Mexican Educational Policy Changes and Demands

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This research reports on school education in the 20^<th> century in Mexico. Most of the materials utilized in the research come from original sources located in libraries such as Mexico's Historical Archive of the Secretary of Public Education, and the country's General Archive of the Nation. Primary materials such as citizens' petitions and agreements, as well as the reports of teachers and inspectors have been located. Many documents presented by the citizens concern matters such as the establishment of schools, facilities, and the requests for teachers. In order to improve the quality of education, Mexican parents have taken positive steps by making various appeals to the authorities for good teachers and high-quality educational environments. The Secretary of Public Education, for its part, has tried to respond to their appeals despite various difficulties such as a lack of financial resources. However, local citizens and the State have not always cooperated with each other. The local citizens have atempted to take the initiative by providing funds and labor to cooperate in the educational activities and the teachers' lives. The State, on the other hand, has often attempted to control the people through the schools and teachers. In other words, the school is an "arena of negotiation" between various groups which have competing values and cultures, and teachers generally play the part of mediator. In this epoch of the spread of school education on a nationwide scale in Mexico, promoted by the government, the active involvemet of local people in the "arena of negotiation", that is, the school, has had a great influence on the development of school education.