BA and MA in Education and Licensure Programs
The path I have taken in my education is one that at first glance may seem to be quite traditional. I attended Wellesley College for my undergraduate education and Massachusetts Institute of Technology for my doctoral work. I was, however, a non-traditional student since I began my studies at Wellesley when I was twenty-five years old and had two children.
As is the case with many non-traditional students, I attended college understanding clearly what my interests were and what I intended to do. My fields of study are political science and Latin American Literature. My ultimate objective was, and continues to be, to reclaim my history as a Puerto Rican woman, and to understand the colonial status of the Island. I share with Hannah Arendt her understanding that, "if we do not know our own history, we are doomed to live it as though it were our own private fate." The re-definition of self involves a long and painful struggle that begins by understanding one's history. I have come to believe that the key to transforming the lives of those who find themselves in relations of structural oppression is through the process of reclaiming their history or through what bell hooks calls "the passion of remembrance."
My commitment in the areas of learning and teaching is to continue engaging in the process of remembering and systematically reconstructing a history in which I can see myself as critical subject capable of action and not as the object of the actions of others. This view of history informs my practice and finds expression in the classroom, the projects I create and the committees I lead and through the education of students (from middle school to graduate school) to view themselves as curious, active/critical participants in the process of passionate re-discovery of history. Following this path leads me to see education as a political act where both teachers and students engage in the hopeful process of re-visioning the past, understanding the present, and dreaming of a future where they can imagine themselves as participants capable of action directed at transforming themselves, their community and their society. My understanding of education follows the vision of critical pedagogues such as Paulo Freire, John Dewey, bell hooks, Trin T. Min-ha, Gloria Anzaldua, Donaldo Macedo, Edward Said, Stanley Aranowitz.
All programs, committees and academic writing that I have developed or have had a leadership role in-Peer Tutoring Program, Boston Public Schools, Language Intensive Program, the MAT in ESL at Salem State and the co-chairing of the Diversity Committee at Harvard- share the same philosophical foundation. The book Pockets of Hope: How Students and Teachers Change the World which I co-authored with Patricia Gozemba, documents how democratic project are envisioned and implemented in schools and communities.
In collaboration with others I designed these projects to function as communities of learning where parents, students, graduate students, faculty and administrators contribute to create an environment conducive to dialogue, reflection and action. Critical in this process is the assumption that all students are capable of becoming democratic leaders and making a contribution in their field of choice. The value of inclusion is at the core of all the projects I have undertaken. Differences across race, class, gender, sexual orientation and ability are seen as essential to the well-being of the community and not as an obstacle to overcome.
Educational Background: Ph.D. and M.S. in Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; B.A. Political Science and Latin American Literature, Wellesley College.
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Eileen de los Reyes, MS, Ph.D