaxaca Uprising | Globalisation | Social Struggles | Zapatista

summary of the first work table on autonomous education at the meeting of Zapatista communities with the people of the world in Oventik, Chiapas, México.


31/12/2006

Today, the second day of the first meeting of the Zapatistas with the people of the world and with the grounds of Oventik still covered in mist, began the first work session on autonomous education - the ‘other education’. The table began with a discussion of the autonomous education system that has been established in Zapatista communities since government teachers were run out of the communities in 2000. Members of the Good Government Councils representing the 5 caracoles – La Realidad, Oventik, La Garrucha, Morelia and Roberto Barrios – along with representatives from the education commissions of many of the autonomous municipalities spoke of both the gains and obstacles of the past 6 years constructing autonomous education. Following this period, which allowed each Council 20 minutes to speak to education in their region, was a short question and answer period and the table was closed with the commentaries and participation of delegates from throughout Mexico and the world.

It made clear the differences in the pace with which the schools and educational promoters are advancing, but also clear was the shared desire for the creation of an educational system of liberation rather than domination. All members addressed the history of education in their communities and the reasons for the rejection of government teachers. In addition to the facts that the teachers often came from the cities and therefore had little real commitment to the communities, couldn’t communicate with the students in their native tongue and were often abusive towards the children, after the uprising in 1994 there were fears that teachers came to the communities as spies and the military was often involved in bringing supplies to the communities. Beyond these problems was the recognition that the material being taught, created by a government that is not only abusive but also ignorant of life in the communities, was not serving either the children or the community to address their own problems.

In 1999, after communities had been meeting to discuss this situation, it was decided in assembly that they would begin to name people from their own communities as educational promoters that would take the place of government teachers. The testimonies shed light on the difficulty of this process, which involves training educational promoters and constructing schools in a situation where resources are scarce, but nevertheless all Councilors demonstrated their commitment to the process as the only way to return dignity and respect to their schools. Although the process continues slowly, the hundreds of educational promoters that are currently providing thousands of Zapatista children with a bilingual education in the basic subjects of mathematics, history, language and natural sciences, as well as special focuses on the Zapatista demands, agroecology, and the integration of the theory of the classroom with the practice of community work and life.

Following this presentation and a brief question and answer period, Otra Campaña adherents from throughout Mexico and the world took the microphone to speak of their own struggles for autonomy in education. Representatives from the autonomous schools of Xinaxcalmecac in Los Angeles, La Platforma Mexicana in Madrid joined members of Ya Basta! from Italy, Acción Zapatista and RadioZapatista from California, U.S.-based Mexicanos Sin Fronteras, the Normal Mactumatzá in Chiapas and representatives of Section XXII of the Teachers Union in Oaxaca to speak to the various struggles that organized communities throughout the world are encountering in education.

Whether with the discourse of autonomy or popular power, there was general agreement that institutions of education only serve to educate within a certain, in this case capitalist, framework. As much in the city as in the countryside, there is a realization that it is only working against or outside of these systems that a truly liberatory and critical education can be achieved. Merely changing the content does not affect the relations of power exercised within the classroom and with that in mind, not only the Zapatistas in Chiapas, but people throughout the world are struggling to teach by learning, speak by listening, and govern by obeying.

zap

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech