Personal Statement

I have been a public school teacher for over fifteen years, teaching kindergarten, first and second grade. My motivation for entering this field and quitting a good salaried position producing instructional television for the local community college, was the Xinachtli project.

In 1990 I attended a small gathering of Chicano educators in Arizona where the idea of a Xinachtli project was discussed. The plan was to develop curriculum grounded in Mesoamerican spiritual tradition which contained complex systems of mathematics, philosophy, agriculture, and fine arts. All of had been exploring these as cultural workers wanting to bring awareness in our community of our rich indigenous heritage.

Upon returning to El Paso, Texas I set about this task with help from some of my friends who were teachers in the public school system. What I discovered in Xinachtli were universal principles and a natural form of learning. In 1992 I became of public school teacher myself.

I believe that Xinachtli pedagogy is ready to be translated into accessible curriculum for teachers not only the Mexican American community but all those who seek more progressive modes of teaching in their classrooms. Xinachtli builds on the human ability of symbol formation and mythic pedagogy to facilitate natural understanding of the world we live in.

Xinachtli, much like chaos theory, views the time of the sprouting of a seed as point in which the seed is neither seed nor plant but a moment of infinite possibilities. Andy Groove, former chairman of Intel Corporation, recently said on the Charlie Rose show that the future belongs to those who understand and apply the non-linear formation of structure to institutions. His words, more than any others, describe what occurs when we use Xinachtli in the classroom.

Carlos Aceves is available for: model lesson presentations, workshops, and 1-3 days in-service training. Please enquire by email, telephone, or regular mail about cost.

The Xinachtli Project
P.O. Box 1921
Canutillo, Texas 79835
carlosaceves@sbcglobal.net
(915) 566-4777