Dr. Abel A. Chávez sharing ideas with the world

Welcome to my blog, En Mi Mente (or, On My Mind in English). You might be asking why such a title for a blog that has been described as a blog about all things education? Well, I had quite a bit on my mind when I came up with the title for this blog. 

I write and publish this with one purpose and one purpose only – to share my ideas about education, and all the complexity and cross-cuttingness that is education. I look forward to hearing from you. I look forward to learning about you. I look forward to debating with you. And most importantly, I look forward to learning from you. If you’re interested in the cross-cutting and big topics swirling through my mind please subscribe.

I’ll weave my story in forthcoming posts. For now know that education is a deep passion of mine. It’s probably such a deep passion because from an early age I was told (never by my parents!) that I had no business dreaming about becoming an engineer, that “people like us had no business with those dreams”. My parents were immigrants from Mexico. Many years later, after a few peer-reviewed pieces of literature, global travels, and tough but loving mentors, I am a doctorate holding senior higher-education administrator.

Oh, right, what was en mi mente at the time…a lot…including but certainly not limited to: 70% of all undergraduates enrolled in postsecondary education have an expected family contribution (EFC) of $8,000 or below; and that moments like the one we’re living today reveals the realities of the educational disparities between the haves and the have-nots across our public education; and that while smartphone access across adults, regardless of race, is about the same, minorities lag whites in terms of desktop/laptop computer access and home broadband; and that it feels to me as though educational institutions stubbornly maintain a mcdonaldization approach to teaching that was great for the industrial revolution; and that our institutions could benefit from far great cooperation rather than a territorial hoarding approach; and that how beautiful it would be if we afforded our entire society with the gifts of education so that we each can nourish our minds!

I am truly humbled you have allowed me a couple of minutes of your time.

Thank you,

Dr. Abel A. Chávez