“Ciudad Escolar de los Mayas” in the context of the educational reform of Salvador Alvarado in the state of Yucatan in 1915-1918

Abstract

This article deals with the problem of creating a “new society” in the state of Yucatan (Mexico) during the period of Salvador Alvarado, which marked the beginning of revolutionary changes in the region. The central element of the educational reform of S. Alvarado was the spread of the rationalist school, which was based on the principles of demonstrativeness, scientific character and harmonious development of the individual. The complex ethnosocial structure of the region, in which more than half of the population were Indigenous peasants, set the new revolutionary government the task of integrating the Mayan population of Yucatan into the modern civilizational space. It was the main purpose of the “Ciudad Escolar de los Mayas”, which was opened in 1917 - a boarding school destinated exclusively for the education of the Maya. The functions of “Ciudad Escolar de los Mayas” were to combat illiteracy, teach basic hygiene rules, modern agricultural methods and small trades, as well as to prepare the future rural teachers. An analysis of archival documents relating to the functioning of the “Ciudad Escolar de los Mayas” made it possible to determine the main factors that influenced the failure of this educational project, namely: dramatic change in the habitat and habitual way of life, which caused an epidemic of diseases among boarding school students, the resistance of parents and owners of haciendas, as well as insufficient material equipment of the educational institution. The main results of the educational policy of S. Alvarado were the creation of a legislative framework that guarantees the availability of school education, the development of pedagogical thought, and the designation of Indigenous education as a special sphere of state policy.