CHANGES IN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS IN POPULAR EDUCATION: TEACHERS' PERSPECTIVES AT THE SCHOOL OF ECOLOGICAL AGRICULTURE U YITS KA’AN IN YUCATAN, MEXICO

Upon the social, economic and historical alienation of the minority sectors inside the nation state, there arises the so-called Popular Education as an 'alternative' educational forum directed to groups of peasants and natives in rural zones in Mexico with the intention of reaching a quality of life for themselves. These systems apply organic farming as a strategy to achieve development and social empowerment of the group through food sovereignty. For that reason, this presentation is about the research work developed at the School of Agriculture Ecological U Yits Ka'an in the municipality of Mani in Yucatan State, Mexico. The fundamental purpose of the school is to promote sustainable development in indigenous rural population of the peninsula, giving priority to traditional culture and ecological agriculture. The methodology of the school is based on Freire's popular education and environmental education. At the moment, the School has four subheads offices (Peto in the south, Valladolid in the east, San Simon in the west and Hunucma in the north; all located in rural communities), which provide training workshops for peasants promoters and academics about ecological agriculture, livestock activity, traditional medicine and human social thematic.

The research interest stems from the vulnerability context in the agricultural crisis reflected in the changes in the identities of rural social groups in urban migration and fragmentation Community. With these social problems, economic and political context of rural Yucatan, this school is to be an alternative for students to integrate into their communities as active persons in terms of its social, environmental, economic and political terms.
To carry out these objectives of the school, teachers play a critical role in the educational training. They are responsible for conducting training activities that promote environmental education and 'dialogue of knowledges' with students. I would like to show, what perspective teachers have of the school in its position within the State (political terms).

Additionally, the educational model is questioned in its position within the nation state:
- How is the school positioned in its educational model within the nation state?
- What are the new demands and challenges of the school within the nation state?

The interest in interviewing teachers is based on their role with the students and to understand the environmental, social and economic limitations in the rural communities. In short, the teacher is aware of local issues and they are the representatives of the school within the community. For this reason, their perspective is essential in school decisions. Therefore, this presentation hopes to give us how manifested the power relations between the one ‘alternative’ school and the nation state.