Come see the world through my eyes

Culture, as defined by my school, is a way of life developed by a group of people over time that distinguishes them from other communities or groups. Culture is shaped by geography and food sources (agriculture), which inform belief systems, governments, and social structures (things like language, art, trade, technology). But to me, culture is so much more than this. For me, creating a more inclusive culture is what this work is about.

My name is Yovanny Vargas and this is my second Pecha Kucha ever but my first time presenting by myself. I am a first generation college student and one of two men, on either side of the family, to graduate college. I don’t say this with pride. I say it with a heavy heart because I know that if just one thing had gone differently for me, I would not be up here.

Growing up there weren’t too many role models. Even as I get older, I find that I am more lost now, than when I was in middle school. At least in middle school the kids looked like me and I had parents at home to guide me. Having graduated college, and now on the verge of a masters degree, I feel disconnected.

I don’t run into anyone I know in professional settings, no one from my neighborhood, my years in school, my upbringing. When asked to recommend people for work I can’t, you need a degree in this circle and no one I know has one. Why? Why aren’t there more of us making it? Why aren’t more of us here? Working in education you see the light of curiosity leaving the child’s eyes, because in schools we don’t encourage questions.

We work within a system that values the SCWAAMPy. We live in a world full of divide. Its black vs white, young vs old, introvert vs extrovert, us vs them, me vs you. There’s no need for all this divide when together we have so much to offer. Together we can go further than any other generation in history. I’m tired of one narrative, one story, this one size fits all society hasn’t worked, this one size fits all education does not fit me.

I want to break down some of the barriers we put up, in the hopes that it’ll make for a more inclusive society. I work in an intentionally diverse, high performing, charter network called Blackstone Valley Prep. This network has two claims to fame: their high-test scores, and that they pull from two urban district (Pawtucket and Central Falls) as well as two affluent districts (Cumberland and Lincoln). The idea of intentional diversity is dope but if you come to our school, the name of the game is not diversity, its conformity and high tests scores.

I understand that I alone will not change this society. Taking a step back, I understand my insignificance in comparison to the grandeur that is humanity. I cannot change our educational system or its obsession with test scores. However, that is not my aim. My aim is to embrace diversity and inspire the next generation of kids to find their voice, and use it.

How? I understand that high-test scores get us paid and keeps us open. That’s something we all need to accept if you, like me, are an educator. However, high-test scores CANNOT be the only aim in our classrooms. We need to incorporate the things that will help students pass the test, but we cannot do so, by sacrificing their curiosity, creativity, or individuality. My project is all about creating a more inclusive school environment that embraces and celebrates diversity, as opposed to one that allows diversity but pushes conformity. As it stands, this is my plan to build a positive more inclusive school culture:

Building Culture

Objective – students and staff will be able to develop a strong sense of whom they are by investigating where they and their families come from, where they’ve been and what they value.

August/September – each advisory starts with three questions.

➢ Where did I come from?
➢ Where have I been?
➢ What do I value?

Using story maps individuals will tell their stories of self and share these stories within their advisory or grade wide, maybe both? Then whole classes can put together a joint story map with the following questions in mind:

➢ Who are we?
➢ Where have we been?
➢ What do we value?

Putting their maps together will hopefully allow students/staff to see their global footprint and global impact. Sharing their values will hopefully allow students/staff to see the commonalities between our rich diverse cultures. We should also highlight the outlying values and ask for the stories that drive them. We must seek to accept, understand and support the children placed in our care, not control them.

Asking people who they are and what they value is just the first step. Using their values we can create a wordle to print, and put up around the school. The values that we create together should drive our facilitation and their learning.

This might even be a good place to do the SCWAAMP activity with the kids so they can compare their personal values to the values of American pop culture.

Yearlong initiatives

Have students take more ownership of the school

First town hall

30 mins, let the kids do whatever they want, teacher just observe,

How do they interact with their friends, how do they joke around, who is sitting out alone, who are they as individuals? We must get to know our kids before we begin to facilitate their learning.

I want to have a DJ contest where candidates can use this Youtube mixer to create a playlist and make it bump. We have a very diverse student population so the goal of this DJ is to make EVERYBODY jump. We could have one DJ for the entire school or we could have one per grade. I’ll let the kids decide. The DJ will be responsible for DJ-ing all school peep rallies and all school dances.

Second town hall

Have that DJ contest and let the kids decide who the next DJ should be

Roll out t-shirt design contest; students can enter a design for contention. The t-shirt should in some way incorporate our yearlong theme, and then we can hold a school wide vote for best t-shirt design.

Set up a team of students interested in graphic design to make the posters and flyers for school events. They could use publisher, they could use Canva, they could even use just pen and paper. The technology is a tool, not the end product.

Push for Faculty

What are your passions outside of the classroom?
How can you incorporate those passions into your classroom and into your lessons?
How can you incorporate the passions of your students?
How do we combat the SCWAAMPy in our classroom?
What are the kids producing/creating?
How are you inspiring?
Are you constantly saying no or are you constantly saying yes?
What can you let go of, in terms of control, in your classroom?
How do we make our school student centered?

It is my hope that this will lead to a much more inclusive school environment which will allow students to have a voice in their education. If I had to label myself, I would fall somewhere between technocrat and techno-traditionalist. I don't fully trust technology but I can use it to make my life easier. When thinking about what inspired my throughout this course its hard to pick. I think each TED talk and each reading pushed my thinking in different ways. I agree, like Sugata, that schools as we know it are obsolete. We are no longer preparing students to work in a factory line, yet we teach them as if that is the end goal. We must rethink our educational system and rethink our roles as educators. We cannot be the center of our classrooms if we wish for our classrooms and kids to flourish. Step aside and let the sun shine down on your little ones and watch them grow and blossom.



Self Assessment