Professional pieces Required for my masters in special education program
I have chosen to continue my education by completing my masters in special education. I have chosen this because I love working with my students. Many of my students have learning struggles in many areas in addition to reading. I really wanted to expand my knowledge base to help as many students as possible develop a love for reading and learning.
Below is a video that was created in my Teacher as a Professional class. I was asked to discuss why teaching is my passion, the role of the teacher today, and how this fits into the teacher proficiencies. We were then asked to upload to our site. Enjoy!
| colleague_share_video_upload.mp4 |
| wk4colleague_share_transcript.doc |
What is Social Change and
What Does it Have to do with Me?
What Does it Have to do with Me?
The concept of change can be scary to many people, but change is happening all around us constantly. However, a welcomed change is positive social change. The article “5 Things That Everyone Should Know About Social Change” (Walden, n.d.-a) defines social change as “people working to improve the lives of others.” I have always thought of social change as instigating transformation that changes people’s lives. These mean the same thing and line up with Walden University’s mission and vision for social change. The vision of Walden’s founders Bernie and Rita Turner was “To empower students to make a difference by confronting those challenges where they live in their professions, and on a global scale.” (Walden University, n.d.) Walden University’s 2020 mission and vision focus on educating and empowering individuals to create social change both locally and globally through collaboration and developing values and skills (Walden University, 2017).
There is an overwhelming need for positive social change in today’s educational environment. COVID-19 has brought to light many global issues that the educational field is facing. There are considerable discrepancies in the mastery of basic skills, such as reading, needed to succeed beyond school. Only 10% of low-income countries, in comparison to 70% of high-income countries, have acquired those necessary skills (Vegas and Winthrop, 2020). Discrepancies in technology access are also an issue. 1.3 billion children cannot access the internet from home (United Nations, 2020). There is a vast worldwide focus on how to best educate youth in our quickly changing world. While change cannot happen immediately worldwide, it can begin locally and spread. Looking at these issues on a smaller scale in your community can expand into larger areas, like ripples expanding across the water.
As an independent reading specialist that works with many schools and families, I am not connected to one school or district. However, my practice itself is an example of social change in action. There was a great need in our community to provide reading resources to both schools and families as our educational community was looking for new and better ways to meet the needs of students. My practice works explicitly with students with special needs that also struggle in reading. I have the opportunity to empower the individual students and families, colleagues, and people in the community. I am looking forward to continuing to use my skills to practice positive social change in my community and beyond.
One area in particular, I have noticed that needs to be addressed is curriculum. There is very limited curriculum available for students with reading difficulties in addition to other learning challenges. I am currently working on a project to address that need. Stay tuned for more updates.
References
United Nations. (2020). ‘Emergency’ for global education, as fewer than half world’s students cannot return to school. https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1071402
Vegas, E. & Winthrop, R. (2020). Global education: How to transform school systems?. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/research/global-education-how-to-transform-school-systems/
Walden University. (n.d.). Social change. https://www.waldenu.edu/why-walden/social-change
Walden University. (n.d.-a). 5 things that everyone should know about social change. https://www.waldenu.edu/why-walden/social-change/resource/five-things-that-everyone-should-know-about-social-change
Walden University. (2017). Walden 2020: A vision for social change. https://www.waldenu.edu/-/media/Walden/files/about-walden/walden-university-2017-social-change-report-final-v-2.pdf?la=en
There is an overwhelming need for positive social change in today’s educational environment. COVID-19 has brought to light many global issues that the educational field is facing. There are considerable discrepancies in the mastery of basic skills, such as reading, needed to succeed beyond school. Only 10% of low-income countries, in comparison to 70% of high-income countries, have acquired those necessary skills (Vegas and Winthrop, 2020). Discrepancies in technology access are also an issue. 1.3 billion children cannot access the internet from home (United Nations, 2020). There is a vast worldwide focus on how to best educate youth in our quickly changing world. While change cannot happen immediately worldwide, it can begin locally and spread. Looking at these issues on a smaller scale in your community can expand into larger areas, like ripples expanding across the water.
As an independent reading specialist that works with many schools and families, I am not connected to one school or district. However, my practice itself is an example of social change in action. There was a great need in our community to provide reading resources to both schools and families as our educational community was looking for new and better ways to meet the needs of students. My practice works explicitly with students with special needs that also struggle in reading. I have the opportunity to empower the individual students and families, colleagues, and people in the community. I am looking forward to continuing to use my skills to practice positive social change in my community and beyond.
One area in particular, I have noticed that needs to be addressed is curriculum. There is very limited curriculum available for students with reading difficulties in addition to other learning challenges. I am currently working on a project to address that need. Stay tuned for more updates.
References
United Nations. (2020). ‘Emergency’ for global education, as fewer than half world’s students cannot return to school. https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1071402
Vegas, E. & Winthrop, R. (2020). Global education: How to transform school systems?. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/research/global-education-how-to-transform-school-systems/
Walden University. (n.d.). Social change. https://www.waldenu.edu/why-walden/social-change
Walden University. (n.d.-a). 5 things that everyone should know about social change. https://www.waldenu.edu/why-walden/social-change/resource/five-things-that-everyone-should-know-about-social-change
Walden University. (2017). Walden 2020: A vision for social change. https://www.waldenu.edu/-/media/Walden/files/about-walden/walden-university-2017-social-change-report-final-v-2.pdf?la=en
Teacher Well-Being
For many in the educational system, the focus has primarily been the students' health and well-being. It's only in the more recent time that the well-being of teachers has become a widely discussed topic. The 2017 Educator quality of work-life survey (BAT's, 2017) reported that 61% of teachers felt their work was highly stressful. Here in Arizona, we have large class sizes and low teacher pay. This combination affects teacher morale. Add in the increasing demands of teachers, and we discover that more and more teachers are leaving the profession. Teachers stay because they love their students and want to make a difference in the lives of their students and the community as a whole (Nieto, 2015).
A study done by Beck, Goetz, et al. (2014) discussed how the teacher's emotions directly impact the students in their class. The study was an important reminder of how taking care of the teacher is just as important as taking care of the student. Ultimately, the happier the teacher is, the happier your child will be too!
How can you, as a parent, help? Reach out to your child's teacher and see how you can help. Send a positive note every once in a while. Teachers love this! Help chaperone a field trip or look at other ways to volunteer. Please help your child daily with their school work. Ensure that your child is well-fed and has had a whole night of sleep. These things are simple ways to ensure that you are doing your best to support your child's teacher and stay involved in what they are learning.
Badass Teacher’s Association (BAT’s). (2017). 2017 Educator quality of work life survey. American Federation of Teachers. https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/2017_eqwl_survey_web.pdf
Becker,E. , Goetz, T., Morger, V., & Ranellucci, J. (2014). The importance of teachers' emotions and instructional behavior for their students' emotions – An experience sampling analysis. Teaching and Teacher Education, 43, 15-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.05.002
Nieto, S. (2015). Why we teach now. Teachers College Press.
A study done by Beck, Goetz, et al. (2014) discussed how the teacher's emotions directly impact the students in their class. The study was an important reminder of how taking care of the teacher is just as important as taking care of the student. Ultimately, the happier the teacher is, the happier your child will be too!
How can you, as a parent, help? Reach out to your child's teacher and see how you can help. Send a positive note every once in a while. Teachers love this! Help chaperone a field trip or look at other ways to volunteer. Please help your child daily with their school work. Ensure that your child is well-fed and has had a whole night of sleep. These things are simple ways to ensure that you are doing your best to support your child's teacher and stay involved in what they are learning.
Badass Teacher’s Association (BAT’s). (2017). 2017 Educator quality of work life survey. American Federation of Teachers. https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/2017_eqwl_survey_web.pdf
Becker,E. , Goetz, T., Morger, V., & Ranellucci, J. (2014). The importance of teachers' emotions and instructional behavior for their students' emotions – An experience sampling analysis. Teaching and Teacher Education, 43, 15-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.05.002
Nieto, S. (2015). Why we teach now. Teachers College Press.