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The Climb: My Journey Through the Master of Arts in Education Program
I grew up in a family of teachers. My grandmother taught music lessons and bible school and four of her five children became teachers, including my mother. When I was young, I never wanted to be a teacher. I remember helping my peer while I was in high school and him asking me if I was going to be a teacher. I assured him I was not and he let me know I should be. I cringed back then, I did not want to be like everyone in my family. Many of my family members had taught in unsupportive school districts and I knew of their struggles. I did not want that same outcome. As I grew up, I ended up in a leadership and educator role in most every job I took. I love helping others. Reflecting on my past job experiences, I loved teaching others and helping them grow. As I finished my first masters degree, my prospective (now current) employer encouraged me to start the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) degree. It was not initially planned, but I followed their encouragement and pursued my degree. I hoped the program could help me to continue mentoring others in higher education and fuel my love for helping others.
My journey through the MAED program was not a simple one. When I started, I was a first-time mom to a three-month-old baby. I had to change the way I approached my school work and had to make adjustments to the type of student I was. Throughout the program, my family continued to grow, I was hired full-time, and my husband made a major career change. I had to space out my courses to accommodate for my responsibilities at home and at work. Two of my children and I were living away from my husband because of his career change. We were trying to sell our house and find another living situation so we could all be together. Then the COVID-19 Pandemic hit the world. I was at a really low point. We were living in my parents’ camper so we could all be together and I was doing everything I could to make it through one of my classes. Emotionally and physically I was drained. Along with the rest of the world, we finally found stability and a new normal. I adjusted my schedule to give myself the time I needed to finish my courses, my family was back together, and my career had taken on a new format. It was very difficult for me to ask for help throughout these life changes and through the program. Two lessons I learned were it is necessary to ask for help every once in a while and my coursework goals are important too. There were many times I wanted to give up but I found the strength to persevere through every obstacle that came my way.
As I resumed my courses after the Pandemic, a few specific courses made an impact on my thinking and my professional focus. The first course was Educational Administration (EAD) 870, Foundations of Postsecondary Education. During this course, we focused on the creation and evolution of higher education. Our coursework highlighted the exclusive nature of higher education as well as the extreme discrimination. I was unaware of the specific history of the birth of higher education so this course was extremely enlightening; from universities owning slaves to the authority students had to govern themselves. As I worked through the reflections in each unit and participated in the class discussions, my confidence began to grow.
Before this class I always felt like I did not belong, mainly because I did not have a background in education or a traditional teaching position. But during this course I realized my experiences and insights are valuable and can be helpful to others’ learning. In unit one we watched a TedTalk called, “The danger of a single story”. This talk given by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is critical to understanding that not everyone lives the same story. Our views on topics are limited to our experiences and only a few other “stories” relative to others’ first-hand knowledge. An important way to combat the danger of the single story is to stay curious and seek out others’ stories. It is also important to ask tough questions and give a tough analysis of the institutions in our lives. That is what we focused on during class; a tough analysis of higher education. Our discussions allowed us to examine past and present issues and how these issues may affect our students and their experiences.
This perspective is important for my work with students. If I make assumptions about my students, their lives, what they know, or what they do not know, I risk losing their trust and respect. I have to take the time to ask questions and get to know their “stories”. If I do not take the time to truly care about my students’ “stories” they will not care what I know or what I am trying to teach them. I also have to focus on being authentic. If I am portraying myself to be something I am not, this will also damage my students’ trust. This course encouraged me to consider the care I give to other people’s “stories” and experiences. Especially, when it comes to institutions such as higher education. It is critical to know our history and do everything we can to not repeat it.
The next course that impacted my thought process was Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education (CEP) 813, Electronic Assessment for Teaching and Learning. During this course we started with exploring our own learning experiences with assessment. This allowed me to reflect on how I was assessed through my educational career. At the time of this course, I realized my daughter was about to begin her educational career and her first exposure with assessment. This realization really focused my thinking through the course. In my career, I do not teach students in the traditional sense and I do not have a classroom so I did not feel I could truly apply what I was learning about assessment. Until, I made the realization about my daughter. I felt I could utilize what I was learning to become an advocate for her and other children in my life as they move through the educational system.
As we continued through the course we explored the foundations and evolution of assessment. This course exposed the major issues with high-stakes testing. I was very unaware of how detrimental high-stakes testing was to students. I was even more appalled to learn how much research has been done concluding that high-stakes testing is ineffective and detrimental yet it is still highly utilized. As frustrating as this topic was to learn about, I am grateful for the knowledge so I can advocate for children with information grounded in peer-reviewed research.
The Ungrading module of our course introduced me to the concept of Ungrading as an assessment tool. I had never heard of this concept before and it was extremely eye-opening. Ungrading is an educational philosophy of assessment. The philosophy does not assign grades on students’ work. It focuses on the ongoing process of learning through activities instead of assessing students based on static principles. Ungrading is an opportunity to give feedback through conversations and written feedback instead of focusing on quantitative evaluation. The use of the Ungrading assessment method promotes critical thinking, reflection, collaboration, and self-assessment, all important transferable workforce skills. After learning about this type of assessment, this was the first time I felt like I could see myself teaching in a classroom. If I could offer my students an environment where they could experience learning and growth without the pressure to get a certain score on a test, I would do it. Since I will be changing careers in the next few years, I started to consider a teaching certification. This is the type of assessment I would utilize and this is the type of skills students really need to master.
The last course I am going to highlight is Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education (CEP) 818, Creativity in Teaching and Learning. Until recently, I have never considered myself a creative person. I always felt a creative person was someone who could draw or paint and those have never been my forte. It was not until I started working with my husband’s business on creating social media content, events, and protocols that I realized it takes creativity to perform these tasks. This course challenged my thinking about creativity, how we define it and the value we place on it. In the educational system, opportunities for creativity seem to have been overtaken by a focus on testing. This is disheartening because creativity is so important for our brains and our bodies. If children are missing the opportunity for creativity they are being deprived of a valuable skill.
The Master of Arts in Education program at Michigan State University has provided me with the opportunity to learn from the most influential leaders in the field of education. Each of my courses gave me invaluable insight, guiding me along my journey that led me to this point. Without them I would not have made the realization that I could see myself teaching in a formal classroom. My depth of knowledge for issues within the education system has broadened and affected how I approach my students and how I parent my school-aged child through their educational experiences. This journey was not a simple one. Since the beginning I have fought through many twists and turns but, I am extremely grateful for the knowledge, skills, and experience I have gained.
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