TED Talks Education
Pearl Arredondo: My story, from gangland daughter to star teacher
Pearl Arredondo: Moja priča - od kćeri podzemlja do vrhunske učiteljice
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Pearl Arredondo odrasla je u istočnom Los Angelesu, kao kćer visokopozicioniranog člana bande, koji je malo bio u zatvoru, malo izvan njega. Mnogi su je učitelji otpisali pripisujući joj probleme s autoritetom. Sad kad je i sama učiteljica, stvara drugačiju školu i pripovijeda svojim učenicima svoju priču kako bi znali da je u redu ako im katkad domaća zadaća i nije na prvom mjestu.
Pearl Arredondo - Teacher
Pearl Arredondo helped establish a pilot middle school that teaches students to be good communicators in the 21st century. Full bio
Pearl Arredondo helped establish a pilot middle school that teaches students to be good communicators in the 21st century. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
So I grew up in East Los Angeles,
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Odrasla sam u istočnom dijelu Los Angelesa
00:16
not even realizing I was poor.
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i ne shvaćajući da sam bila siromašna.
00:18
My dad was a high-ranking gang member who ran the streets.
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Moj je otac bio visokopozicionirani član ulične bande.
00:22
Everyone knew who I was,
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Svi su znali tko sam
00:23
so I thought I was a pretty big deal, and I was protected,
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pa sam mislila da sam prilično važna, i bila sam zaštićena!
00:27
and even though my dad spent most of my life
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Iako je moj otac većinu mog života proveo
00:29
in and out of jail,
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u zatvoru,
00:31
I had an amazing mom who was just fiercely independent.
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imala sam nevjerojatnu majku koja je bila jednostavno silno neovisna.
00:35
She worked at the local high school
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Radila je u lokalnoj srednjoj školi
00:37
as a secretary in the dean's office,
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kao tajnica u ravnateljevom uredu,
00:39
so she got to see all the kids that got thrown out of class,
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pa je mogla vidjeti svu djecu koja su bila izbacivana s nastave
00:42
for whatever reason, who were waiting to be disciplined.
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iz bilo kakvih razloga, i koja su čekala neku disciplinsku mjeru.
00:45
Man, her office was packed.
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Čovječe... Njen je ured uvijek bio prepun.
00:48
So, see, kids like us, we have a lot of things to deal with
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Tako da, znate, djeca poput nas, suočavamo se s puno toga
00:52
outside of school,
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izvan škole,
00:54
and sometimes we're just not ready to focus.
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i ponekad jednostavno nismo spremni koncentrirati se.
00:57
But that doesn't mean that we can't.
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Ali, to ne znači da ne možemo.
00:59
It just takes a little bit more.
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Samo nam je potrebno malo više.
01:01
Like, I remember one day I found my dad
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Kao, na primjer, sjećam se da sam jednog dana pronašla tatu
01:04
convulsing, foaming at the mouth,
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zgrčenog, pjena mu je izlazila iz ustiju,
01:07
OD-ing on the bathroom floor.
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predoziranog na podu kupaonice.
01:09
Really, do you think that doing my homework that night
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Zaista, mislite li da je domaća zadaća te večeri
01:11
was at the top of my priority list?
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bila jedan od mojih prioriteta?
01:14
Not so much.
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Ne baš.
01:15
But I really needed a support network,
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Ali, zaista mi je trebala mreža podrške,
01:18
a group of people who were going to help me
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grupa ljudi koji će mi pomoći,
01:21
make sure that I wasn't going to be
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pobrinuti se da neću postati
01:23
a victim of my own circumstance,
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žrtva okolnosti u kojima sam se našla,
01:26
that they were going to push me
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da će me pogurati
01:27
beyond what I even thought I could do.
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čak i iznad onog što sam ja mislila da mogu.
01:30
I needed teachers, in the classroom, every day,
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Učitelji su mi bili potrebni, u učionici, svakog dana,
01:33
who were going to say, "You can move beyond that."
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koji će reći: "Možeš se izdići iznad toga."
01:37
And unfortunately, the local junior high
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Nažalost, lokalna osnovna škola
01:40
was not going to offer that.
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nije mi to mogla ponuditi.
01:42
It was gang-infested, huge teacher turnover rate.
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Bila je preplavljena bandama; mnogo
je učitelja odustajalo od tog posla.
je učitelja odustajalo od tog posla.
01:46
So my mom said, "You're going on a bus
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Pa je moja mama rekla: "Ideš na autobus,
01:49
an hour and a half away from where we live every day."
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sat i pol dalje od mjesta gdje živimo. Svaki dan."
01:55
So for the next two years, that's what I did.
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Sljedeće sam dvije godine radila upravo to.
01:57
I took a school bus to the fancy side of town.
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Išla sam autobusom do otmjenog dijela grada.
02:02
And eventually, I ended up at a school
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I na kraju sam završila u školi
02:04
where there was a mixture.
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koja je bila mješavina svega.
02:06
There were some people who were really gang-affiliated,
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Bilo je ljudi koji su stvarno bili pripadnici bandi,
02:09
and then there were those of us
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a bilo je i nas koji
02:10
really trying to make it to high school.
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smo stvarno željeli upisati srednju školu.
02:12
Well, trying to stay out of trouble was a little unavoidable.
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Nastojati izbjeći nevolje bilo je pomalo neizbježno.
02:16
You had to survive.
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Morali ste preživjeti!
02:17
You just had to do things sometimes.
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Ponekad ste jednostavno morali učiniti neke stvari.
02:20
So there were a lot of teachers who were like,
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Mnogo je učitelja mislilo:
02:22
"She's never going to make it.
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"Ona nikad neće uspjeti.
02:24
She has an issue with authority.
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Ima problema s autoritetom.
02:25
She's not going to go anywhere."
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Neće nikamo stići."
02:27
Some teachers completely wrote me off as a lost cause.
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Neki su me učitelji potpuno otpisali kao izgubljen slučaj.
02:31
But then, they were very surprised
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No opet, bili su jako iznenađeni
02:34
when I graduated from high school.
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kad sam maturirala.
02:38
I was accepted to Pepperdine University,
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Upisala sam Sveučilište Pepperdine,
02:40
and I came back to the same school that I attended
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i vratila se u istu školu koju sam pohađala
02:43
to be a special ed assistant.
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kao asistent u nastavi za djecus teškoćama u razvoju.
02:45
And then I told them, "I want to be a teacher."
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I onda sam im rekla: "Želim biti učiteljica."
02:50
And boy, they were like, "What? Why?
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Stvarno su ostali, ono, "Što? Zašto?
02:53
Why would you want to do that?"
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Zašto bi to željela?"
02:55
So I began my teaching career
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Tako sam započela svoju učiteljsku karijeru
02:57
at the exact same middle school that I attended,
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u višim razredima iste osnovne školekoju sam pohađala.
03:01
and I really wanted to try to save more kids
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Stvarno sam željela pokušati spasiti više djece
03:04
who were just like me.
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koja su bila poput mene.
03:06
And so every year, I share my background with my kids,
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I tako svake godine dijelim svoju prošlost sa svojim učenicima,
03:09
because they need to know that everyone has a story,
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jer trebaju znati da svatko ima neku priču,
03:12
everyone has a struggle,
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svi se borimo,
03:15
and everyone needs help along the way.
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i svima nam je na tom putu potrebna pomoć.
03:18
And I am going to be their help along the way.
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A ja ću njima na tom putu biti ta pomoć.
03:23
So as a rookie teacher, I created opportunity.
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Dakle, kao učitelj početnik, ja sam stvarala prigodu.
03:29
I had a kid one day come into my class
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Jednom je jedan učenik ušao u moj razred
03:31
having been stabbed the night before.
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nakon što su ga prethodne noći proboli nožem.
03:34
I was like, "You need to go to a hospital,
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Rekla sam mu: "Trebaš ići u bolnicu,
03:37
the school nurse, something."
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školskoj medicinskoj sestri, nešto!"
03:40
He's like, "No, Miss, I'm not going.
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A on: "Ne, gospođice, ne idem.
03:42
I need to be in class because I need to graduate."
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Moram biti na nastavi, jer moram maturirati."
03:45
So he knew that I was not going to let him be a victim
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Dakle, znao je da neću dopustiti da bude žrtva
03:49
of his circumstance,
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okolnosti u kojima se našao,
03:50
but we were going to push forward and keep moving on.
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nego ćemo ustrajati i nastaviti dalje.
03:54
And this idea of creating a safe haven for our kids
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A ta ideja o stvaranju sigurnog utočišta za našu djecu
03:58
and getting to know exactly what they're going through,
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i upoznavanju kroz što točno prolaze,
04:02
getting to know their families -- I wanted that,
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upoznavanju njihovih obitelji - to sam željela,
04:06
but I couldn't do it in a school with 1,600 kids,
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ali nisam mogla učiniti u školi s 1600 djece,
04:11
and teachers turning over year after year after year.
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s učiteljima koji se iz godine u godinu mijenjaju.
04:15
How do you get to build those relationships?
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Kako uspijete izgraditi takve odnose?
04:19
So we created a new school.
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I tako smo stvorili novu školu!
04:22
And we created
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Stvorili smo
04:24
the San Fernando Institute for Applied Media.
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Institut San Fernando za primijenjene medije.
04:27
And we made sure that we were still attached
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Pobrinuli smo se da ostanemo u sklopu
04:31
to our school district for funding, for support.
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školskog okruga radi financiranja, radi potpore.
04:35
But with that, we were going to gain freedom:
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A sa svime time dobili smo slobodu:
04:38
freedom to hire the teachers
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slobodu da zaposlimo učitelje
04:40
that we knew were going to be effective;
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za koje smo znali da će biti djelotvorni.
04:43
freedom to control the curriculum
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Slobodu da utječemo na program
04:46
so that we're not doing lesson 1.2 on page five, no;
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kako ne bismo obrađivali lekciju 1.2 na petoj stranici, ne.
04:52
and freedom to control a budget,
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I slobodu da upravljamo svojim proračunom,
04:55
to spend money where it matters,
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da trošimo novac na ono bitno,
04:57
not how a district or a state says you have to do it.
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ne onako kako okruzi država kažu da morate učiniti!
05:01
We wanted those freedoms.
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Željeli smo te slobode.
05:04
But now, shifting an entire paradigm,
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No, mijenjanje cijele paradigme,
05:06
it hasn't been an easy journey, nor is it even complete.
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put nije bio lak, niti smo ga još uvijek okončali.
05:10
But we had to do it.
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Ali, morali smo to učiniti!
05:13
Our community deserved a new way of doing things.
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Naša zajednica zaslužila je da počnemo drugačije raditi.
05:17
And as the very first pilot middle school
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A u prvoj pokusnoj osnovnoj školi
05:20
in all of Los Angeles Unified School District,
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u cijelom Ujedinjenom školskom okrugu Los Angelesa...
05:24
you better believe there was some opposition.
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vjerujte, bilo je protivljenja.
05:27
And it was out of fear --
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I bilo ga je zbog straha -
05:29
fear of, well, what if they get it wrong?
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straha od - što ako nisu u pravu?
05:32
Yeah, what if we get it wrong?
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Da, što ako nismo u pravu?!
05:34
But what if we get it right?
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Ali, što ako jesmo?!
05:36
And we did.
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A bili smo!
05:38
So even though teachers were against it
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Iako su učitelji bili protiv,
05:41
because we employ one-year contracts --
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jer zapošljavamo kroz jednogodišnje ugovore -
05:44
you can't teach, or you don't want to teach,
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Ako ne možeš poučavati, ili ne želiš poučavati,
05:48
you don't get to be at my school with my kids.
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nema ti mjesta u mojoj školi, s mojom djecom!
05:51
(Applause)
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(Pljesak)
05:58
So in our third year, how did we do it?
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Dakle, u trećoj našoj godini - kako smo uspjeli?
06:01
Well, we're making school worth coming to every day.
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Pa, svakog dana radimo na tome da vrijedi dolaziti u školu.
06:05
We make our kids feel like they matter to us.
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Naši učenici osjećaju da su nam važni.
06:07
We make our curriculum rigorous and relevant to them,
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Naš je program zahtjevan i njima važan.
06:11
and they use all the technology that they're used to.
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I koriste se svom tehnologijom na koju su navikli...
06:14
Laptops, computers, tablets -- you name it, they have it.
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Laptopi, kompjuteri, tableti - sve čega se sjetite, oni imaju!
06:17
Animation, software, moviemaking software, they have it all.
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Animacije, softver, softver za snimanje filmova, sve imaju.
06:21
And because we connect it to what they're doing —
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I zato što povezujemo s onim što rade -
06:25
For example, they made public service announcements
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Primjerice, izradili su javna priopćenja
06:28
for the Cancer Society.
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za Društvo za borbu protiv raka.
06:29
These were played in the local trolley system.
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Objavljivana su po lokalnim tramvajima.
06:32
Teaching elements of persuasion,
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Poučavati elemente uvjeravanja,
06:34
it doesn't get any more real than that.
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Ne može biti realnije od ovoga!
06:37
Our state test scores have gone up
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Naši rezultati na državnom testu porasli su
06:39
more than 80 points since we've become our own school.
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za više od 80 bodova otkako smo postali samostalna škola.
06:42
But it's taken all stakeholders, working together --
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No, svi dionici morali su zajedno raditi -
06:45
teachers and principals on one-year contracts,
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učitelji i ravnatelji s jednogodišnjim ugovorima
06:49
working over and above and beyond their contract hours
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radili su više, iznad i izvan ugovorenih sati
06:52
without compensation.
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bez naknade.
06:55
And it takes a school board member
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Potreban je i član školskog odbora
06:58
who is going to lobby for you and say,
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koji će se zauzeti za vas i reći:
07:00
"Know, the district is trying to impose this,
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"Znaš, okrug nastoji ovo nametnuti,
07:02
but you have the freedom to do otherwise."
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ali imaš slobodu učiniti to drugačije."
07:05
And it takes an active parent center
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A potrebno je i aktivno vijeće roditelja,
07:08
who is not only there, showing a presence every day,
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koje nije ondje samo da bi bilo ondje,
07:12
but who is part of our governance,
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nego kao dio našeg sustava upravljanja
07:15
making decisions for their kids, our kids.
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odlučuje za dobro svoje djece,naše djece.
07:20
Because why should our students have to go
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Jer, zašto bi naši učenici trebali putovati
07:22
so far away from where they live?
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toliko daleko od mjesta gdje žive?!
07:25
They deserve a quality school in their neighborhood,
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Zaslužuju kvalitetnu školu u svome susjedstvu,
07:29
a school that they can be proud to say they attend,
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školu za koju će s ponosom moći reći da je pohađaju,
07:32
and a school that the community can be proud of as well,
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i školu na koju će i zajednica biti ponosna.
07:36
and they need teachers to fight for them every day
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Potrebni su im i učitelji da se za njih bore, svakoga dana,
07:40
and empower them to move beyond their circumstances.
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i daju im snage da se izdignu iznad okolnosti koje ih sputavaju.
07:45
Because it's time that kids like me
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Zato što je vrijeme da djeca poput mene
07:48
stop being the exception, and we become the norm.
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prestanu biti iznimka, i da postanemo pravilo.
07:53
Thank you.
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Hvala vam.
07:54
(Applause)
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(Pljesak)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Pearl Arredondo - TeacherPearl Arredondo helped establish a pilot middle school that teaches students to be good communicators in the 21st century.
Why you should listen
Pearl Arredondo grew up in the impoverished East Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights. She was raised by a single-mother, a long time Los Angeles Unified School District office secretary, who saw firsthand the challenges facing students in public schools. To ensure that she got the best education in the district, Arredondo was bussed to schools almost an hour away from home.
Arredondo graduated and moved on to Pepperdine University, where she received both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in Education and Instructional Leadership. She was the first in her family to graduate from college and began her teaching career at San Fernando Middle School (SFMS) -- the very middle school she attended eight years prior.
At SFMS, she embraced the mission of enhancing educational opportunities for historically underserved students. To do so, she launched the school’s Multimedia Academy, which serviced 350 low-income students. After three successful years, the Multimedia Academy faculty decided it was time to make a full split and become a separate school. In 2010, she helped lead an ambitious reform agenda, through a pilot reform model, that focused on technology development, improving outcomes for children and strengthening families. The team founded San Fernando Institute for Applied Media (SFiAM), the first pilot school established in the Los Angeles Unified School District at the middle school level.
Arredondo is passionate about increasing student access to technology and closing the digital divide, and is a tireless advocate for technology-based curriculum that prepare students to enter a global economy. Her goal is to make SFiAM a model of educational reform.
Currently, Arredondo is pursuing a Master of Science in Educational Administration and is a 2013 National Board Certified Teacher candidate. She is also part of the 2013 Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellowship and serves as the Vice President of SFiAM’s Governing Council. She is featured in the short documentary film TEACHED Vol.1: “The Blame Game,” and is a role model for young Latinas seeking to make a difference in their communities.
Pearl Arredondo | Speaker | TED.com