1. Consideration of academic and/or personal growth from across the M.Ed. Program.
In terms of my own personal and academic growth, I would say that I learned to persevere through courses, especially concerning the course readings, assignments, and many other things. This was a graduate program, and it was definitely a challenge for me. Throughout this program, many of the classes required us to read articles that were hard to understand. I remember, reading several reading articles multiple times just to understand the main ideas that were presented, and even sometimes I would even go on YouTube just to hear explanations of concepts and theories that were covered in the articles. I also remember, many of my peers having trouble understanding the content, but this also gave us an opportunity to figure it out together and to learn together, I also learned to ask questions, especially when I didn’t know something. As a kid, I was always afraid to ask questions because I grew up in an education system that did not like students asking questions and so that has affected my learning throughout my educational journey in America but in this program, I have learned to be more confident in myself, with regard to asking questions, bringing thoughts and ideas that to the class. I have learned to be more collaborative and to share thoughts with teachers and my peers, which I did not do much of before this program. All the teachers in this program were really supportive, and they reinforced that there are no wrong answers to the questions that were asked, and so this helped me to speak up and to share my thoughts, ideas, and feelings. Overall, this program empowered me to speak up and it also gave me an opportunity to listen and learn from others. This program was not filled with lectures, but it was more collaborative which helped me with my communicative skills. Through this reflection, I see this as my personal growth throughout this M. Ed program and I can’t wait to see how it evolves from here as I go into the education field and start working as a teacher. As a new teacher, I would face new challenges and the constant pressure to keep students at the top of the class in their academics, but I’m going to use my perseverance in college as an example to lead my future battles within education and with the world in general.
2. Discussion of how learning from the M.Ed. program will be applied in educational and professional settings in the future.
This program to me was engaging and I learned a lot about education from a historical, political, and social perspective, while also learning about the injustices embedded with this system. From the program, I learned about the importance of leading, learning, and working with communities to make education an equitable space for students. I learned a lot in this program, and now it’s time to use what I’ve learned and apply it in my life to many of the issues that I will face in my career as a teacher. From this program, I have grown in confidence to tackle issues in education and all the things I’m passionate about. I am passionate about serving others now more than I did before the program. Every year, I volunteer to help the homeless and to help the poor by donating toys, food, and many of the essentials that they need to survive. This is one area of my life, where I’m planning to put more time into helping homeless people. This program has taught me that I don’t have to do social justice work just in education, but to also explore and fight against other issues like homelessness and poverty. This program also gave me a lot of confidence to go out in the world and see the struggles that people go through and to help wherever people need help. This program has taught me that everyone has the agency to fight for social justice and I will use my agency to bring justice and fight against inequalities. In terms of education, As I stated before, I learned a lot about the systemic issues that affect students, especially from the minority group and so for me throughout this program, I have learned to see the inequalities in the schools that I work in. I believe that understanding and identifying these issues is key to creating solutions to fix many of the problems we have within education. I will use what I learned and apply it in the school that I will work in, especially with regard to identifying inequality within the school and trying to solve that problem.
3. Consideration of gaps, discomforts, and remaining questions lingering through engagement in the program
Throughout this program, there were times of discomfort with the regard to the content and topics that we looked at in many of our classes, and also knowing that I’m going to work in a space of inequality seems discomforting, but I’m focused on what I could do to alleviate that discomfort. I will be a new teacher for the first time this upcoming school year, and there will be a lot of pressure and expectations brought on me, especially since this is the start of my career in education, but at the same time, I’m looking forward to working with teachers and students collectively. I don’t have questions now, but I will raise many questions when I jump into this profession next school year to make education more of an equitable space for students who are often left out. Overall, I’m grateful for this program as a whole and I’m thankful for all the professors and the time they took to teach the class. Without them and the knowledge that they bring, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m excited to use what I’ve learned to dismantle the systemic issues that educators face in schools and to create a positive impact in that space.