Dr. Shelly Vohra is an Educational Coach with the Peel District School Board. She holds an M.Ed in Adult Education & Distant Learning and a Ph.D. in Educational Technology. Dr. Vohra has 20 years of experience in education (K-12) teaching various subject areas including mathematics, literacy, history, geography, and French. She has presented at various conferences on topics related to technology, inquiry, mathematics, critical literacy, social justice, and equity. Dr. Vohra is passionate about culturally responsive pedagogy, inclusive education, and teaching from an anti-oppressive framework. Her work includes designing learning experiences for students through an integrated curriculum lens that combines inquiry with social justice. Dr. Vohra’s research interests include social media in education, blended learning, and inclusive design. She has also consulted with various professional organizations on numeracy, technology, and equity.
Dr. Vohra is someone I got to know through Twitter chats. At first, it was OnEdChat, which were conversations I had joined when I first started on Twitter, and then I became part of the planning team. Then, a few years later, I saw that Shelly had partnered with Barbara Bray on her Rethink Learning chat. Shelly, who was also friends with Barbara, offered to help support her. Barbara selects the guests and develops the questions for the conversations, and Shelly helps to facilitate the chat. Barbara, the co-author author of two books and many articles for teachers, helped Shelly focus her thinking and organize her book.
Shelly starting writing her book because someone suggested that she should write one after reading her blog. She was encouraged by many of her friends and tweeps, and she had many ideas regarding what she wanted to write about. “I am a huge proponent of equity and inclusion, and social justice, and Barbara helped me realize that every chapter has to come from an equity lens. Growing up in a community where she was in the minority of racialized students at her school gave her many experiences where she didn’t see herself in her learning and felt unrepresented in the texts being taught. Shelley shared that her first chapter is autobiographical, and she found it one of the toughest chapters to write. “The main message is about how we need to understand our students, their experiences and their stories and infuse them into our curriculum and into our learning. If kids don’t feel represented in the learning, they are not going to learn.”
When preparing for her P3, Shelly was picking songs that really got her thinking. She was going to choose some Bollywood songs because they are the songs that she grew up with. “Indian music has a special place in my heart.” Shelly travelled to India every year and watched these films, but she decided to go a different way. Because of the journey that she took writing the first chapter, the overarching theme connects to the big ideas in her life.
Shelly’s selected her nostalgic song because she had originally had her whole life planned out in high school, and it didn’t turn out the way she had once hoped. Thankfully, it all worked out, “I’m very happy with the way my life turned out; I have no regrets.” She went on to explain that people have had many opinions about how she should live or the choices that she made, and she doesn’t care what they have to say. Too many people aren’t true to themselves because they listen to the people in their lives telling them how to live and who to be. For our guest, this song is a celebration of her choices to live the way she wanted “[You’ve] just got to live while [you’re] alive.” Here’s Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life:
Shelly’s identity song is one of her favourites. She loves this band and got to see them in concert last year. “It’s about finding joy despite your struggles and how the human spirit can persevere.” Shelly told the story of her aunt’s passing. It was a devastating experience for her because they were very close and now, even decades later, the closeness that she felt to her aunt continues to inspire her. The accident that led to her death was a key event that got Shelly rethinking medical school, which was her path at the time. Her aunt was a teacher and principal. Shelley took an about face and chose to pursue education. “The positive that came out of it, if anything, was that I finally figured out what I wanted to do with my life.” Hearing her aunt’s voice in her mind eased her journey, especially since both of her parents are doctors and were happy that she would be one, too. Shelly went against her set destination and chased her passion. “My [aunt’s] death made me rethink everything about my goals and what I wanted out of life.” Here is Beautiful Day by U2:
Shelly’s pick-me-up song is one that always brings her hope. Our guest shared that this song reminds us that, “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and the sun will shine again.” Shelly worked hard to achieve her Ph.D., and she is trying to embrace the change and challenge of being back in the classroom. She has been reassured by family and friends that her hard work and vision/dream-boarding will pay off, and that there are many silver linings ahead. Here is the Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun:
Shelly’s hope is that sharing her story will inspire others to share theirs. “Life is full of ups and downs and the struggles and challenges, but it’s also about celebrating the good things that happen in your life.” She is half way through her book and hoping to be done by mid-November. Shelly’s goal is to get it out there. “It’s not about my story, but I really feel that in this day and age, I think we’re really missing the mark. We need to redo education, reimagine education, dismantle education…Education is governed by legislation and politicians... How can we take it out of their hands and put in into the hands of teachers and educators who know what they’re doing with kids and want to make a difference? ” Shelley’s book is based around the three i’s: inquiry, integration and inclusion.
You can find Shelley Vohra on Twitter @raspberryberet3 and through her blog. Her website will also be launching in late Fall. She can also be found engaging different educators in such things as #FridayFavourite and other fun antics on Twitter.
