The right to education in Oaxaca: vindication and pedagogical experiences in intercultural teacher training

Abstract

This article analyzes the training of intercultural educators in Oaxaca, Mexico, as a fundamental mechanism for realizing the right to education in contexts of sociocultural diversity. The region is home to one of the highest levels of ethnolinguistic diversity in the country, with 16 ethnic groups and 176 linguistic variants. However, despite regulatory advances in the Constitution (2019) and the General Laws on Higher Education (2021) and on the Humanities, Sciences, Technologies, and Innovation (2023), a centralist perspective persists that hinders the effective implementation of these rights at the local level. This article’s approach is based on a review of the literature and an examination of key institutional experiences, such as the Bilingual Intercultural Teacher Training College of Oaxaca and the Autonomous Communal University of Oaxaca. Drawing on these cases, the article argues that teacher training should be grounded in situated pedagogical practices. It concludes that there is an urgent need to recognize and institutionally support intercultural educators in order to move from discourse to pedagogical autonomy in the territories of Oaxaca.