Educational Specialist Program in Personal & Professional Life Essay

Educational Specialist Program in Personal & Professional Life Essay

Educational Specialist Program in Personal & Professional Life Essay

Throughout this course, you have been given an opportunity to reflect on what you have accomplished in your educational journey at Walden University and to think about how you will harness your knowledge and skills to contribute to educational and social change.

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At the conclusion of each module, you were prompted to reflect on a specific element of your journey at Walden. These reflections asked you to think back through your program of study, the learning experiences you have been a part of, and how your journey has influenced your development as a scholar-practitioner and agent of social change. In doing so, you recalled, revisited, and reflected upon particular elements of learning, such as Discussions, Assignments, or resources contained within courses and across your program that have had an impact on your development as a scholar and a leader in your professional field.

For this Assignment, you will synthesize these reflections into a final reflection on your journey toward an Educational Specialist degree at Walden University.

To prepare:

  • Review the Educational Specialist program of study for your specialization and the Educational Specialist program outcomes on the Walden University Riley College of Education website. Think about the most meaningful Discussions, Assignments, and Learning Resources throughout your educational journey at Walden and the impact your program of study and its outcomes have on you as a scholar, a professional, and a leader in your field.
  • Review the Walden Riley College of Education Diversity and Technology Proficiencies and Professional Dispositions in the Learning Resources as well as the professional standards of your field. Consider how these standards and proficiencies align with your role as a professional and leader of educational and social change in your field today and in the future.
  • Locate your specialization’s curriculum and outcomes on the Walden Riley College of Education website, and research professional organizations in your field. Reflect on your specialization courses and what you have learned in those courses. How has your approach within your specialization changed throughout your educational journey? Think about the information you collected throughout your specialization courses. How have you evolved as a scholar-practitioner in your field? How will you continue to be a lifelong learner in your field?
  • Review the Fullan (2016) chapters for this module, the Callahan et al. (2012) paper, and the Hargreaves & Ainscow (2015) article. Consider the concepts, processes, and goals essential for effective educational leadership and positive social change. What goals do you have to become a leader of change in education and a leader of overall positive social change? How will you take what you have learned in this course and others in your specialization to create and support effective educational practices?

Write a 3- to 5-page paper with the following five sections:

Section 1: Influence of Course Work and Specialization Outcomes

In this section, explain the following:

  • The influence of the coursework in your program of study and specialization outcomes on you as a scholar, professional, and leader in your field. Support your explanation with reference to specific learning experiences and resources.

Section 2: Professional Standards of Your Field

In this section, explain the following:

  • How your approach to your specialization has changed throughout your Educational Specialist journey in relation to the professional standards of your field. Be sure to reference specific standards related to your specialization area.
  • How you have evolved as a scholar-practitioner in your field and how you intend to stay committed to continuous professional develop and lifelong learning in your specialization

Section 3: Walden’s Professional Dispositions

In this section, explain the following:

  • How your thinking has changed with regard to your role as a leader and agent of change in your field since the beginning of your program of study
  • How Walden’s Professional Dispositions align with your thinking regarding your role as leader and agent of change today and in the future

Section 4: Walden’s Technology and Diversity Proficiencies

In this section, explain the following:

  • The Technology Proficiencies you have developed more fully as a result of your coursework and learning experiences in your specialization and program of study
  • The Diversity Proficiencies you have developed more fully as a result of your coursework and learning experiences in your specialization and program of study
  • How your development in these proficiencies supports you further in becoming a leader in your specialization field and an agent of change

Section 5: Leader of Change and Professional Goals

In this section, explain the following:

  • How you will apply the knowledge and insights gained in this course and others to create and support effective educational practices
  • The 2–3 professional goals you will set for yourself to become a leader of educational change in your field and an agent of positive social change in your community

For this Assignment, and all scholarly writing in this course and throughout your program, you will be required to use APA style and provide reference citations.

Learning Resources

Note: To access this module’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Fullan, M. (2016). The new meaning of educational change (5th ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

  • Chapter 11, “Governments” (pp. 209–227)
  • Chapter 12, “The Teaching Profession and Its Leaders” (pp. 228–257)
  • Chapter 13, “The Future of Educational Change” (pp. 258–265)

 

Callahan, D., Wilson, E., Birdsall, I., Estabrook-Fishinghawk, B., Carson, G., Ford, S., . . . Yob, I. (2012). Expanding our understanding of social change: A report from the definition task force of the HLC Special Emphasis Project [White paper]. Minneapolis, MN: Walden University.

Social Change Web Maps [Diagrams]. Adapted from Expanding our understanding of social change, by Callahan, D., Wilson, E., Birdsall, I., Estabrook-Fishinghawk, B., Carson, G., Ford, S., Ouzts, K., & Yob, I., 2008. Baltimore, MD: Walden University. Adapted with permission of Walden University.

 

Hargreaves, A, & Ainscow, M. (2015). The top and bottom of leadership and change. Phi Delta Kappan, 97(3), 43–48.

 

Walden University. (2017a). Riley College of Education. Retrieved from https://www.waldenu.edu/about/colleges-schools/riley-college-of-education

 

Review the Riley College of Education page to locate the Educational Specialist program outcomes and your specialization’s curriculum and outcomes for this module’s Assignment.

 

Walden University. (2013). What kind of social change agent are you? Retrieved from http://impactreport.waldenu.edu/

 

Walden University. (2017b). Who we are. Retrieved from https://www.waldenu.edu/about/who-we-are

 

Review this site for information on Walden University’s mission and vision and its focus on social change.

 

Walden University. (2015b). Professional dispositions. Minneapolis, MN: Author.

 

Walden University. (2015a). Diversity proficiencies. Minneapolis, MN: Author.

 

Walden University. (2015c). Technology proficiencies. Minneapolis, MN: Author.