Mexico Experiments in Rural and Primary Education: 1921-1930

Abstract

T HE MEXICAN Revolution from 1910-1920 affected the ordinary citizen in a way which perhaps few if any previous political upheavals had done. Far more was involved than a political coup d'etat, for Mexico experienced widespread economic and social changes. A national philosophy evolved which was diametrically opposed to the concept of nationalism dominant during the rule of Porfirio Diaz. Economic practice and policy were drastically altered by the introduction of agrarian reform. The purpose of education was changed from that of Europeanizing the upper classes to raising the masses from their abject poverty and morass of ignorance and illiteracy. Education uinder Diaz. The educators surrounding Diaz looked to Europe for guiding principles and ideals. Some of the innovations introduced into Mexico at this time were beneficial and valid. For example, the efforts of the Swiss educator, Enrique C. Rebsamen' resulted in the introduction of procedures and methods of teachertraining which could be favorably compared with modern practices. Justo Sierra, education minister under Diaz, has been criticized and commended for his part in the educational scene. Granted that his idealistic tendencies prevented him from taking cognizance of more practical realities, his pedagogical theories still helped pave the way for a more practical education in the decades to come. The administrative machinery was established for the various levels of instruction and the stage was set for expansion into new fields of endeavor. On the deficit side of the ledger is the fact that his influence reached a limited circle of society located primarily in Mexico City. Ernest Gruening quotes statistics which indicate that the Diaz government claimed to have only five per cent of the 15,000,000 na-