Running head: APPLICATION ESSAY WEEK 1

Application Essay week 1

Walden University

Teacher as Professional EDUC 6610J

September 3^rd, 2015

Welcome and congratulations to the class of 2016! It is with great pride and gratitude that I’m able to address you all today. The past year can be characterized by a number of things, a few of which I would like to share with you all today.

As Sonie Nieto (2003) noted, “Experience alone, as John Dewey reminds us, is hollow without reflection”. I’ve taken this quote along with me through this journey, we call graduate school because it has constantly reminded me to always reflect upon myself in order to keep learning and growing. This reminds me also of Walden University and the Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership’s mission which is to “prepare learners as scholarpractitioners and leaders who can inspire, influence, and impact their diverse communities by helping to meet the challenges and opportunities of education worldwide”. This is because, we as educators’ goal is to inspire, influence, and impact our community, and this can’t be done without reflection. Walden has given me the confidence to be able to meet the challenges and opportunities of education worldwide. With that in mind, I can reflect upon the Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership’s vision which seeks to “foster a dynamic and diverse network of educational leaders who seek to support learners globally by leveraging the power of teaching and technology and who are committed to the pursuit of positive social change through education”. It is my aspiration to become an educational leader in this world’s social change, with the knowledge and tools I have gained from Walden University, I know that this goal will come true. I, along with many of my colleagues are already impacting our world in a positive way. We are creating classrooms which are student-centered, collaborative learning environments, engage our students intellectually and analytically where they are constantly thinking outside the box, and are multicultural and value based (Bowen, 2014). I owe my confidence and strong drive to Walden’s staff and my fellow colleagues, of whom have which been my biggest mentors. (Bowen, 2014; Nieto, 2003).

The confidence that I’ve built in myself in something I aim to build within my students. Every day that my students walk through that door, my goal is to build their confidence so that they will have the ability to succeed. We have that power as high performing teachers to shape young people’s lives. Through positive words and actions, we can begin to help not only our student’s grow but us as well. I have directly experienced this while attending Walden University. Walden’s positive attitude and encouragement are one of which I admire, reflect upon, and aim to exude each and every day with my students. It is with a positive attitude that we can reinforce positive attitudes within our students and therefore set them up for success. “We go into education to build up kids, to set up positive relations with kids, to build up their esteem, to set up positive classroom environments (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). It is with us, that students can begin to build self-esteem, goals, focus on their strengths, and build the confidence they need to strive to be the best that they could be. “The choices we make as human beings truly shape our destinies” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). We can make the difference in our students, it is our mission, it is what we are made to do! (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).

Walden has built in us the focus, determination, drive, and the ability to overcome any obstacle, all of which we will build in our students. (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). As Ginsberg and Bernstein (2011), noted “The scholarship of teaching and learning represents an important movement within higher education. Through this work, the profession of teaching is able to build upon itself through sustained inquiry and an evidence-based culture”. I believe that Walden University and the Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership is one of which supplied us with a culture of scholarship and the guidance, tools, and knowledge to be those profound leaders of education. Just as Richard W. Riley has done, we too can become a leader and advocate for improving education.

And with that said, Congratulations to Walden University and the Richard W. Riley

College of Education and Leaderships’ class of 2016. Thank you!

References

Bowen, G.A. (2014). Promoting social change through service-learning in the curriculum.

Journal of Effective Teaching, 14(1), 51-62. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ1060444

Ginsberg, S.M., & Bernstein, J.L. (2011). Growing the scholarship of teaching and learning

through institutional culture change. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning,

11(1), 1-12. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ915920

Laureate Education, Inc. (2010) Teacher as a professional. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Nieto, S. (2003). What Keeps Teachers Going? New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21 century. Basic Books.

Riley, R. (n.d.). About the College. Retrieved September 4, 2015, from http://www.waldenu.edu/colleges-schools/riley-college-of-education/about

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