educator collaborator mentor
Alex Schwartz
Early on in my second year of teaching, I felt that I was not doing enough to propel my career and that something was lacking. Upon reflection, this comes as no surprise; this was when the news was flooded with the lack of employment and how the millennial generaton, which I am a part of, were overly apathetic and would lead to minimal national gains in every sector. There seemed to be an uphill battle that I would have to fight looming in the distance and I wanted to do whatever I could to ensure that I would be alright. Furthermore, my school that I started teaching at offered me many opportunities for growth already, but due to it’s small size was unable to offer me a more global view of education. With these things compounded together, I was extremely eager to advance myself in my career and applied to a graduate program, Michigan State University’s, Masters in Educational Leadership.
A Reflection on My Goals:
The Need for Practical Inspiration
While applying, I identified goals that, for the time, suited what I thought I would need in the coming future. Essentially, I wanted to learn techniques to improve school-wide leadership, classroom and professional engagement, athletics, community, and the connection between the community at large and the school system. Aside from these objectives I wanted to take in everything I possibly could through my future professors and classmates, while soaking up each learning opportunity presented to me at my own school. Although these goals may seem vague, each came from a certain place and were very specific. For example, within athletics, I wanted to learn specific drills that I could use to improve my athletes’ conditioning. Within classroom leadership, I hoped to discover various writing and reading teaching techniques that I could use in social studies class.
Yet, these goals served more as learning targets and did not motivate me in the way I had hoped they would. As I forged ahead in my teaching and studies, my learning seemed applicable but uninspiring. What I needed were goals that could energize me throughout the day, but still apply to good educational leadership. After halfway through my program, I decided to continue pursuing my “learning target” goals, but create newer overarching objectives that helped fuel my daily interactions with students and teachers at school and in my program. The goals that I came up with were: to be a source of inspiration, to collaborate as much as possible, and to create an inclusive educational experience. These are my day-to-day and longstanding educational objectives and they serve as an umbrella for what I do and how I approach things.
Before I entered my program, my perceived need for advancement dominated my train of thought and pushed me to make specific and driven goals. And, although these learning targets were great (and still necessary!) they did not root me in a holistic educational sense. However, my newer goals provide the ends to a means and not only motivate me, but also allow me to fit and apply my learning targets into my own pedagogy. With this in mind, I look forward to the future that lies ahead of me, but am focused and invigorated in my daily educational experiences.