A VISION FORWARD
Future Goals Essay
“Next class, one of you will be responsible for leading us through our discussion of Frankenstein when I am gone.” I knew it would be me. Sure enough, as I walked into class the following week, I saw my name listed as the facilitator.
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The conversation that unfolded in the next hour and a half inspired me. My peers had wonderful insights that pushed me to think deeper, to think more critically, and I had fostered it! This moment illuminated something for me: maybe I want to be an English teacher.
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When I started my teaching career, I learned that teaching English was much more than just discussing engrossing plotlines and enchanting characters. As my career began to unfold, I realized that teaching was all about the students, not the content. After gaining more experience, I developed goals that I wanted to pursue in order to become a more effective educator: to create equitable learning environments, to create purposeful and authentic literature & language learning environments, and to become involved in educational leadership.
Creating Equitable Learning Environments
Teaching in both public and private schools, I have witnessed the educational opportunity gap. Through my observations and through my explorations of culturally responsive teaching in my MAED courses, I have found an interest in creating more equitable education.
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My goal as I move forward is to first create an equitable environment in my classroom. To do so, I must be culturally responsive to whom I am teaching. If I am teaching only content that resonates with a dominant culture, I am creating inequitable educational gaps. If I do not get to know my students for the diverse people they are, I am not reaching them effectively. To help me understand how I can create classrooms that address this, I will study research—such as the work done by Nina Asher or Django Paris & H. Samy Alim—that pushes me to think critically about how I teach. These resources will help me see that quality education for all students goes beyond providing access: it means teaching students in a manner that celebrates who they are and responds to what they need. In studying these, I can work to better my curriculum and begin working towards closing the opportunity gap.
Purposeful and Authentic Language & Literature Instruction
It is my belief that making learning relevant for students comes from providing students with purposeful and authentic learning experiences. Too many students can’t see why English language & literature is important to study, largely because students are frequently asked only to memorize meaningless facts or read books they don’t like.
As I progress as a teacher, it is my goal to reassess and redesign curriculum that helps students understand the value in analyzing, writing, and critical thinking skills they practice in English classrooms. Part of this goal is also to redesign curriculum so students feel that they are a part of the English classes they take; it is my hope that when students feel they have a voice in their learning that they engage more. Using teaching resources, such as newsela, can provide me with insights and tools to help redesign curriculum to make it more meaningful. In addition, networks, like the National Council of Teachers of English, can provide me with the ablility to engage with other educational professionals who are working towards innovative and purposeful literature education.
Diving Into Educational Leadership
I see my future involvement in educational leadership as an extension of my first two goals: becoming a leader can help me create equitable and purposeful learning environments beyond my personal classroom.
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Taking courses in Adult learning and Leadership & Organizations as a part of my MAED coursework has pushed me to think about becoming an instructional coach or getting involved in curriculum. I see these two areas as ways that I can help create widespread purposeful and equitable education by working with my colleagues, rather than just focusing on my own classroom. In order to learn more about instructional coaching and curriculum development, I can read books, such as Switch or The Reading Zone.
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I also see my involvement in educational leadership increasing through joining professional networks such as The Association of Leadership Educators. This year, I presented at the Educators in Solidarity “Unconference” and I plan on continuing to present at events like this to increase my involvement in educational leadership.
Conclusion
As I continue to teach and work in education, these three goals will help guide me as I develop professionally. Though my time in the MAED program is coming to a close, I am far from finishing my personal educational journey, and I view these future goals as arrows, pointing me forward towards my vision