Professional Goals

As a teacher I understand and appreciate the diverse backgrounds, experiences, beliefs and values that are present in my classroom. Many learners bring their own valuable experiences and lessons with the potential to enrich both learning and application. Throughout my practices I am learning the benefits of using these diverse backgrounds as a catalyst for further discussion and stimulus in the educational setting. As a teacher, I make every effort to provide for each student the essential, enabling tools that will facilitate their becoming active and successful members of our society. I am convinced that students can be reached and guided within the classroom irrespective of personal abilities, background or socio-economic standing. I believe that the classroom is not only a place of knowledge-based education but also a place of personal growth, awareness and realization. One of my goals is to ensure that I am constantly differentiating my instruction to meet the needs and interests of my students.

As I have observed throughout my own educational experience, good teachers are able to demonstrate and teach values such as respect, responsibility, and tolerance. It is important that students retain a positive self-image and regard their education in the context of real-world positive values, which in turn provides a positive relevance and connection to the learning process. If students find joy in learning and realize the power of knowledge early on, they will gain from it their entire lifetime.

I decided to take my Master’s in Early Childhood Education rather than primary Education because I feel that I am missing pieces to the puzzle. I love teaching primary school aged children, however, last year I was part of a K-2 project focusing on oral language and inquiry based learning. I realized during this project that I wanted to learn more about early learning. Throughout this course I am hoping to learn more about early childhood behaviours and the ways in which to better educate, care for and support them during their learning. It is stated that “Walden’s online learning community is made up of students and faculty, alumni and friends, national experts and visiting scholars and a growing list of academic, corporate and government partners who share our commitment to transforming our world through higher education”. That is why I decided to go back to school. I wanted to learn about early childhood studies in order to better understand their cognitive process, needs and abilities. As stated already, I knew that I was missing a piece of the puzzle and through higher education I wanted to transform my abilities, my understanding and my classroom.