LEARNING, GROWING, AND AFFECTING CHANGE: A SYNTHESIS OF OPPORTUNITIES TAKEN
Synthesis Essay
Where it Began
My journey through the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program at Michigan State University (MSU) has been nothing short of invigorating. Over the past year, I have learned so much about innovations in the field of education and best practices in guiding students toward successful academic outcomes. In the process, I have also learned a great deal about myself, both as a lifelong learner and as an educator.
I have always been a passionate learner and this developed into also wanting to help others learn as well. It would make sense, then, that the north star of my professional trajectory has always been teaching, right? Wrong. In fact, there was a time when I wasn’t even sure if I would even be in the field of education.
When I was in high school I became ill. I missed months of school during both my freshman and sophomore years and as hard as my homebound tutors worked to keep me up to date, their efforts could never fully replace the experience of being in the classroom and learning with my peers. As a result, the spark and passion I had always had for learning and helping others in their learning started to dim. By the time I was a junior, I was able to return to school full time, but the gaps from missing so much instruction during the previous two years were glaringly apparent. I became a learner with a diverse set of needs and was having a lot of trouble accepting this and asking for help.
Downtrodden and feeling like my dream of becoming a teacher would remain just that—a dream, I wanted to give up. It was then that the principal of my high school took me aside and said something that not only saved my love of learning but perhaps even my life. He reminded me that despite the hardship I faced, from it I gained an incredible gift—opportunity—the opportunity to learn, the opportunity to grow, and the opportunity to affect change. This reframe of my situation has been and continues to be the theme of my academic and professional pursuits.
An Opportunity to Learn
When I began my graduate coursework, I sought out classes that would help expand my knowledge of integrative teaching strategies and incorporate more technology in the classroom. I had no idea, however, just how many lessons I would need to learn before I could begin to scratch the surface of accomplishing these goals.
One of the biggest lessons I learned was from CEP 850: Technology and Literacy for Students with Mild Disabilities. This course taught me how to create technology solutions into my lessons that would incorporate different software and applications designed to improve literacy skills for students with reading and writing challenges and disabilities. Prior to this class, I had always relied heavily on using more low tech solutions and modifications to assist my students, in part because I had had some success in making my class materials and handouts accessible without having to incorporate too much technology, and in part, because I was afraid to try (and fail) at incorporating something different and new. What if I don’t know enough about the software to be able to provide explicit instruction on its functions before they are expected to use it? What if, despite my best effort, the students still can’t access the material? What if I choose the wrong program or application and it stunts students' learning and growth?
In each unit of the course, I focused on developing a technology solution that addressed a problem of practice for a specific student that I work with who has a reading or writing challenge or disability. To do this, I first had to learn a good deal about different features of writing and reading disabilities and how to apply the best technology solution to meet the needs of that student. I then had to learn to step out of my comfort zone and embrace technology that was completely new to me. I did this by researching and testing out different applications based on the type of disability that was my focus. In doing so, I was able to narrow down different possible solutions that I would then present to at least two people who I had built a collaborative relationship with to think through which potential solution would best meet the needs of my student. I would then reflect on the collaborative process and how I would go about providing well-rounded and explicit instruction on how to use the technology solution so that the student could successfully complete the objectives of the lesson.
One such plan that stands out is a technology solution that I developed for a student with a specific learning disability (SLD) in reading comprehension. The student, who is currently in eighth grade, and I have been working together for the past three years. As I navigated through identifying different software and applications that would best meet his specific needs, I learned that partnering with him, his mother, and his English teacher proved to be a tremendous asset in identifying a solution that would best meet his needs. I also learned that as part of that collaborative process, I needed to put aside my ego and learn how to be okay with trying and failing more in order to help him make gains. I am proud to say that it worked and since the implementation of the technology solution we all agreed on, his Lexile score has improved by almost 60 points.
An Opportunity to Grow
In addition to what I have learned, my time at MSU has also given me many opportunities to grow and to instill this growth mindset in the work that I do with others. One such way I have grown is in my ability to cultivate meaningful relationships with my students and caregivers, as well as with their school teams. In our workplaces, we are often limited to the people that are geographically close to us as our collaboration partners. I am lucky to be able to connect with members of school teams from all over the state of New Jersey and, as a result, develop collaborative relationships with others from outside of my organization. However, this is only one aspect of helping foster growth. In CEP 801A: Consultation and Collaboration in Special Education I became more cognizant of the fact that even if we have great relationships with our colleagues if our student is not growing then the relationship is not truly effective. This realization was a central theme throughout the course and has become a guiding principle in my work with school teams to develop interventions that support student growth.
Throughout this course, in particular, I was given the opportunity to build on my collaborative relationship with a school-based licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) when we developed a plan that addressed an issue a mutual student was having with being able to successfully transition from setting to setting throughout the school day. Over the course of several meetings, we consulted on the problem to address, hypothesized potential solutions to the problem, selected one, and generated a plan to enact the solution. Our ability to consult with one another, with the student and his parents, and with the other members of his school team to form a strong collaborative team ultimately resulted in an effective plan that addressed an area of weakness and fostered this student’s growth.
But ultimately it did more than that. Building a collaborative relationship with the student, his parents, and his school team also gave me the opportunity to grow as a professional. Throughout the process, I worked with others who had varying opinions from my own. Through our discussions, I grew to see the value in talking through points of view that were different from mine. And while we did not always agree, our disagreements provided an opportunity for me to grow as an educator and as a collaborative member of a group.
An Opportunity to Affect Change
My growth as a collaborator and a consultant has also been immensely helpful in my pursuit of opportunities to affect change. I originally began pursuing my master’s degree during a time when I felt that I had made a lot of headway in helping my students feel loved, respected, and cherished members of my classroom community. I knew that this was an important first step, but that I could do more. I wanted to be an agent of change by developing proactive programming and interventions aimed at reducing factors that place youth at-risk.
One course, in particular, CEP 866: Psychosocial Interventions in Children and Youth laid the foundation I needed to gain a better understanding of the risk factors that contribute to challenges in helping students with diverse needs learn. One of the foundational theories behind risk and protective factors that affect the developmental trajectories of children and youth lies in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, which is the idea that “humans develop and grow within the context of a number of reciprocal systems” (McWhirter et al., 2013, p. 21). From this, we are better able to understand how as individuals we are directly and indirectly impacted and influenced by the world around us.
Using this theory, I came to a better understanding that the majority of the students whom I work with have been directly impacted and influenced by factors in their lives, specifically illness, which places them at risk due to chronic absenteeism. In an effort to address this, I created a proposal to the board of directors at the hospital where I work to implement a proactive program that would address chronic absenteeism through the use of an intervention aimed at improving academic achievement and school engagement. In doing so, I sought the opportunity to be an agent of change by working, in conjunction with families and schools, to implement this program in the hope that it would significantly influence the attitudes, behaviors, and protective features of my students and thus change “the odds” of acquiring more at-risk factors throughout their development.
While implementation of that proposal is currently on hold, it led to another opportunity for me to affect change. Recently, leadership in the hospital’s hematology department approached me about creating a similar program that would address chronic absenteeism. Through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, I have been able to oversee the development and implementation of a proactive academic support program for school-aged patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). The program, SCD S.T.R.O.N.G. (School Tutoring Resource Opportunity & Networking Group) addresses academic gaps that are the result of chronic absenteeism through homework support and instruction on executive function skills (goal-directed persistence, planning, prioritizing, time management, and organization). The program is showing great promise in having a significant impact on the overall school performance of its participants. It is also providing data that could lead the way for it to become best practice in providing a psychosocial service to patients across the institution.
Putting it All Together
I am proud of the work that I have accomplished during my time at MSU. And while graduation is right around the corner, it does not mean my learning or my opportunities end. If anything, what I have learned, how I have grown, and the ways in which I have become an agent of change have rejuvenated my passion for the work that I do. There is still so much that needs to be done to provide a safe space for learners with diverse needs to feel welcomed into mainstream education. I look forward to being a part of that process and incorporating the values that MSU has taught me into my daily practice with the students I work with. Most importantly, I want them to see that while the circumstances that have led our paths to cross are ones that no one should have to face, they too can reframe their thinking and use it as an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to become agents of change as well.
Click below to download a PDF version of my essay.
References
McWhirter, J., McWhirter, B., McWhirter, E., & McWhirter, R. (2013). At risk youth. Cengage