Introductory Framing Statement
When I decided to pursue my master’s degree in Adult Education my experience with adult learners was limited to teaching at Ivy Tech and community outreach through the FFA chapter I was the advisor of. However, at the time I had wanted to be an extension educator, and having a master’s degree is one of the requirements of the job. When I searched possible programs, adult education was the perfect fit because as an extension educator I would be working with adults. It also had the added bonus of being online, which offered me great flexibility while working and starting a family. This program has done an excellent job of reflecting what it is teaching in its coursework, and I have been able to take what I learn and apply it in my current role training faculty with technology use, as well as in my personal life.
My professional goals focus on post-high school education, either in a vocational field or postsecondary education working with adults. I feel a position in one of these fields would allow me to work with my strengths of problem solving, listening, and being a believer in and encourager of people. I will just need to be careful to not give in to one of my biggest weaknesses, which is that I struggle to say no. These roles will put me in a position where it would be easy to always say yes, and ultimately overextend myself.
The audience of my e-portfolio will be my classmates, peers, instructors, supervisors, potential employers, and myself. I hope that classmates and peers will be able to gain insight into my thought processes as well as maybe give them a different view point over theories, philosophies, and ideologies. My goal for instructors reading my e-Portfolio would be that they see a demonstration of my knowledge and growth, and academic potential. I would like for supervisors and potential employers to get a better understanding of my skills, knowledge, and abilities. I will continue to use this e-Portfolio as a living document that I can continue to update and reference. I will continually review and reflect on my work as well.
I enjoy learning, and definitely see myself as being a lifelong learner, especially as my personal, career, and academic goals change and evolve. Experience will help me to better identify what I don’t know and need to learn to help fill in the gaps of my current knowledge base.
I can continue to grow through reflection on my work by revisiting the thoughts and ideas that I have had, as well as the new information and ideas I develop. Just because I have already reflected on a bit of information, doesn’t mean that I it isn’t a good idea to revisit it multiple times. I feel that I will constantly be building upon the old and the new knowledge that I acquire for the rest of my life.
I started my journey in adult education not actually realizing how little I actually knew about adult education, as well as myself. I’ve selected pieces that I feel will demonstrate my growth and transformation as an educator. Therefore, I have chosen growth and transformation as my theme for my portfolio.
Artifact one demonstrates the very beginning of my journey in adult education and the realization that I really knew very little, which came as a bit of a surprise. This artifact was exactly what I needed to truly through away all my preconceived notions and open myself up to learning in the program. Artifact two shows my very basic level of interacting with adult education, through a fictional sense. I had limited experience with adult education up to that point, and was only able to give a rudimentary evaluation.
I chose to include artifact three because it discusses my personal philosophies in adult education. This was something that I hadn’t given much thought to until this point, but I wasn’t surprised with what I found. I was able to classify my personal ideology and take on teaching. Artifact four was another major piece that has stuck with me throughout the program as to how powerful adult education is. I learned that no matter where you are, adult education can take place, and that it doesn’t have to be in a formal setting either.
Artifact five is a great showcase of taking what I have learned and combining it with a major factor that I see affecting adult education and discussing how they relate and affect adults and adult education. I chose to include artifact six because it was my first attempt at including elements of adult education into a training I was designing.
Artifact seven encompasses my entire weekend completing Participation Training with my classmates. I was able to appreciate the diversity of my classmates and the experiences that they brought with them. I also began to understand the ability to grow and change on the spot when needed and evolve current processes when they aren’t working. Artifact eight is a PowerPoint training packet that I put together to represent the training that I hold with faculty and Teaching Assistants that I feel is a great representation of where I am as a facilitator and being able to take what I have learned and apply it in real life.