Welcome! We're delighted you'll be joining the master's program in Social Sciences and Comparative Education in the Department of Education at UCLA this fall, and we'd like to use this space over summer to get to know each other, share our personal and professional stories and what's led each of us to this point, and have an informal discussion of the readings by several UCLA Education professors as a way to become more familiar with both the department and the field. We'll also use this space to post useful information about UCLA, the department, and Los Angeles/Southern California in general.
More to come soon, but for now, please respond to this message by Sunday, August 11, with an informal essay (roughly 400 to 800 words, give or take) briefly explaining some of your expectations for the M.A. program and providing a short description of your research/professional experience and interests. And feel free to respond to each other's posts, since we'd like this to be an engaged discussion as a way to learn from each other as well.
Cheers
Gabe
I am extremely excited about all the possibilities and opportunities open for me as a student in the SSCE MA program. I hope that this program will prepare me to continue further along the educational pipeline and be a part of a Ph.d program similar to that of SSCE. Through my participation in this program, I hope to strengthen my understanding of the ways education marginalizes low income communities of color and add to the body of literature geared towards improving and changing the experiences of these students. With the multidisciplinary approach in SSCE, I expect to explore research methods that will best suit my community’s needs.
ReplyDeleteThrough my past experience as a Latina in education, I’ve been interested in research on student of color retention along the educational pipeline. The first opportunity I had to explore that line of research was as an undergraduate through an organization in UCSC called SEPA. The organization was a collaborative effort between graduate and undergraduate students geared towards forming academic empowerment for Latin@ students in the field of psychology. After looking at the high drop out rates of students of color at UCSC we developed a survey to learn the experiences of psychology students attending UCSC. The survey asked about overall UCSC students’ experiences with school courses, academic achievement goals, stress, and resources to better understand the high drop out rates and to learn what is needed to raise retention.
For the past year I worked as a research assistant for a graduates student in UCSC, Lucia Alcala, while she collected data for her dissertation. She used mixed methods to observe the way in which siblings ages 6-10 collaborate and plan. This was a great opportunity because I was able to work with her one on one and see first hand the process of a dissertation.
To prepare for this program I been reading education theory. As an undergrad I received my B.A in psychology and for that reason I feel like I need to strengthen my understanding of the literature and theory in education. I’m also getting used to living back in LA with my parents after years of living in Santa Cruz. Another thing I’m doing to prepare is practicing my driving in LA traffic, seeing that I’ll be commuting from home. I’m excited to get back in to the academic atmosphere and meet the great people in the department.
Hello Magali,
DeleteI enjoyed reading your introduction essay. I also worked with a graduate student on their dissertation research and it was a rewarding experience. I hope to learn more about your experience this upcoming term.
Best Regards,
Vanessa Senteno
I feel humbled to be asked to join this cohort of students for the SSCE Program. It is within these courses that I look forward to growing a consciousness alongside my peers that will enable us to better understand our communities, their/our social and educational obstacles, as well as their/our sites of agency. I look forward to more closely examining how the educational experiences of underrepresented students coupled with additional scholarship on feminist of color epistemologies can better inform education policy and everyday teaching practices. Further, I am excited to have the opportunity to be in a setting with professors and peers who are also passionate about having critical discussions and sharing perspectives about these topics.
ReplyDeleteMy love for this work has been years in the making as my family, community, mentors, undergraduate degree program and internship opportunities have all fostered my interest in pursuing the study of Education. Although I am originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, I have been studying for my Bachelor’s degree in Mexican-American Studies with a concentration in Policy Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Since my enrollment at UT, I have interned with the Texas Center for Education Policy (TCEP) under the direction of Dr. Angela Valenzuela and Dr. Patricia López. It was through this center and their guidance that I was able to not only observe policy making activities at the Texas State Capitol, but also engage with the processes. My research on Texas’ House and Senate bills has been framed by Mexican-American and Chicana Feminist Studies. Those perspectives and encouragement from TCEP enabled me to provide analysis and testimony in front of legislative committees on bills that affected student populations in primary, secondary and postsecondary public education not only in Texas but also in my home state of New Mexico. Topics ranged from affirmative action and success-based funding to the grading of public schools on an A-F system, as well as curriculum requirements for history in public institutions of higher education.
During the school year I was also fortunate to work at St. Elmo Elementary as an after school instructor for a group of fifth-graders that were predominantly Latino and of low socioeconomic status. Although this was not an internship associated with school or my programming at UT Austin, I feel that my experience there allowed me to observe the agency of students. It allowed me to engage with students during their after-school lives when they felt free to talk about their in-class experiences. During the same years, I worked with Dr. Luis Urrieta to co-found and co-facilitate a Mexican-American Studies after school program at Blazier Elementary. The opportunity to work in both settings at one time allowed for an analysis of how each program functioned differently and how school curriculum and regulations have the ability to affect student lives both inside and outside of the classroom.
I hope that my experiences in education both in and out of school will be able to add to the conversations I have with you all inside and outside of our own classes. Until then, I look forward to getting to know you all through our blog before I make the long haul to Califas!
-Marianna
Hello Marianna,
DeleteI look forward to meeting you this upcoming fall term and hearing more about your experiences at the Texas Center for Education Policy.
Best Regards,
Vanessa Senteno
Hello to everyone! It is very exciting to think that in just over a month we will be starting this program together, a program I can honestly say I did not expect to be joining even a year ago. Living in Mexico City for the past few years, my original intention was to study in a graduate program here, however in the end UCLA´s program proved to be the one that seemed to have all I could be looking for and more, so now I find myself returning to the US. When you see me the first day, if I am in a bit of a daze, it is likely just reverse culture shock!
ReplyDeleteTo share a little about myself on here, for the last 11 years I have studied and worked off and on in Mexico, starting with my first trip as an undergraduate from UT Austin to Nuevo Laredo along the US-Mexico border. It was in that moment hearing about worker struggles in the maquiladoras that I fell in love with this country. Shortly thereafter I changed my major to Latin American Studies, and spent half of my last two years in college studying in Mexico, in Monterrey and Puebla respectively. Upon graduating I was fortunate to be offered an internship with a grassroots organization promoting education between the US and Mexico, so I spent half of my time again living partly in this country, coordinating a study abroad program on Mexican social movements and taking student delegations to Ciudad Juárez and Chiapas. The other half of the time when I was in the US, often I would travel the country on tours with Mexican activists to promote a better understanding of the real issues people face and how our realities are deeply connected. When I was home, I taught English for the first time at an ESL program at a newly created day labor center. It is here where I fell in love with teaching and the possibilities that are available in every moment spent in a classroom together.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina two years later, I found myself unexpectedly moving to New Orleans. I began working with what almost overnight became thousands of newly arrived mostly Central American and Brazilian immigrants who had come to help rebuild the city. I spent almost four years working and loving in that amazing city until I was offered an opportunity to do some research in Mexico on the experience of migrants in transit, documenting their stories. Through my work here, also teaching English and developing curriculum for state programs, I have become interested in researching the intersection of education and human rights in migrant shelters along the migration route through Mexico. I am interested in exploring the small openings that exist along the migrant trail for designing migrant-led educational programs, and seeing what that might look like. I want to contribute to the development of theory for what is possible in education in these non-formal spaces.
The migrant trail is a contested space, just like the border is a contested space, where I first fell in love with the possibility and what is Mexico. In these spaces I see opportunity to create together what has not been seen before. I am excited to be a part of a group at UCLA that is imagining collectively beyond those borders, and coming up with ideas for what the future of education can become in the years ahead. I am looking very much forward to getting to know all of you and hearing about your experiences and visions for our next world.
- Abi
Hello Abi,
DeleteI enjoyed reading about your experiences in Mexico and New Orleans. I look forward to meeting you when the school year begins.
Best Regards,
Vanessa Senteno
Hello everyone! I am extremely excited to be able to going back to school this fall with peers who share the same passion and experiences for research and comparative education as I do. I hope to gain a greater understanding of community engagement/development in rural communities in developing countries. I am particularly interested in how education impacts the development and economic growth of rural farming communities, which have limited access to formal education largely due to limited resources from the government.
ReplyDeleteMy travels started in high school when I started traveling with doctors through a non-profit organization throughout Baja California, Mexico to hold clinics in rural farming communities with limited access to healthcare. I continued to travel with these doctors throughout my summers in high school, and eventually throughout my undergrad years. We travelled throughout much of Mexico, Panama, and eventually Bolivia serving countless indigenous and rural farming communities.
Although I have never wanted to be a doctor, I have always wanted to be a teacher from a young age. For that reason, I could not help but to notice the lack of educational access in many of the communities we visited. With no running water, electricity, healthcare, and extremely low literacy rates, I saw that there were little opportunities for these communities to develop into thriving economic communities, independent from the low-wages that agricultural corporations were paying families for their labor in the agricultural fields.
Furthermore, I saw children working in the fields alongside their families to earn an immediate income. These children’s ages ranged from nine to fifteen years old. The legal age for children to work in the fields is sixteen. On average, each individual worker makes about $12 a day for working eight hours. I also saw that many girls are forced to marry at a young age against their will because of the cultural beliefs some families hold. I knew that education would make a huge difference in the lives of these children and the larger community if they were given the opportunity to attend school and further their education.
My love of traveling and research also pushed me to live in an indigenous community in Panama for two months to learn more about their cultural identities and how their culture affects their view of formal schooling provided by the government. I studied abroad in Cuba and volunteered for a cultural center where I learned about their education and healthcare system. Most recently, I have organized one-month English programs for a rural farming community in San Telmo for two consecutive summers.
My international travels, coupled with my research experiences in college, have helped me develop a love for research and community engagement in rural developing communities. I am excited to step back into academia and learn more about research methods, comparative education theoretical frameworks, and working with experienced peers and professors. Upon graduating from this program, I hope to get into a PhD program similar to SSCE and continue my studies to contribute to the field of comparative education. I am looking forward to working with all of you!
-Andrea
Hello Andrea,
DeleteI look forward to meeting you at the end of September and learning more about your experiences in Mexico, Cuba, and the Panama.
Best Regards,
Vanessa Senteno
Hello everyone
ReplyDeleteI too am excited to be beginning this learning adventure. Reading these responses has me very excited to collaborate with such experienced students who have similar interests and concerns about education, culture, and humanity.
I earned undergraduate degrees from Rutgers University in Spanish and History; I wrote my undergraduate thesis on border identities and, as Abi wrote, the contested space of this region-specifically focusing on Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. After college I worked for several years in Los Angeles as an editor on films, documentaries, commercials, and television programs. During this time I volunteered in the LAUSD community as a track coach. Spending time learning about the education system in LA and working with the students and community drove me to enroll in a Credential program. For the last three years I have been teaching English to 11th graders. I was fortunate enough to teach two all-girl sections this past year.
I look forward to learning more about the history of education-both in this country and abroad. My goals for the next year are to investigate the relationships between community and education. After this Masters program I would like to either continue researching, enroll in a PhD program, or return to the classroom with more tools to ensure brighter futures for my students.
Hello Eliza,
DeleteI look forward to meeting you and hearing more about your experiences working in the LAUSD.
Best Regards,
Vanessa Senteno
Words cannot express how appreciative I am in being accepted into such an amazing program! I am anxious to initiate my studies at UCLA and meet all of you! My aspirations within the division are to attain a better understanding of the issues affecting our educational system and identifying practicum that could best address them. More specifically, I would like to focus on ways in which the learning experience of minority groups in the USA and abroad have changed through the course of time and distinguish trends, both good and bad, that could make wave for the renovation of our profession.
ReplyDeleteMy interest in this program spurred out of my personal experiences with the teaching profession and non-profit sector. Since attaining a bachelor’s degree I have had the opportunity to work with schools in Santa Ana, CA, a city with high poverty and HS dropout rates. Through my experiences in the classroom, I discovered that much needs to be done in our educational system and, unfortunately, students in rural communities are not being very successful in comparison to their peers. My urge in helping youth overcome academic barriers is what convinced me to embark an additional position as a Youth Program Coordinator with a non-profit organization. At this facility I manage a youth program funded by the workforce Investment Act (passed in 1990 by President Lincoln) which targets at-risk youth, ages 14-21, living in Santa Ana, CA. Since initiating this position, I have been able to work closely with City Officials as well as District Representatives to determine venues which could help increase student success rates while promoting leadership and independence. Moreover, by working closely with partner agencies serving Foster youth and children with disabilities, I have been able to successfully advocate for youth by bestowing mentorship, academic guidance, tutoring, paid work experience, and vocational training programs which would otherwise be difficult to attain.
It is difficult to narrow down what I have done to prepare for grad school since I believe it begun the moment I completed Student Teaching in 2010. Since then, I have made every effort to stay involved with local schools, government entities, as well as the non-profit sector in order to establish a network of leaders with similar visions as mine. Moreover, I have stayed in touch with professors from my undergraduate institution for research opportunities as well as academic initiatives. Through these venues I have been able attend conferences that focus on the leaning experience of minority groups as well as assist with grant writing projects. Presently, I am reading a book written by Ron Paul entitled Liberty Defined, which addresses issues affecting our freedom, Education being one of them. I am also a big fan of Jonathan Kozol; therefore, whenever I need inspiration I like to peruse through his books.
In closure, although I am torn at the idea that I will have to let go of my current position, I am excited to continue my academic development as a student. I know that this chapter in my life will be an exciting yet bumpy one. Regardless, I welcome the challenge! I look forward in meeting all of you soon!!!
Hello DLopez,
DeleteI am looking forward to meet you this upcoming term. I tutored for Think Together at Remington Elementary School, so I am excited to hear more about your experiences in Santa Ana.
Best Regards,
Vanessa Senteno
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI'm very inspired after reading about everyone's interests/pursuits, and I am privileged to be studying with you all this year!
Growing up, I always wanted to become a teacher, but as a teen I changed my mind and decided I wanted to be anything but a teacher. I earned a BA degree in Psychology (and minor in Korean Studies) from UC Berkeley. Then in my late 20s, I rerouted my career path and obtained a single subject teaching credential for Math. When I was going through the credential program and preparing to become an educator, I had a distinct idea of what my teaching career was going to look like. In my mind was a picture of myself as a high school Math teacher, teaching bright-eyed, well-behaved students who lived in a nice neighborhood and wanted to learn. I envisioned students gasping in wonder and awe at the significance of newly taught math concepts. However, opportunities led me down a different path, and I ended up teaching many classes full of unmotivated students with various behavioral issues and a lack of parental support/interest. Teaching these classes was extremely challenging but it helped me to learn and grow as an educator.
Through my experiences, both as a teacher and a student, I've witnessed the transforming power of education and this has made me passionate to take part in research for the goal of providing educational resources and opportunities for those in need of them. I’m particularly interested in implementing educational programs for highly disadvantaged communities.
I hope to set foot on this path by studying Comparative Education at UCLA. I’m excited to learn and be exposed to new ideas and opportunities that will aid me in my pursuits. I look forward to meeting you all very soon!
Hello Tammy,
DeleteI enjoyed reading your essay. I look forward to hearing more about your experiences teaching.
Best Regards,
Vanessa Senteno
Response to “Towards a Critical Theory of Education,” by Douglas Kellner
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the first article by Douglas Kellner, I was intrigued by his argument that education should be reconstructed in order to prepare students for today’s technological and globalized society. As a post- undergraduate student, I acknowledge that the internet and computer based classes have prepared me more for my present working position than the current standardized education curriculum. Instead, the United States' standardized education system has shaped me into a “good citizen,” who follows society’s social norms and capitalist consumption. Therefore, it was interesting to read about how a critical theory of education argues that education should not “aim at the reproduction of existing societies and creating capabilities aimed primarily at providing cultural capital put in the service of the reproduction of global capitalism.” (Page, 12) While this article laid out the basis of a critical theory of education, I am looking forward to learning from Professor Kellner how this theory can be implemented in a way that does not promote solely a hegemonic and capitalist culture.
In addition, it was interesting to read about how the “digital divide” is a problem that can arise when bringing in digital resources into education learning and that it would need to be eliminated to democratize education. (Page 14) As an undergraduate, I witnessed the “digital divide” first hand when I tutored for Tustin and Santa Ana public schools. Even though the distance between the schools that I worked at was less than ten minutes, it was noticeable that the “digital divide” existed between these classrooms. The students in Tustin, a more affluent city, had classroom laptops for each student and smart boards in each classroom while the students in Santa Ana did not. Therefore, while I agree with the theory that having a equal distribution of digital resources is crucial, I am intrigued how this theory can be implemented with the current state of the government's budget for education.
Vanessa Senteno
Like others who have posted before me, I am truly humbled to be invited to study with such an accomplished and driven cohort. I expect to grow immensely in my field and personal life through my time at UCLA. To share a bit about myself, I am from a very small town in Western Massachusetts and went to a small University for undergrad, Westfield State University. As a biracial female living in a predominantly white suburban area I struggled with self perception and a self manifested binary code. I was living proof that the classic “Divide and conquer” strategy truly worked.
ReplyDeleteIn my first Ethnic and Gender Studies course I read Howard Zinn’s A People’s History. I finally came alive in a text. I could not stop thinking about the material and how I fit into it, I finally saw myself reflected in a text book. I questioned all that teachers past have taught me, found out Columbus did not discover America, and that the emancipation proclamation did not free the slaves. I unearthed all the lies taught to me by uneducated teachers and even college professors. I had still not fully conquered the divide within myself, but this was definitely a start. The following year I took Critical Theories with Dr. Margot Hennessy. I knew from the start that I would struggle in her class, I heard that she was tough and that she constantly challenged her students and this made me nervous. Yes, I welcome challenges with open arms and consider myself an extremely ambitious woman, but the unknown scares almost everyone and I did not know what I was about to learn about myself.
During my time in my capstone class senior year my growth has accelerated beyond my own beliefs. Watching the film Precious Knowledge influenced me to rethink my future as a warrior for social justice. I saw how much Ethnic Studies had an impact on the people in my classes and the students in the film and knew I could not go to law school. My only drive for going to law school was making my parents proud and helping fight oppression through the legal process. However, Precious Knowledge gave me a different perspective. I saw my senior project in motion in the film: I saw empowered students learning about social constructs, and students taking pride in their ethnicities. I was moved by the students’ level of knowledge; they knew more about the world at 16-18 than I did at 21. I saw that if we fight ignorance at the lower levels of education students would know that they can conquer the divide in society. Why wait until someone feels as though their civil rights have been violated if I can teach students to have pride in the movement to fight social oppression as a community. That is when I had an epiphany: I want to be an Ethnic Studies teacher at the secondary level of education. I reconsidered the law schools I got into and decided I would pursue getting my MA in Education. That is where I am at now. I am taking the leaps necessary to make my goal a reality. My journey shows the importance of Ethnic Studies and I know I am not alone in my sentiments. Data and Statistics have shown that students enrolled in Ethnic Studies programs have a 93% graduation rate. This fact alone should attest to the benefits of Ethnic Studies Programs nationwide.
I have been working as a Therapeutic Mentor for the year I have been out of school and I find my work thoroughly enriching. After my year in this program I plan on going into a credential program. I am really looking forward to getting to know everyone. The experiences you have written about are an inspiration, thank you.
Hello Alicia,
DeleteI enjoyed reading your blog and I look forward to meeting you at the end of September. Additionally, I have to admit that I was a little to shocked to hear that Columbus did not "discover" America among other things after reading a book properly titled, "Lies My Teacher Told Me."
Best Regards,
Vanessa Senteno
Hello everyone, I first want to apologize for posting my self-introduction essay late. I have been out of the country for the past couple of weeks; so, I had limited access to the internet. Nevertheless, I am excited to be joining UCLA’s SSCE Master’s program this upcoming fall. I hope to gain knowledge on educational theories, policies, and the structure of the United States’ education system throughout this program that will aid me in my future endeavors.
ReplyDeleteAs for myself, I graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a Bachelor in Political Science. I initially attended UCI with the purpose to go to law school. However, my career path changed after I took a series of upper division politics courses at the University of London, Queen Mary during my junior year. While these classes focused primarily on the creation and cultural issues within nation-states, I was intrigued with learning about the role of education in political theory. So, I halted my LSAT studies and decided to pursue my Masters in education. Yet, since I realized my passion during the latter half of my undergraduate studies, I did not have enough time to switch my major or take a sufficient amount of education courses. Therefore, I joined my departments honor’s program so that I could conduct my own independent literature research. Within the honor’s program, I wrote a thesis on how the theories of multicultural and citizenship education should be implemented into the United States’ education system in order to produce social cohesion among students with different racial identities. I was inspired to do this thesis through my peculiar experience with racism. As a multiracial-American, I grew up feeling that I was not affected by racism since I could alter my identity to avoid it. Regardless, I could not hide from racism or avoid witnessing it within the elementary and secondary schools that I attended. Therefore, I decided to join the SSCE program in order to gain more knowledge on racial issues that exist in the United States’ education system with the guidance of its faculty.
In addition to expanding my knowledge on educational theories and policies that relate to racial issues in schools, I look forward to studying about other problems within the United State’s education system. For instance, I am interested to learn about issues revolving around the access of higher education for underprivileged students, how schools are evolving to reflect today’s global society, and how policies can be implemented despite the notorious budget cuts to public education. With the wide range of information that I attain from the SSCE program, I will become a more qualified candidate for the next stage of my career path. Particularly, after I complete the SSCE Master’s program, I intend to further my comprehension of the United States’ education system by attending a PhD program, teaching in a classroom, or gaining an internship for a government office within California. I would like to continue studies in California because it is one of the most racially diverse states in the nation. Therefore, I hope that this program will present case studies of educational issues in Los Angeles and California. Furthermore, my aspirations to helps students are not limited to just issues of racism in California. By attending the SSCE program and the knowledge that I gain afterwards, I aspire to work for the United States Department of Education. Therefore, I am excited to begin my career path towards assisting the United States’ education system with a wide range of issues, including racism, at UCLA.
Hence, I am honored to be a member of the 2013-2014 SSCE Master’s program cohort and I look forward to meeting all of you when the school term begins. Along with the knowledge that I gain from the program and its faculty, I am excited to learn about all of your experiences and aspirations.