Abstract

SILVA MONTES, César. The zapatista school: educating for autonomy and emancipation. Alteridad [online]. 2019, vol.14, n.1, pp.109-121. ISSN 1390-8642.  https://doi.org/10.17163/alt.v14n1.2019.09.

The present article exposes the development of the school of the Zapatista movement, which builds its educational proposal from the community, based on ancestral wisdom to link it with contemporary thought. The aim of the Zapatista education is to train generations in the practice of autonomy and self-government in order to preserve its indigenous dignity. This experience is not a model, nor does it fit into other pedagogical movements. Although it is original, Paulo Freire’s ideas can be distinguished such as his alphabetize to understand the world and transform it. In this sense, the Zapatista school is anti-capitalist and is not governed by the rules of the market that grants titles to students to earn for money; it is not merchandise because nobody pays to learn and nobody charges for teaching; it is not part of the State either, because each town determines the curricular contents to use the knowledge and develop the collectivization of the field, promote cooperatives and the communal stores. Unlike the globalization trend of schools that promote the entrepreneurial mentality, merit and self-employment; Zapatista education aspires that young people serve their people, be supportive and that knowledge does not imply social hierarchy. The experience in a Zapatista community and the interviews with promoters of education, allow us to understand that the Zapatista school is still under construction and must avoid the bureaucratization and homogenization proper to capitalism.

Keywords : School; zapatismo; education; community; autonomy; emancipation.

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