Looking Back...
Reflection is careful thought about what one has learned and how our experiences have elicited change in ourselves and others. It is not so much critical thought about how we may have been mistaken in the past. Instead it is a method of learning that teaches us that our ideas are constantly being modified by the world around us. It is a symbiotic relationship that exists between the individual and the universe of change that we encounter every moment of everyday. Reflection is a form of directed meditation that helps us to embrace change in the world and ourselves for the betterment of the self and our communities. Setting goals and then reflecting upon them is a healthy and beneficial thought process. Below is an essay that I wrote several years ago when the pursuit of my higher education had just began. While I have changed a great deal since then my educational purpose has remained consistent...
statement_of_professional_goals_v2.pdf | |
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Looking Forward...
One of the most difficult aspects of returning to school to pursue my advanced degree has been the sacrifices that I have had to make with my time. As a father of four children I have many times had to miss participating in my children's activities due to my school work. As a corporate professional I have had to balance my career development opportunities at work with the pursuit of my formal education. I have not had a coaching job in over year either paid nor as a volunteer. I have had virtually no personal time to devote to my reading, my art work, nor my writing. It has been a difficult sacrifice as our time is of but limited quantity. I do find comfort in the fact that above all other considerations it is the quality of the time that I will spend with my family, friends, peers, and students that will improve because of the knowledge that I have gained through my formal educational pursuits.
Quality Time | |
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Putting it All Together...
It has been said that the present is the most fleeting thing in the universe. Time may be understood as a point or period during which an action, process or condition exists or continues. All of us has but a limited time on this earth. Our relationships with each other and with our communities occurs in time and space. While time itself is limited and unchanging, the question becomes what do we do with the time we have. The power and gift of an open and educated mind may not be able to extend the quantity of time that we have been allotted in this life. Socrates reminded us that the unexamined life is not worth living. It is my belief that it is only the enlightened mind that can provide the necessary quality to the time that we do have. As educators the secret to the lives we have chosen to live must somehow exist and be understood by examining carefully the ways in which we share in enlightenment with each other and with our students.
Synthesis & Sharing | |
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