Functions and scope of academic advisors for linguistic and cultural diversity

The Academic Advisor for Diversity is a key player who provides advisory support to teachers in indigenous school environments. In 2003, the Ministry of Education, which is responsible for regulating the role of the advisors, established three areas of support to teachers: educational planning with linguistic and cultural relevance, incorporating elements from the local cultural and linguistic context, and social use of the indigenous language as a means of communication. This paper presents an analysis of the official reports submitted to the Ministry by nine Academic Advisors for Diversity in Baja California in 2011. Our purpose is to characterize the activities that the advisors perform in schools and demonstrate their correspondence, if any, with the stipulated ministry regulations. The analysis reveals that advisors primarily support teachers into two aspects: educational planning with linguistic and cultural relevance, and strengthening teachers' teaching of mathematics, Spanish and sciences.