Michael Bakal

Job title: 
Ph.D. Student
Department: 
Graduate School of Education
Bio/CV: 

Michael Bakal works as an educator, researcher, and organizer working in the U.S. and in Guatemala. Currently a PhD Student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education, Michael’s research focuses on participatory and youth-engaged approaches to the design and evaluation of learning environments and community programs. Working with colleagues in Maya-Achí territories in Guatemala, his current project is focused on the development and study of Buen Vivir, an Indigenous and communal concept of the good life, as a pedagogical framework. Michael organizes and collaborates with Voces y Manos, the Guatemala Scholar-Activist Group, Jews on Ohlone Land, and the Sunrise Movement. A former high school science teacher and media advocacy trainer, Michael has published editorials in the Sacramento Bee, Truthout, and the San Francisco Chronicle.