lk-! J.' '11- _ fi t /. Is - -11 . El . !rlt p A r:A .1-A Vi.;1 'IAZEN . * s. -Ft 4" Soo dr . 4 . .. 5. ` .' . 201 Am ) ,* Ilbol AP dieo o.,1 Nfr . .5111P, 4A1 r" 7 ft 4.0"tit"' . "*. J. 1 ° 4.7 -..:11111111=tenizAkis3Lais6 y Fr- e i .1 A Y 412-j '1` **al - _ ` 4t [Lc T.- 0143p.. Ohs , ti/VIVION I W1.. te,81 $lt5.1..vsl a -1.. 13' Ut-raifti7. ! I) ... 1 01 li r s 1ie , - I ; 1^*. ',at 7 rm fi Si I. c, .VE-r . "52- °M. 1/4. a rrle41 rgiii- , 1t N r ' 4 THIRD FLdORMINISTRYOF EDUCATIONFROMBALLAD s Below,runit school teacherdistributing bookstochildren;above, adultsstudying. e THE .6 ye HOUSEOFTHEPEOPLE ANACCOUNTOF liffX1CO'SNEWSCHOOLSOFACTION BYKATHERINEM.COOK e te, 41 v UNITEDSTATES a GOVERNMENTPRINTINGOFFICE b tk WASHINGTON: 1932 t -^ ForSaleby theSuperintendentof Documents,WashingtoniPrice10cents LETTEROFTRANSMITTAL DEPARTMENTOFTHE INTERIOR, f. OFFICEOF EDUCATION, Washington,December,193e Sin:Herewithis a-"drasiuscript entitled" TheHouseof thePeople."Itpresents an accountof theeducational experimentin progress-inMexico.Inthat some 90 country,where per cent ofthepeopleare eitherIndian Indianorigin, or of very little ofwhatwe wouldoi;a11"progress" canbefound.Although Mexico-hasacceptedsome ofour ideasandpracticesin governmentandbusiness,andal- thighthecommonlanguage Spanishis Inuseamonga highpercentageofthe people,traditionalnativecustoms andstandardsofliving stillprevail.Itremainedfor Dr.MoisésSáenzto really finda type ofeducationwhich wouldsuitthesepeople. Mrs.KatherineM. Cook,whohandlesthespecialprob- lemsdivisionin theOfficeofEducation,decided moreor less to become familiarwiththeindigenouspeople herselfsince problem 'wewere unable,becauseofthe to employa specialist depression, in thisfleld.Inthesummer of 1931 shewenttciAlaska, wheresheinspectedtheeducational systemthererather thoroughly.Afterherexperiencesin Alaskashewentinto Mexicoandstudiedfirsthandthe -educationalsystem established therelargelythroughthe effortsofDoctor Sikenz.Thismanuscriptpresentsa brief discussionofwhatshe saw in Mexicoandsomewhat herevaluationof it. of It isissuedinthehopethat itwill stimulatemore study ofeducationalsystemsamong primi- tivepeoples.Thepeople of theUnitedStatesfacedifficult problemsintheirefforts towardestablishingadequateedu- cationalsystems adaptedto theneedsofdifferent groups in minority continentalUnitedStatesandin lying some of itsout- patts.It ishopedthatthisstudy in may besuggestive our searchforfundamentalsolutions. Irecommendthat itbepublishedas a bulletin office. of this Respectfullysubmitted. WM.JOHNCOOPER, Commissioner. TheSECRETARYOFTHE INTERIOR. 4 EXPLANATORY&NOTE oL Thisis Bulletin1932,No. il,andis issuedby the UnitedStatesDepartmentoftheinterior,Office A ofEducation.RayLymanWilburisSecretary of theInteriorandWilliamJohnCooperis Commis- sioner ofEducation. KatherineM. Cook,theauthor ofthisBulletin,is r chief ofthedivision ofspecialproblems. 4- Theillustrationsat the beifinningof eachchapter E, I arefromwoodcuts usedt&illustrateaseries of readerspreparedespeciallyfor theruralschools . ofMexico byProf.RafaelRamirez.Theseries called ElSembradorTheSower---includesfour bookscorrespondingroughlytoourfirst,second, third, andfoisereaders. are OM t di\Num. CONTENTS Page Introduction ChapterOne:RuralSchools gl ChapterTwo:CulturalMissions 21 ChapterThree.:Normal Schools 33 ChapterFour:Secretarfa cle*Educaci6nPablica 45 a ChapterFive:Secondary Schools 53 ChapterSix:SpecialActivities 61 Bibliography. J 71 a ; 14 INTRODUCTION -....,=1-. 1 1: d 4 I I I I 1 Pr4,74. --MUMI .410 , TEREAREa numberof creasing reasons for theinr interestofAmericaneducatorsineducational in Mexico.Mexico progress isoneofour twonearestneighbors,andfor thatreason aloneeverythirigthatcontributesto her importanttous. welfareis Fromamore definitely educationalstandpointwe arecon- irnedbecauseof thelargenumberofMexican ing inour schools, childrenenroll- especiallyintheSouthwesternStates.Ex- perienceshowsthatmanyoftheseMexican speak childrenlearnto our languageandbecomeassimilatedinto political our social and lifeonlyat theexpense of muchtime thepart of andefforton our schoOls.Weare beginningto wider realizethata knowledgeof theircountryandoftheircultural roundandtheirsocial back- situationrit homemightleadtoabetter understandingof-theirneedsandabilities. tion ofthe Adequateapprecia- Mexicansmighteventuallyleadto provision' appropriate formore educationforMexicanchildreninthe Slates,whereverthey United are living,permanentlyortemPorarily. Ofspecialinteresttous, too, isMexico's ment with rathernew experi- the educatioWifherlargenativepopulation. thisfieldshe ismakinga _In fineeffortto solvea problemwith whichwe have long been/concernedin Slates continentalUnited andinour severaloutlyingparts,namely, economic thesotialand upbuildingthrougheducationofnative havingdifferent peoples originsandtraditionsandspiakingdifferent natipelanguages.This effort isofgreaterinterestsinceMexico, [ 1] like theUnited States,isarepublic madeupofaFederalunion of States.It is thereforedependent,as we are,for goodgovern- mentonthe intelligence ofthe peopleas awhole.Mexicois beginningto understandandappreciate thecloserelationship betweeneducation andpopulargovernment.In thisrespect the nationseemsto be satisfyingthesameneedwhich prompted theUnited Statesto adopt uriiversalpubliceducation. Nor hasMexico failedto be affectedby theprogressivemove- ments in educationwhicharehavingsoprofoundaninfluence on our own schools.Indeed, itappearsthatourneighbors acrossthe Rio Grandehave readJohn Deweyandexponentsof his schoolof thinkingto good effect.Accordingto Prof.Moisés Sáenz, JohnDewey isgospelamongMexicanteachers,even thoughsomeof themformerlythought ofhimas a man having a,gueconnection withtheAmericanNavy." Withhisphil- .osophyofsocialization,with hisemphasisonreality,onself- activity andself-expressión,"saysProfessorScienz," Dedit becameawatchword." These andotherveryreal andmutualinterests ineduca- , tional 'policiesandpracticespromptedthepreparationof this bulletin.It is, forthemost part,anaccount ofimpressions gainedduringamonth'sobservationand studgamongMexican schools,chiefly ruralschools.Federalschoolofficialswere guides andcompanionsonschobol-visitingexpeditions,explait ihg conditignsandinterpretingschoolpoliciesandpractices. Informationfurnishedby thesèofficials,.ofteninformallyand inanswerto direct inquiries, addresso;presentedby Federal ocials duringsessions ofthe fifthseminarconductedby the Co mitteeonCulturalRelationswith LatinAmerica(copies orEnglishtranslationswereusuallyfurnishedby thespeakers), andofficial'reports andmimeographedmaterialsfurnishedb the Directorof RuralSchoolsof theSecretariatof PublicEdu- cation have beendrawnuponto verifyoramplifyobservations andoccasionallyas source material forcertain factualstate- ments. Noattempt ismadeto offeracompletetreatment of the history andprogress ofanyeducgtionalmourment in Mex- ico.The authoraimsto describe certainoutstihdingfettures of the ruraleducationalprogram which sheobserved..and believesto be of specialinterestto educatorsin theUnited States.The largerandmoreimportanttendencies,observed withadesire tounderstandthespiritwhichanimates the programrather thanits details,arethosewith whichthis bulletin is primarilyconcerned. [2] . - HAPTER ONE 4 a %1 .IWRALÓSCHOOLS INCE19201 aFed- eralsystem ofruralschoolslookingtowardextengtenon a nation-widescale hasbèen inthe Makingin Mexico.Itwas stimulated andencouragedwiththeestablishmentin 1921ofa centraleducationheadquarterscorrespondingto- what in would our çountry beadepartmentofeducation.By 1924the Fed- eralsystem ofschoolswaswellunderway. Up to 1920,educationoutsidetheFederalDistrict,whichin- cludes MexicoCity,and the TerritorieshadbeenchieflyaState responsibility.Thisestablishmentofaschoolsystem devoted to the.educationof theruralIndianpopulationas aresponsi- bilityof the FederalGovernmentiswidelyacceptedasthemost far-reaching educationalconVibutionof therevolutionof 1910 followingtheoverthrowof theDiazrégime. Beginning witha amallostaffandappropriation,thesystem hasgrown inscopeanrinnumberofschools.The of number schoolsisnow estimatedat 7,000.Neitherthenumberof I Skin, Moishs,and Priestley,Herbert LSome Mexican Problems. .1] HarrisFoundation.1926. Lectureson the Chicago,TheUniversityof ChicagoPress, 1926,p.64. [3] schoolsnorthe enrollmentiscommensurate withtheneed if universaleducation is thecriterion.In 1926, the Subsecre- tary of Education estimatedthat only approximately4outof every10 childrenwerethen in the publicschools.2Yet itap- pearsthat the Federalschools inoperationare sowell distrib- uted that theirinfluence is nation-wide.Moreover, therequests coming into central authorities for additionalschoolsare in excessof Federal officials' abilityto supply with Thefinancial resourcesat present available. v Schools Adaptedto Mexican Life N.r Like all schools,those in rural Mexicomust be viewed in the light of the situationtheyaredesignedto meet, if their ob- jectives and practicesareto be understood. The ruralpopu- latign is, in themain,anative, peasant population madeupof many groupsrepresenting differenttraits andstages of civili- zation and speakingmanydifferent dialects.Of Mexico's 14,000,000inhabitants,at least10,000,000aresaid to be Indian, ormestizos withastrong mixture of Indian blood. The remainderare",whitesor nearwhites." s Mexico'sculture is dominantly ruraland handicraft.The industrialsystem which prevails in the United Statesand which has ledto concentration ofsolargeapart of its population is urban communitiesand to the almost universaluseof machine- made materials