A two year reflection and vision on Education

           At this moment I am in the final stages of a two year fulltime Master’s of Education Program at Johnson State College in Johnson Vt. I have spent the past twenty months studying educational practices, theories, laws, curriculum development, and adolescent development, etc… while either substitute teaching or conducting my own student teach. Everyday has brought new insight, new meaning and new experiences to my evolving educational background and skill set. Each day has presented new challenges, new meaning and new concerns for me personally and professionally. What hasn’t changed is my rediscovered love for the classroom, my commitment to helping young adolescents achieve academically and socially, and a sense of belonging in the classroom.

            From Piaget and Kohlberg, to Dewey, Gardner and Vygotsky etc… I have tried to find meaning and understanding that is relevant and applicable in my own life and my future professional life as an educator. I have gained insight and knowledge from each theorist. I have also gained much insight and knowledge from my Johnson State professors, my fellow students, my mentor teachers as well as my own experiences amongst high school students and middle school students. Twenty years of business experiences has also enlightened me on many of the nuances of leadership skills, management techniques, sales and relationship management skills. Eight years of public schooling, four years at a parochial high school and four years at a large state university have shaped both good and bad impressions of education on me. All of these experiences make up and explain who I am and where I am today.

            Although I don’t like labels, I would consider myself a bit of a constructivist. I believe in exploratory educational experiences that allow students the opportunity to uncover new understandings while at the same time offering them the support and guidance they need. I think the learning environment needs to be a safe place where students feel they belong. I believe education needs to involve real life experiences and the concerns of students. I believe education must hold meaning for students outside the walls of the school.

            From a curriculum standpoint I believe in the strength and the power of emerging curriculums. I think emerging curriculums offer students the best educational experiences for the dynamic world we live in. I believe students should have a say in what they learn and how they learn. Students need to be able to connect what happens in the classroom to the world around them. Relevance is a key component. I think curriculums need to be fully integrated in order to maintain a sense of continuity and understanding for students. Developing themes by the students would allow subjects of interest to be studied across all core studies.

            So you ask where I am at this time. I am in the now, and in the present. Students concerns are my concerns. My current experiences with school systems have shown me both the good and the bad of the public school machine. As we approach and entrust ourselves to a world of standardized testing, I see even more reasons to engage students on what they want or need to know and learn about. At the pace the world is changing, students need and deserve as many authentic learning experiences as possible.

            My teaching experiences have not been with true emerging curriculums, but rather district driven and standards based teaching processes. Personally, I have found it rich and rewarding to include student concerns as best as possible when managing a curriculum based on standards. The ever widening divide between teaching to standards versus teaching for understanding and character development makes everyday and every minute extremely valuable and precious. In order for students to become engaged, instruction needs to be based on the interests of students and assessments need to provide vital information for both student and teacher.

            From a professional growth standpoint my most pressing need today is experience in the classroom. I have tried to immerse myself in the culture of education, but nothing can replace real life experiences. The experiences I have had and will have will go great lengths in determining my own shortcomings or failures. Fortunately education affords us a daily reminder on what we need to improve and work on. Self reflections offer daily assessments of what went right and what went wrong. My own formal education will never stop. I believe teachers need to be involved with their own education all the time. Education does not end when the bells rings. As an educator it is my responsibility to bring initiative, passion, relevance and understanding to the classroom daily. Along with that, I need to understand and embrace the nature and needs of the young adolescents I aim to help educate. Only through time, experience, success and failure will I become the teacher I hope to be.