The importance of teacher voice - Jose Luis Vilson
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0:07 - 0:10Good morning class.
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0:13 - 0:15First of all, just an honor.
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0:15 - 0:17Thank you for having me, I
appreciate this. -
0:17 - 0:20A couple of years ago, I had the honor
of attending a panel, -
0:20 - 0:24a conference at The Science Leadership
Academy in Philadelphia. -
0:24 - 0:28A black male educator by the name of
Derek McCoy, -
0:28 - 0:31was asked a question around
sustainability, -
0:31 - 0:35and what are the things that constantly
keep him sustained as he's working. -
0:35 - 0:38And without missing a beat, the first
thing he said was, -
0:38 - 0:44"Have you read Jose Vilson's blog?
His posts just keep me going." -
0:44 - 0:48"Excuse me?" I was shocked, I didn't know
what to do. -
0:48 - 0:51I was just there at the panel, I didn't
even know he was there, -
0:51 - 0:54and I hadn't met him. It was the first
time I'd met him. -
0:54 - 0:57It's thousands and thousands of miles
away, and here he is saying, -
0:57 - 1:00I've inspired him by my posts
and through my blog. -
1:00 - 1:03And so, when I talk about teacher voice
out there, -
1:03 - 1:06I'm always thinking about
what it means to actually be a teacher, -
1:06 - 1:07a full-time teacher.
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1:07 - 1:10I'm a full-time math teacher in Washington
Heights, New York, -
1:10 - 1:12and I'm proud to represent that.
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1:16 - 1:18And I also know because of this,
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1:18 - 1:21I need to be very thoughtful about
the things I say and do out there. -
1:21 - 1:25Because there's a lot of people who say,
"Well, teachers shouldn't be speaking up. -
1:25 - 1:28There's no reason for them to talk when
we can do all the talking." -
1:28 - 1:32"Um, excuse me? Okay, so then we have some
work to do." -
1:32 - 1:34Teacher voice.
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1:34 - 1:38The individual and collective expression
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1:38 - 1:43of meaningful professional opinion based
on classroom experience and expertise. -
1:43 - 1:47Now, these are the four guiding principles
when I talk about teacher voice -
1:47 - 1:50there are four pieces that I always
concentrate on, -
1:50 - 1:51when I'm talking about teacher voice.
-
1:51 - 1:54The first is the individual element.
-
1:54 - 2:00When people say, "The way you create true
change is by starting with the individual" -
2:00 - 2:03our identities, our cultures, our ways of
being, -
2:03 - 2:06inform our pedagogies and the cultures
that are in our own classrooms -
2:06 - 2:11and so we have to constantly be thoughtful
about the ways we interact with our kids, -
2:11 - 2:14in order for us to be the best
practitioners as possible, -
2:14 - 2:17and in order for us to have a real teacher
voice about this work. -
2:17 - 2:19And also, please keep in mind,
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2:19 - 2:23we don't always have to be the best
speaker in the classroom, -
2:23 - 2:26because we ought to be the best listeners.
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2:26 - 2:30Now, the second element is this collective
-
2:30 - 2:33because I can't think about my own
profession, -
2:33 - 2:36without thinking about the person that is
outsdie of my walls, -
2:36 - 2:39not just the person next door, but
across the hallway -
2:39 - 2:43and perhaps across the city, across the
state, across the country, right? -
2:43 - 2:44And you think about this.
-
2:44 - 2:47If you're a good teacher,
you know who you are. -
2:47 - 2:49Even when you don't speak
the same language, -
2:49 - 2:51or you don't always have
the same cultures, -
2:51 - 2:54there are touchpoints about
all of our experiences -
2:54 - 2:57that allow us to be good teachers
for each other and for ourselves. -
2:57 - 3:00There are things that we know about
the teaching profession, -
3:00 - 3:01that we know what that's like.
-
3:01 - 3:03And so when I ask you for collective,
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3:03 - 3:07I'm also thinking about not just everybody
who's across the country, -
3:07 - 3:08and even across the world,
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3:08 - 3:10but across institutions too.
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3:10 - 3:12So including our prisons and our museums,
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3:12 - 3:13there are educators there too.
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3:13 - 3:16We need to think about all of these
educators. -
3:16 - 3:19And then, again, when we come together,
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3:19 - 3:22whether we're celebrating our
best and most accomplished teachers, -
3:22 - 3:26or we're protesting together in any
number of states, -
3:26 - 3:31when our voices when they come together,
they often get to be the loudest. -
3:31 - 3:33The third element is experience.
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3:33 - 3:37And when I talk about experience, it
means that our stories matter too. -
3:37 - 3:40When you think about research, policy,
practice, -
3:40 - 3:44you best believe that a teacher
better be somewhere in there. -
3:44 - 3:48You can't just sanitize us, you have
to be able to include us. -
3:48 - 3:52And then, when we're not included, we
have to be able to fight back. -
3:52 - 3:54What you see in front of you,
-
3:54 - 3:58two years ago, I was given a teacher
performance rating of developing. -
3:58 - 4:01My teacher practices were "effective,"
-
4:01 - 4:04but unfortunately the data that had
come out was "ineffective," -
4:04 - 4:06so somewhere in the
middle was "developing." -
4:06 - 4:07And of course, mind you,
-
4:07 - 4:11four-fifths of my students' data had
mysteriously disappeared, -
4:11 - 4:14and it just confounded me, I just didn't
know what was going on. -
4:14 - 4:15But even still,
-
4:15 - 4:19it kind of hurt to think about the fact
that I had put in so much work -
4:19 - 4:23and yet the assessments that were chosen
were not reflective of the people we were -
4:23 - 4:26and the work that had been done
in our classroom. -
4:26 - 4:28And that's where expertise comes in.
-
4:28 - 4:31Because there are things that
we know about our students. -
4:31 - 4:34There are things we think about
our students on the daily. -
4:34 - 4:38We know how to not just write lesson plans
and do-now's and closings. -
4:38 - 4:41We also know how to create communities
in our own classrooms. -
4:41 - 4:44We know how to get kids to ask questions
and to teach us, right? -
4:44 - 4:47Cause that's an important part
of the listening piece. -
4:47 - 4:52We know, we know, and it's okay
to say that we know. -
4:52 - 4:54That's an important part of all this work.
-
4:54 - 4:58Because everytime I'm talking about
whatever it is I'm talking about -
4:58 - 5:00I always think back to my kids.
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5:00 - 5:04I'm always thoughtful about the kids who I
have in my classroom. -
5:04 - 5:07Children of immigrants,
children of workers, -
5:07 - 5:12children of parents who've entrusted me
on a daily basis, and for years now, -
5:12 - 5:14to make sure that their kids are
well-educated -
5:14 - 5:18and well-prepared for the world
we live in. Human beings, right? -
5:18 - 5:19The picture you see here by the way
-
5:19 - 5:23is a picture of my students with the
statue of Theodore Roosevelt -
5:23 - 5:26at the American Museum
of Natural History. -
5:26 - 5:28Now, at first I didn't really want to take
the picture. -
5:28 - 5:31But when I thought about it,
I said to myself, -
5:31 - 5:36Well? Imagine if Teddy was having to sit
next to people, immigrants, -
5:36 - 5:39who wouldn't want to assimilate
into this country? -
5:39 - 5:43Imagine having a teacher who believed
in students. -
5:43 - 5:46So when I tell you that a teacher who
believes in students -
5:46 - 5:49is core to our democracy,
-
5:49 - 5:51this is the picture I'm talking about.
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5:51 - 5:54I think about all the teachers
who are passionate about this, -
5:54 - 5:57who've sacrificed their livelihoods,
who've sacrificed their lives -
5:57 - 6:00to make sure that our students feel social
justice within their classrooms, -
6:00 - 6:03their neighborhoods, who've been
out there on a daily basis, -
6:03 - 6:07who've visited the churches, gone to
parent meetings, who know what it's like -
6:07 - 6:12to be directly affected by so many
of the policies that don't work for us. -
6:12 - 6:15I work for them because they
keep me on my toes. -
6:15 - 6:16They are the best educators.
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6:16 - 6:21And speaking of which, the best
educator in our house -
6:21 - 6:23also happens to be not just
in the audience -
6:23 - 6:28but also, the best mother she could
possibly be to our son, Alejandro. -
6:33 - 6:35And when I think about Luz, when I think
about Alejandro, -
6:35 - 6:38they teach me lessons everyday.
They teach me constant lessons. -
6:38 - 6:40And so I'm always thinking about,
"Oh my gosh, -
6:40 - 6:44How am I gonna be a better teacher, when
they're already so much better than I am -
6:44 - 6:47at whatever it is that I'm trying to do.
But they keep me grounded -
6:47 - 6:49even when my voice shakes.
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6:49 - 6:51I think about the thousands
and thousands of students -
6:51 - 6:54who I've had the pleasure,
the honor of teaching -
6:54 - 6:57over thirteen-going-on-fourteen years now.
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6:57 - 7:00A career that has spanned so
many lifetimes it feels like. -
7:00 - 7:02And whenever I look at these students,
I'm always like, -
7:02 - 7:04"Oh my gosh, I've taught you!"
-
7:04 - 7:07So many of my kids have gone to so
many different places. -
7:07 - 7:11And even when they don't go to places
that I necessarily am happy about? -
7:11 - 7:14I know that I've done everything I
possibly could in my being -
7:14 - 7:18to make sure that they felt like human
beings in my classroom. -
7:18 - 7:20And that is the work.
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7:20 - 7:23And it keeps me up at times.
-
7:23 - 7:25I know that when I go to my desk,
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7:25 - 7:29and I wake up, and I think about failing
and winning and failing and winning, -
7:29 - 7:33I also know that I've created lesson
plans that can engage my kids -
7:33 - 7:35and bring them in, and I say good morning.
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7:35 - 7:37And when parents come in, I'm always like,
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7:37 - 7:39"A su orden."
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7:39 - 7:44Which means, I'm at your service, I'm here
for you, I'm here to teach kids. -
7:44 - 7:46How welcoming is that?
-
7:46 - 7:48These are the things that
keep me up at night, -
7:48 - 7:52these are the things that keep me
up early in the morning as well. -
7:52 - 7:53This is the love work.
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7:53 - 7:55This is the thing we're
constantly striving for, -
7:55 - 7:59So when I say Teacher Voice, it's not
just about being the loudest. -
7:59 - 8:02It's about using our actions and
aligning them to the work we're doing -
8:02 - 8:04and that we say we're doing.
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8:04 - 8:06We want our kids to be reflected in
curriculum, -
8:06 - 8:08in our practices, in our pedagogy,
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8:08 - 8:11and we want them to feel like
they have a belonging somewhere. -
8:11 - 8:15What is it like to feel like you
have a home? -
8:15 - 8:17Not just your actual home.
-
8:17 - 8:20For so many of our kids,
they may not have one. -
8:20 - 8:25What is it like to actually create that
and have the power to be able to do that? -
8:25 - 8:29I don't know, but I know
what I know. -
8:29 - 8:35And furthermore, I also know, that I'm
willing to do this forever and ever. -
8:35 - 8:40I'm so passionate about this, I gotta keep
going. -
8:40 - 8:43Are you gonna join me?
- Title:
- The importance of teacher voice - Jose Luis Vilson
- Description:
-
Jose Luis Vilson is a full time math teacher in the Bronx. He's also the executive director of EduColor, an organization dedicated to race and social justice issues in education. As such, Jose has learned how vitally important it is for teachers -- both as individuals and as a collective -- to have a seat at the table in conversations that affect education. In this Talk, Jose discusses how you define and how you defend Teacher Voice.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 08:51
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