Spearman
Jessica
The Way I See It...
Commitments of a Future Learner
By: Jessica McVettie
I have always had a fondness for school, and for learning new things. For the longest time I would say, I just “like” being in school, but I didn’t recognize how what I interpreted as an interest, was really a profound commitment to my life as a learner. I had only been teaching for one year before I began the master’s program at Michigan State University. During that year, I felt a large void in my life. I had been in school for 17 years, five of them at MSU, and the year off made me realize that while I had professional goals I wanted to fulfill by completing my Master's, the commitment to my education was what drove me to enroll. I am committed to my students, leadership, and furthering my education as a past, present, and future learner.
Commitment to my students… One of my goals when entering the MAED program was to remain elastic and always change and grow for the benefit of my student and myself as a teacher. As a future learner this commitment is stronger than ever. The MAED program has ignited my desire to look at the needs of my students from both a pedagogical and individual standpoint. I learn both from my students and about my students on a daily basis in my classroom. As a future learner, I will continue to change and become a better advocate for my students by looking at how my curriculum serves them as individuals in the classroom and the outside world, and always remembering that as they enter my classroom each student comes with a different skill set and story.
Commitment to leadership… I elected to complete the Post Secondary Leadership concentration because I was committed to being a leader in my school and in the field of education. In the book, The Truth About Leadership, authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner write, “The best leaders are the best learners”. This means that in order to be a leader, I need to constantly be willing to practice, learn new skills, and be willing to learn how to become better. This can only be done by practicing my leadership skills, asking for feedback, and learning from other leaders. Both leading and learning are interchangeable, and therefore, as a future leader I am also continuing on as a future learner.
Commitment to higher education… The MAED program has not only satisfied a thirst for higher education, but has also invigorated the desire for more. As a future learner, I find myself grappling with the question, what’s next for me in higher education? There is something so rewarding and valuable that is found with exploring the field of education, curriculum, and development with other educators and a community of learners. There are many times I think about how much I want to learn and know about the different avenues of education, and it ignites a feeling of desire and excitement to continue earning degrees and seeing the results of the commitment to my education. In the future, I see myself taking classes that open doors for professional opportunities, as well as looking into areas that help complete me as an individual.
Commitment to ways of learning… When I initially signed up for the MAED program, I imagined that since I had taken an online course before, this would be very similar. I was wrong in a lot of ways. I made the assumption that just because I learned this way before, I could seamlessly continue. With this, I found it was much more difficult and I had to really adapt my way of learning and look at it from a different standpoint. I made a commitment then and as a future learner to continue looking at ways of learning, and never be afraid to try something new. I will continue to recognize that just because ways of learning may be different, it does not mean that they are wrong. As a future learner I will embrace new technology, new modes of thinking, and new ways of learning to better understand how to better teach my students and better understand myself as a learner, as well!
In some ways the MAED program satisfied that need of being back in the classroom (figuratively speaking- it’s online!). In other ways, it has reinvigorated my desire to continue my journey as a learner in many capacities. Being a learner is engrained in my very being, and has come to be part of my identity. As my MAED program comes to an end, there is a looming uncertainty of what happens when the classes end. I am confident when I say that my journey as a student and as a learner is far from over. I can’t tell where the path may lead, but based on the past, all roads lead back to East Lansing and MSU.
View as PDF