The politics, the legislation and the institutions which emerged after the 1991 Constitution in Colombia were notoriously influenced by a new agenda. In the academic arena, language and culture began to play a central role in the new epistemologies and theoretical productions. As far as social practices are concerned, the cultural dimension was not only contemplated but demanded, as a fundamental and essential component of national, regional or local development plans. Certainly, most of the contemporary education studies and public education systems have come to engage this new culturalist tendency. With the aim of constructing a more detailed criticism with respect to the concept and practice of certain cultural categories within public education in Colombia, an analysis can be done from the four previously mentioned perspectives: juridical-legal, political, institutional and academic. For a country like Colombia, the philosophical, theoretical, political and pedagogical reflection on the subject of education and culture is an immediate imperative to improve the public education system and the stabilization of society.