[00:00:00] Alan Levine: Please introduce yourself and tell us where you are right now, because I can see you, but you'll give me a location on the map. So that our podcast audience can get their bearings, could you describe where you are?

[00:00:17] Ana Michelle Tellez: Um, I'm in Barranquilla, Colombia, specifically in the Colombian Caribbean, in a city on the Caribbean coast, where the weather is usually warm year-round and quite welcoming.

[00:00:33] Alan Levine: Okay. We're talking today because last year you received the Open Education Award for excellence as an educator. Obviously, it was a great honor, but could you describe how you felt upon receiving this news?

[00:00:50] Ana Michelle Tellez: I was a little overwhelmed, actually. It was my sister who told me I had won the award, because I thought they were just announcing that, uh, it was for my participation the day before at the SAM for Latin America.

[00:01:11] Alan Levine: Could you tell me what the impact of receiving this award has been?

[00:01:14] Ana Michelle Tellez: It's amazing because I still can't believe that I won, uh, a global competition with a small project. I mean, it's not the value of what it represents for me, but what it means for a small organization.

[00:01:38] Alan Levine: Could you tell me where you spent your childhood? What kind of student were you? What did young Ana think of school?

[00:01:45] Ana Michelle Tellez: Um, a large part of my childhood was spent in hospitals. Um, and basically, well, maybe I didn't grow up like an average kid, but, uh, I can say that, uh, it was an interesting childhood. Um, I think that throughout my life, um, and growing up in certain contexts allowed me to have tools very early on to face life. Oh, and as a student, uh, first I have to say that I've always been a person who—or rather, I've always believed—that the system isn't prepared for everyone.

And I realized that very young. And also that, uh, on a generational level, I think that education should be restructured and rethought so that, uh, everyone can access an education and a good quality of life. That is, so that children can have that safe space inside and outside the classroom, so that it's a link between school, parents, and, uh, students.

That should be the ideal. And that, obviously, institutions have the necessary resources, and that the State provides support to students and teachers to make classrooms not only inclusive or differentiated, but also to ensure that teachers have the support they need within the classroom. In other words, education isn't just about going to a classroom and giving a lesson.

There are thousands of situations inside and outside the classroom where support is often needed, but it's not available. Basically, when I decided to enter the world of teaching, it wasn't easy. I'm a professional in foreign trade and international logistics, which has nothing to do with education, but I've learned that things don't just happen by chance, and that a social exchange in my twenties fundamentally changed my perspective on what I was going to be as a professional.

That's why today I'm a teacher. I have a degree in pedagogy, and I enjoy the creative arts and the humanistic aspect of the teaching process. And that pedagogy isn't just theory; pedagogy, mmm, I've realized, doesn't only happen in a classroom. And I've demystified the idea that there are many ways to teach, and I greatly value the fact that my colleagues are actually in a classroom, because it's difficult, it's challenging, especially in these generations where we see many dilemmas and what has been lost in what is considered the authority of the teacher in the classroom.

So, for me, being able to provide differentiated, disruptive, even multicultural spaces within the spaces I lead, and sharing with other teachers, has allowed me to see a different perspective on what teaching is, especially in Latin America.

[00:05:10] Alan Levine: How did you get started in Open Education? Where did you learn about it?

[00:05:15] Ana Michelle Tellez: Mmm, I introduce open education in a different way. I feel that open education also lends itself well to providing spaces for others to teach as well. Within Alma Fuerte Lab, we've been able to modify certain educational approaches, adapting them to different formats. For example, we have our podcast, Dos Voces, Un Alma (Two Voices, One Soul), where we interview change agents and give visibility to marginalized voices or discriminated-against population groups.

For example, women with disabilities, professional women, uh, men and women with disabilities who represent a vulnerable population. Um, uh, also within the podcast we interview many teachers who are also artists who believe in art as a tool for social impact, to make a difference inside and outside the classroom.

In turn, uh, we have a streaming format that is broadcast on television and radio, in collaboration with the Intergram Center—Intergram for, uh, the Hispanic/Latino community in Philadelphia. And we take this format there, where we also interview teachers and people who, from the perspective of pedagogy and creativity, can give us a different perspective on what it means to teach.

And education is the bridge that unites many multidisciplinary fields and can be rethought in different formats where people, even if they can listen to the radio, watch television, or use streaming platforms, can generate truly meaningful and valuable content.

We also do live interactive sessions where, uh, we not only showcase the art or teaching of the guest, but we also engage with the audience watching and listening live.

[00:07:20] Alan Levine: Ah, Philadelphia. I lived near Philadelphia. You've already started talking about the Alma Fuerte Lab, which I understand means "Strong Soul." It's a very powerful program. Could you tell us more about how the idea for the lab came about and perhaps give us some details about other activities the students do with it?

[00:07:42] Ana Michelle Tellez: Alma Fuerte Lab was born, uh, and the person who inspired me to create Alma Fuerte Lab is my twin sister. Alma Fuerte is her pen name. And from there I thought: Why not create a spin-off of what Alma Fuerte means? Ah. And it's like that power, right? That we give to people, in our case through writing, the spoken word, and the different formats of education.

And I'll say it again, because there are many ways to teach and to understand teaching, to educate, to see teaching as a bridge. And really, at Alma Fuerte, we create programs that are both wellness-related and cultural, including writing-related, and it's open to teachers, creatives, and writers. And obviously, many of these programs are designed to make the practice more individualized, more personal, more humanized, so that people feel safe in our spaces, but also feel supported.

We also support projects, people, and classroom projects. We also help create, design, and facilitate spaces so that people can develop their ideas, so they can create a space to reconnect with themselves. So, I think that although it's multidisciplinary, we're looking at how these differentiations within an educational context can be presented and occur in a way that allows people to reconnect with their knowledge, both intrinsic to the individual and new knowledge gained through technology, because we also use technology and artificial intelligence, and I think that's where a differentiation is made to close those educational gaps in diverse populations.

[00:09:52] Alan Levine: And I think you've already mentioned the role of open education in the lab. Perhaps you could elaborate a bit more and also talk about the backgrounds of your students.

[00:10:05] Ana Michelle Tellez: When we talk about students coming from different parts of the world, people, and even organizations, which we've seen a lot of in recent months, it's about how we rethink and adapt these methodologies and practices to improve and connect, even when we're in different countries, right?

And do everything possible. Right now, we're developing a STEAM project using digital literacy and games to promote emotional well-being in another Latin American country. It's really about joining forces to make it happen.

[00:10:55] Alan Levine: You mentioned your podcast, so we've talked about it, and everything's going well. Tell us about storytelling. Why is it important? Are you a natural storyteller?

[00:11:04] Ana Michelle Tellez: For us, it's important. From the beginning, we considered the issue of representation, visibility, but also the way people express themselves, the power of their voices. We realized in this process of creating a laboratory through research how people's voices can not only empower—I'm talking about children, men, women, adults, and so on—but also provide the capacity to create in community and make that community visible.

Here in this podcast, which I've heard in more than seventeen countries, and we're on our third season, now heading into a fourth, we interview people from rural areas. As I mentioned at the beginning, it's like we're working across various disciplines. Lately, we've been interviewing scientists, people who do science and who are generating, in their communities, teaching children about the Earth, about the importance of the atmosphere, about the importance of creating things, and even one of the things that has most caught my attention is the fact that, as we were discussing recently, visibility and representation greatly influence children, and how women—I can say this because it's a laboratory created by women—can grow up with representation in their classrooms, they can hear us, they can see us, we can share with them, because it's important that this generation also understands that artificial intelligence didn't come to replace us and that part of our power as human beings is to give what we are and what we have to the world, to put it at the service of society.

And that's what's important, because we forget that even though there are many machines, even though artificial intelligence does optimize many processes in education, it doesn't take away our humanity. And tenderness—and I've learned this through practice—even though there are many barriers that may divide us in the classroom, we need to strengthen tenderness in these processes, and not lose sight of the fact that I am truly a teacher, right?

And not lose sight of why I started in teaching, because often the system leads you to disconnect from the reasons you began teaching, due to exhaustion, due to multiple factors that also make us rethink the teaching profession. And I think that in our field, many teachers who have been interviewed have their own projects because they've realized there's also an intrinsic need to change the game, to return to the basics, and that means returning to yourself.

And it's also about telling children that they have skills and tools in their hands that, if used well, can help them become very bright members of society, and that right now, scrolling, spending so much time on screens, also highlights the need for more time spent in person with each other.

And that's what we don't want to lose, even though, as I said, many of the projects we're currently working on with AlmaFuerteLab are in other parts of Latin America, and they bring us closer in some way. In other words, we're not being replaced; we're getting closer, but we also don't lose that magic of humanizing these processes.

[00:15:08] Alan Levine: Could you share some stories about your students' successes? What have they achieved, for example?

[00:15:14] Ana Michelle Tellez: Many of our students, and we even tutor them on projects related to education and culture, are directly impacted in their lives. Through words, poetry, and even by sharing their own knowledge, they never cease to amaze us. It's not just about inspiring them; it's also about empowering them to believe in their potential, whether through writing, painting, or any tool that provides them with long-term well-being.

It's not just about going to the classroom and repeating what's already known, which is also necessary because general knowledge is important. But it's about developing those intrinsic skills we all possess and maximizing their potential. Not just soft skills, but hard skills like technology and artificial intelligence.

And the pandemic revealed something very important: even though they are the generation that, uh, are digital natives, they weren't. So, it's like reteaching certain things that our generation learned on its own, so they have those tools to strengthen themselves.

[00:16:36] Alan Levine: What are some of your biggest challenges?

[00:16:39] Ana Michelle Tellez: Right now, regarding the lab, I think we've grown without funding. You all know this; we've grown through word of mouth. Literally, this project has been built with our voices speaking out. We've reached so many places, but we've also met people along the way who are, uh, forging a similar path, and we've been able to support each other.

And right now, we're supporting many projects and managing many partnerships that, uh, generate a significant impact, and these partnerships obviously aim to continue transforming education through different formats.

[00:17:24] Alan Levine: You also collaborate with the Pedagogical Vanguard Lab in Peru. Could you tell us more about that? How do you find the time for it?

[00:17:35] Ana Michelle Tellez: I was with Lava for about four years, if I'm not mistaken. Well, it was an interesting experience because I was the only foreigner at this school, right? And I really enjoyed learning about their perspective that the teacher, within their poetic pedagogy practices—which is one of their programs—and it makes me quite nostalgic, because poetic pedagogy implies that poetry, or the word, has a significant impact on teaching practices.

How reading, literacy, and how the teacher—they have a philosophy that the teacher is an artist, and that this artist, this teacher, has many brushes and many art materials in the classroom, and it's their students who, through their own practice, develop this art.

In each individual. So, how wonderful it is that the idea has been conceived that the teacher is an artist and the classroom a blank canvas where children can paint, draw, write, grow, and create, right? In these artistic practices within a classroom across different disciplines.

Art isn't limited to illustrative or written practices. It's also subject to how, for example, sculpture is perceived within a historical context, how certain handcrafted things represent us, because we often talk about artificial intelligence, but not about artisanal intelligence.

Artisanal intelligence is what is inherent to human beings, developed through their hands, and that is also valued in the classroom. So, it's wonderful to be able to share this with teachers. Where, uh, we had this idea that the humanities and pedagogy, uh, aren't separate, they're closely related and can coexist in the same space.

Um, I presented the Humanities Festival in Peru. Um, I've also presented research forums on how, uh, pedagogy and the humanities can coexist. And it's very interesting because it's not just about the teacher's role within human pedagogical practice, um, but also about breaking free from rigid structures, about knowing that the humanities and academia can be a little more flexible, by including pedagogy within their pedagogical frameworks.

That is, writing, techno-writing, can be accompanied by a lighter process, right? If pedagogy is included within it. It's not about distancing ourselves, but about bringing us closer.

[00:20:47] Alan Levine: Well. What's something you're looking forward to doing this year?

[00:20:50] Ana Michelle Tellez: Hmm, this year, we've been able to accomplish so much, as a lab, and I think this year, my goal is to reach—at least this year, I'm aiming to reach more than a million students, and to continue strengthening the institutional partnerships we already have for an even greater expansion of what we're already working on.

Next week, we're launching the lab's first open class, because we've done all the educational outreach, and, well, I was just talking about this yesterday with my co-producer, and it's about how we continue this first live program in Philadelphia and work to support the Latino and Hispanic community in the United States.

How we make it even more visible.

[00:21:48] Alan Levine: Next week we open the application period for the Open Education Awards. Could you share a message with our listeners to encourage them to apply?

[00:22:04] Ana Michelle Tellez: Um, my message to everyone who wants to be in this space is to make the most of your own resources, but also believe in yourselves, in your potential, in what you're truly building. Because it's not just about the numbers, the revenue, the investments, etc., which, yes, are necessary for a project to scale, to multiply, etc.

But it's also about recognizing that every project has a process that isn't linear, because learning is always curvilinear, it will always surprise us, life will always surprise us, nothing is set in stone. And if you, as a teacher, not only believe, but create little by little every day, you will, at some point, have something bigger materialized.

And this isn't achieved alone. This is achieved with mentorship, with people who support you. Even if you don't have the ideal context to start doing projects, to believe in an idea, look for it outside your immediate environment. And I say this as someone whose project originated in another country, because other people believed in us, in a research idea.

In other words, how did we go from doing research projects to a project that is currently impacting so many places, something we never imagined would happen. Nobody prepares you for that. It's simply the fact that the process, even if it's not exactly as you want it to be, has to be so that, along the way, you realize that what you do truly has meaning for others, which is the most important thing, but also for that audience that listens to you, that watches you, and in our case, that pays for our services.

But there are also people who, along the way, will become even more interested in the team, which is super important, because we, especially with Almafuerte Lab, aren't just interested in training, teaching, and providing these safe spaces; we're also interested in the person behind it, whether it's the organization or not. And I can say this, I have a very close relationship with my colleagues from other places who have come to the lab, and we've joined forces to carry out these projects.

And it's like: I'm also concerned about you, professor, how are you today? And this is important. So, it's about telling everyone who ventures into this idea of ​​publishing their project on Open Global to believe that their project can generate a significant impact on their community. But in the end, it's not even about trying to understand yourself as an individual, but about trying.

Because many times, imposter syndrome or thinking, "Since everything isn't solved, I can't do it," comes into play. No, we have to work with what we have, with the resources we have, and try. You never know what's going to happen. And that's precisely what has us in so many places today. We continue to receive awards worldwide for this project.

And we continue doing the things we're going to do because we love to teach. And that's something they don't tell you in academia—academia will never tell you that you have potential or that they'll simply reduce you to teaching. You can do so much with education. I've seen so many teachers who also teach in the classroom, but they also have their own projects and are passionate about what they do, and they generate significant change in their communities, precisely because they believed in themselves. Because it's from there that you can generate that value from the inside out, not the other way around.

[00:26:23] Alan Levine: How inspiring! You do so much work. What are your interests and hobbies outside of work?

[00:26:31] Ana Michelle Tellez: Ah, my interests, besides reading, obviously, ah, I like to watch, uh, a lot of documentaries. I'm very analog; I like to do very, very creative, very hands-on things, like painting, doing very creative things. Besides talking all the time, which is what I usually do.

[00:26:53] Alan Levine: Is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners?

[00:26:57] Ana Michelle Tellez: I think that beyond what OEGlobal represents, right? Ah, I want teachers all over the world who are listening, ah, from wherever you are in the world, even if it's difficult, even if there are wars, even if the conditions aren't ideal, your work in the world is important. And don't doubt those abilities and that vocation, which is so important in society.

Embrace your profession and make it extraordinary, even if the system says otherwise. In any country, because the education system in any country will always be chaotic. So for me, the teacher will always be important both inside and outside the classroom, and there are different paths, all of them valid.

But above all, vocation always drives us to do extraordinary things.

[00:28:04] Alan Levine: Thank you so much. This has been very inspiring.