As this final
chapter in my Walden journey comes to a close I have enjoyed thinking back to
previous courses. My first deeply felt
learning came very early on in my program.
It is that in order to make an impact and bring about change I must
first begin my examining myself. I
remember taking courses about being anti-biased, culturally sensitive, etc. and
thinking that I already was all of those things. I was not.
While I work hard to treat everyone with respect I found interesting
little tidbits in class would strike a nerve with me. When we talked about privilege I was almost embarrassed
about the fact that I am from a middle-class, white family because I learned
that it afforded me many opportunities that others don’t have. As I learned more and went through different
courses I found out many new things about myself. I’ve also embraced that the things I’m not
overly proud of will not magically vanish overnight. Being aware, though, allows me to be self-reflective
and conscious of my own prior experiences and the diverse makeup of the groups I
work with.
Another important
thing that I learned in this program is that collaboration is incredibly
important. I used to feel that it was
easier for me to “do my own thing” because group work can be difficult and
messy. Finding out that “storming” is a
normal phase of group work helped me to feel better about working through
hardships when working with others. I
have come to realize that teaching and working in isolation isn’t good for me
or the students and families I work with.
While group work may be more difficult the benefits are vast. Working with people from different
backgrounds and with different skill sets can be so valuable.
The final thing I
will share might seem a bit out of place, but it is something that was driven
home in every course. I have learned to
support my ideas with resources, references, quotes, statistics, and
studies. Each course required critical
reading of articles, sifting through research, looking up information, and
writing succinctly. I feel that I am
well-equipped to write at a professional level but I have also learned to incorporate
this skill into my daily work. I am
currently writing a grant to get bikes, ride-on equipment, helmets, and
scooters for our Kindergartners. While
writing up the proposal I found myself automatically reading articles about the
benefits of movement and including quotes and statistics about the link between
physical activity and academic learning.
Supporting my ideas and keeping up-to-date on information has been ingrained in me!
