Transformative Agents of Positive Change

Educationists project a professional focus towards bettering current societal outcomes by reaching out to students as individuals and as future drivers of societal growth. I am inherently inclined towards bettering current as well as future societal outcomes. Towards this end, I have a personal career objective which has compelled me to seek to further advance my academic credentials. As such, my mind is presently geared towards enrolling for an advanced graduate degree.

It is important that I highlight some of the core motivators towards my pursuance of an advanced graduate degree. I have been in the education profession for quite a while now and as such, bettering the lives of children through the provision of quality education has become a personal as well as professional agenda in my life (Maxwell, 2012). As an experience English Language Learners tutor, I have come to have a personal philosophy on education that is founded on the three topics that conform to this philosophy.

My professional as well as personal experiences teaching elementary students the English Language have not only been satisfying but a rich source of motivation as well. Given that English is indeed a global language has only made it quite susceptible to being corrupted (Maxwell, 2012). As such, I have come to embrace the fact that elementary school is the best point at which a strong foundation as to the correct usage of the language can be ingrained into students (Maxwell, 2012). In fact, this was one of the primary motivators towards my decision to pursue a Master’s degree in Education with a specialty in curriculum, assessment and instruction. Having studied this degree and subsequently returned to my previous role as an ELL teacher has cemented my resolve to improve the education standards of children through appropriate curriculum development, better learning outcomes assessment protocols and improving the delivery of instruction for students for students aged 3 to 12 years.

My second motivating factor towards pursuing an advanced degree in education is the overbearing need to standardize curriculum objectives, assessment protocols and tenets on the delivery of learning instruction to elementary students. I am of the opinion that the full implementation and institutionalization of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Initiative is the right avenue towards this end (Jenkins & Agamba, 2013). The CSS initiative has been formulated with a core aim of establishing uniformity in educational standards for elementary students in all subjects in each state. The implication of this initiative is a favorable outcome where there will be equality as well as equity in the dispensation of learning instruction, subsequent assessment and evaluation in all public schools (Quay, 2010). I am an ardent supporter towards the realization of this important educational objective and indeed, it is conforms well to my personal and professional philosophy on education.

Towards this end, I fully understand how the application of technology in teaching and learning is of critical significance to successfully as well as comprehensively improving learning outcomes in elementary children. My years of experience availing learning instruction to elementary students aged between 3 and 12 years has underscore the need to proactively integrate the use of technology in enhancing learning outcomes (United States Department of Education 2014). I have come to perceive children in this age group in a special way. They are easily distracted and more so, tend to retain more learned information if the learning instruction involves technology based learning materials. Given that they are still in the early stages of cognitive development, intuitive outcomes are best achieved when technology is integrated in the education system.

There are however arising as well as persistent challenges in the three issues that are motivating me towards pursuing an advanced degree with the aim of improving the learning outcomes in early child hood education. Concerning the integration of technology among elementary students, there is a rather poor adherence to curriculum objectives (United States Department of Education 2014). I believe that the content used to support learning instruction to this young students should be guided by the set curriculum objectives. Content development in line with curriculum objectives is indeed a herculean task and the full realization of this objective may take a while to be comprehensively fruitful (Quay, 2010).

Similarly, the CCSS initiative which seeks to allow for educational standards to be uniform across all school districts with state boarders may take a long time to be successfully implemented (Jenkins & Agamba, 2013). It is without a doubt that the initiative may face resistance from some of the educationists leading educational institutions within state lines (Kober & Rentmer, 2011). Such a challenge can only be detrimental to the betterment of education outcomes for children in elementary schools.

In pursuing and successfully completing my advanced degree studies, I aim to accomplish two significant goals. I aim at being an agent of positive change by offering professional inputs towards the development of technology based curriculum content for elementary school students based on their age and more so, their level of cognitive development. Similarly, I seek to be a positive agent of change by championing for the successful implementation of the CCSS initiative. This way, I will feel that my work as an educationist will inspire children to become similarly dedicated agents of change in future.

References

Jenkins, S., & Agamba, J. J. (2013). The missing link in the CCSS initiative: Professional development for implementation. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 17(2), 69.

Kober, N., & Rentmer, D. S. (2011). States’ Progress and Challenges in Implementing Common Core State Standards. Center on Education Policy.

Maxwell, L. (2012). Language demands to grow for ELLs under new standards. Education Week, April, 23, 2012.

Quay, L. (2010). Higher Standards for All: Implications of the Common Core for Equity in Education. Research Brief. Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity.

United States Department of Education. (2014). Use of technology in teaching and learning. Retrieved from: https://www.ed.gov/oii-news/use-technology-teaching-and­learning