“A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.” -Gandhi

 

As I venture through my life from one experience to another, I take away ideas, viewpoints and moments that transform my way of thinking and enrich my life for the better. The information that I had learned in the MAED program at MSU and the opportunity to dialogue and delve into the assignments has been one of those experiences and moments for me. As I look back at the courses, many gave me a moment of self-discovery. They allowed me to position myself and my experience within the greater discussion of what it is to be educated and where does that education come from. I hope to be able to use my new found knowledge to enlighten the lives of overs as it has done for me.

 

I feel that through this program I was able to gain a comprehensive progressive education background. Considering that I work with a predominantly working class community of color I feel that the information I receive not only supported my views but also gave me the resources I need to push forward my work. Having the theoretical knowledge only helps to support and justify my work and gives me the backing to expose others to topics related to social justice in education.

 

Although I feel that I gained a lot from all of the courses within this program, I have decided to highlight the following courses because I feel that together they have worked to create a new world view. Additionally, these courses did the most to inform me of who I am, where I came from, the wealth of knowledge that I have based on my cultural upbringing and how I could support my community in moving forward. Each of these courses had some overlap, but they each also brought something new to the picture.

 

The knowledge of inequity has always existed vaguely in my mind. I knew that the schools that I attended did not resemble some of the schools who we would compete against in sports. When I got to college it was apparent that I was not as academically prepared as my peers. In non-educational settings, I knew my father had the final words in decision making. These topics were presented to me as issues that existed within society; however it was not until EAD 850- Issues and Strategies in Multicultural Education that they were broken down and detailed in such a way that truly made me understand. My greatest take away from this course is that everything is relative to the lens we are seeing it through. Being a middle-class, Christian, Latina woman shapes everything about me and how I see the world in relation to myself.

 

Of key importance within multicultural education is making the education of relative importance to the person being educated. If I as an individual do not feel connected to the information why am I going to care? It is necessary as educators to understand our audience and demonstrate how the information can relate to their life experiences. If my education is demeaning to my socio-economic status, gender, race, etc. I am going to internalize those beliefs and they will have a negative lasting effect on me. EAD 850 allowed me to reflect on how education can shape us as individuals.

 

During the same semester I was taking TE 823- Learning Communities & Equity. The pairing of the two courses reinforced many of the topics. In this course I was able to grasp privilege and oppression and determine how the scope of the two gives meaning to our identity, despite the fact that we cannot see it. Most significantly I had never considered disability as having a part in the discussion of lack of privilege. I was awestruck at the fact that it had never dawned on me that my perceptions as an able-bodied individual gave me privilege.

 

“No one is born fully-formed: it is through self-experience in the world that we become what we are.”― Paulo Freire

 

Having a background on privilege and oppression and how we are socialized into our views of the world and people is increasingly important in our multicultural society. This is even more so important when working in education. We need to have an understanding of ourselves in relation to those we are working with to be able to provide them the most significant experience and opportunities to excel. Without that understanding our guidance can essentially be leading individuals astray as opposed towards a path to success.

 

In EAD 830- Urban Education: Racial Achievement Gap I was able to situate how inequality is systematic and how a long history of suppressing certain communities has left us (I include myself as a Latina and member of an education community) has had significant effects in education attainment. What I truly appreciated from this course was that Professor Dunbar presented literature across philosophical standpoints. In some cases, individuals who felt that my community has a cultural deficit in its ability to become educated. However, there were also various authors presented that discussed various other stances in the struggle to educated the population and discussed deficit theory and the challenges behind these beliefs for the progress of our education system. I belief the exposure to a wide range of literature helped strengthen my viewpoint and my resolve to change these beliefs amongst educators about my community.

 

EAD 830 provided a wealth of information addressing why a racial achievement gap exists and also provided examples of what is being done to alleviate the problem. Working in a predominately Latino, working class community, these problems are prevalent and being informed on tactics to implement are essential. Many of these tie back to being able to situate the community being serviced and how we as educators inform societal norms and systems of inequity within the school system. Being aware of tracking students, leaving communities of students in the periphery and providing an avenue for parent involvement are necessary to close the gap. Having any sense of inequality within an education system is setting a nation up for failure. To combat the racial achievement gap is to provide opportunities for people to create true change in their lives and communities.

 

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Dr. Matin Luther King Jr.

 

EAD 822- Engaging Diverse Students & Families also touched upon how to work with diverse communities so that they can be academically and socially successful. Professor Khalifa organized the most thought provoking class and I am glad I took this course towards the end of my program. This course provided the closing points and the steps that would allow me to implement much of what I learned throughout the program.

 

The case study format which required us to identify the problem as well as giving us the resources to be able to determine what the best practices were to go about making change really gave the course a practicality to it. Since the course was so tied to my life experiences it also gave me the opportunity to discuss my experiences with other peers and really understand my position within the discussion and help inform others with first hand experience. Deficit thinking truly affected me and my community and having educators that truly understood my home life and were able to integrate that into the learning would have helped me bridge a gap of learning that I had. I will never forget as I was tutoring a student in Algebra in a credit reclamation course and I was trying to explain intersecting lines and he asked me “how is this going to help me buy a gallon of milk.” For that student and for many others it is difficult for them to make a connection between education, their surroundings and their future.

 

EAD 822 not only allowed me to situate myself within the discussion of education but also helped me realize when I achieved a level of consciousness that has positively informed my life and strengthened my identity. This course helped me understand that I order to help others become successful we need to open their eyes to the world around them. Help others find their position within power and privilege dynamics so that they are able to mitigate the challenges that come before them. As well as using their culture to educate them and show them that there is intellect and wealth within their own community and they too can follow in those footsteps.

 

As a result of this course I design an advocacy workshop based on the East LA student walkouts (Chicano Blowout) of 1968 that I presented to over 100 eighth grade students from the Pico-Union area of Downtown LA. These students were predominantly Latinos and members of a mentoring program. Many of these students had never heard of the walkouts or knew of the students just like them stood up for their rights in front of administrators, a school board, police and government entities. I hope that the information and interactive activity allowed them to learn more about themselves, their community and ability to do great things.

 

The information that I learned from the MAED program at MSU has not only empowered me as an individual but has provided me with the tools that I need to help to make a difference in my community. These courses provided me with the foundations to continue learning and growing within my field. I know I received the best progressive education to inform change in low- socioeconomic, underserved communities. I learned that education does not strictly come out of books, we learn from everyone and everything around us. We need to reimagine ways to innovate within informal and formal education to serve our multicultural society, so that we can mentor the culturally competent leaders of tomorrow. With my eyes wide open, I will work towards educating individuals to form an equitable society.

 

 

"Education in the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today." -Malcom X