Reflections on Education

Reflections on Education

Megan Smith

EDU623: Introduction to Teaching & Learning

Professor Evans

March 5, 2012

　

　

Research and writing the fundamentals for academia, and effects both learners and professors through youth all the way through careers. Research and writing are what compile the information of what we study and teach, and without the initiation of this documentations through history. then we would never be were we are as a civilization of people, knowledge help divided us into different cultures and religions. Research can be a tool to trigger curiosities and passions for all people, not just in academia, but with all people of every age and culture, but it takes a good teacher to hand the best tools.

When this course began, I had been out of school for ten years, and this was my first step back into academia. There are so many intimidations involved, but I had been missing learning so much, and I knew that education was where my heart was. I graduated from The University of Iowa in 2002, with a Bachelor of Arts with a focus on English and Writing. Loving the courses and savoring the experience, I had been so blessed with this education and it had impacted me with endless curiosities. I was given the research tools, I was given the key to inquisitiveness. This was my strength, the passion for the materials and research. The passion to understand, to comprehend, and it is a burning feeling deep within, and it has been with me since early childhood. And when I really examined this fire within, this endless anticipation, this need to feed my mind more complicated analysis, I see my old teachers. When I really thought about where my hunger for learning evolved from, I realized that a lot of the impact had been from my different teachers of the courses of my years in school. These teachers had impacted me and left permanent impressions on my childhood development. Not only childhood, but I had been impressions for most of my growing years, from adolescence to young adulthood, to where I am currently in my life.

In our textbook they say, “Teachers must learn from their students and the communities where they teach. You need to make connections with the students and the communities where you teach. Culturally appropriate practice requires that your knowledge grow and change as students and their socially context change. There is no simple list of cultural differences that can be learned. What is required is an attitude of inquiry and openness to different cultural perspectives.”(Armstrong, Henson, and Savage). This is why teachers impacted and shaped me so much growing up through school. Teachers are the interpreters and the more I research the more I realize how vital and vulnerable teaching can be. Teaching takes a commitment to understand, to expand, to grow, to adjust, and to adapt to social and political changes. My strength is that I know that I love researching and learning, and that as I teacher I can continue to grow in that way, and to be in a position of influence, to help mold and encourage younger children to also love learning and knowledge, and help them to reach for the endless burning curiosity which is inside all of us.

Besides my passions and curiosities there are many things that may put blockages in my way. For instance, having to adapt to the new technologies of research, having to learn everything from a computer screen, this will be my biggest challenge when it comes to researching and future education methods. I have always been comfortable with the traditional methods of teaching that I was raised with, and I have often resented changes that may alter what I am already comfortable with. One example are conversations, the changes in ways that people communicate with one another. As academics there have to be forms of discussion, and this is essentials in constructs and growth plans through the process of the lessons. Realizing that the future of education I am heading towards will involve many technological elements, and that in order for me to be the person I want to be, it will take a lot for me to adjust to new techniques. Even the very idea of having an online text book throws me apprehension, and this is because I know that I need to adjust with technology, but I am just not sure that I really want to. Libraries and textbooks are going online, and the old way of paper text is changing due to many factors, and educators must adjust to this in order to meet the needs of future students.

In order for me to take my love of knowledge and teaching, along with my fear of technological advancements, and allow them to adjust with time and circumstances I had to go back to school to finish my masters. Now I am learning ways to facilitate education and learner through the internet. Luckily with these courses I am taking with Ashford University, they provide several tools online for resources, writing assistance, research guides, everything you could need as a students. I will learn to adjust to these new methods and embrace all they have to offer, by taking time to learn about the ups and downs. Technology may be intimidating, but it broadens our horizons for education, and it allows teachers and learners to have access to information that may not have been available otherwise. But at the same time we must remain more skeptical and less naïve to stuff that we read, because not everything is as it appears and we will be up against much more fraudulence when it comes to researching.

The trick for me to master will be the ability to separate truth from fabrications, and to take everything that I read and consider the legitimacy of the sources. I can not assume that everything that I research online is accurate or true, and I must use the tools Ashford University has provided; the Ashford Writing Center, the Turnintin, and the Writing Reviser, all available as resources. These are all tools to help me with new intimidations. The more I work with technology and practice with it, the more comfortable it will get. And again, luckily Ashford University has those tools at our fingertips through our student portal webpage. So although it may seem difficult, there are tools, and there is help that can guide me into the future of new types of research methods. In order to continue to love learning and teaching I must adapt.

Researching and Education are changes and broadening and advancing. As a student I am learning to open my mind to new ways to research and hope that it helps me in developing my writing skills. I remember when I was about 15 years old, I asked my mom, “how do I become a better writer?”, and she said, “you learn to read more”. Now with the wide range of resources available for research I have more access to more information, and endless supply of reading material. The cost of the resources and technologies is that we must always verify sources of information and consider different types of information and different types of research. The tools online can help to yield endless possibilities for researchers, but it up to us to pursue, analyze, and criticize the new resources available as students and future professors. Everything is at our fingertips.

　

　

References

Teaching Today: An Introduction to Education; Eighth Edition. David G. Armstrong. Kenneth T. Henson. Tom V. Savage.