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One might think that social life in indigenous communities is idyllic and live in community means being in harmony. This is no longer true. In recent years the Otomi Toluca Valley region has urbanized and thus acculturation processes affecting families and the community in general. One of these changes has been the presence of violence. The aim of this paper is to analyze how cultural values still have the Otomi communities can be used as a project of intercultural education for the promotion of peace and school life. This thesis is part of the “Manual peaceful school life for primary school teachers in intercultural contexts of the Otomi region of the municipality of Temoaya”.

This paper is the result of research conducted over the past three years in the field of basic education in Mexico, on the growth of enrollment in urban schools for migratory reasons and discrimination, exclusion and marginalization against several people with characteristics ethnic, linguistic, religious, sexual or disabled character. Manifestations of violence in urban schools, impose qualitative changes between the school community and school dynamics therefore recover the Intercultural Education and Dialogue of Knowledge for Peace, as proposed otherness and attention to students, regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional and linguistic conditions.

The problems in indigenous communities Otomi and Mazahuas in Toluca, and Ixtlahuaca-Atlacomulco valleys are various. In this region there is mainly cultural, ethnic and economic violence. It is due to lack of access to infrastructure, access to education and access to justice. Education is one of the best ways to reduce these problems.The presence of the Intercultural University and the Bachelor of Sustainable Development in the Mazahua region has begun to impact positively in some communities and civil society organizations. This has been through intercultural education model and the principles of Sustainable Development. This paper describes some experiences of the Division of Sustainable Development in some communities. At the end we argue on how sustainability is a path to peace building.