EDLD 5301 Reflections

The thing I most appreciated about this course it that it took the concept of research from being something that other people do, and turned it into something that I can do. If we want to be leaders, we need to learn to identify things that need improvement in our schools. Once we have identified something that needs improvement, we can take responsibility and research ideas to implement change. In today’s world where there is so much information available to us, we can take advantage of existing research, as well as collect our own data, to determine ideas and solutions that we can use. My "light bulb" moment during this course was during week 3 when the term "research project" suddenly went from being a huge nebulous task to something understandable, interesting, relevant, and most importantly, doable. The thing I most appreciated about this course was being led, step-by-step, to that conclusion. I feel as if the course was designed to help gently guide us to find a relevant project as well as to understand the research process. I’m anxious to see if research that I do will be able to make a difference in our school with our students, and I’m already thinking ahead to other projects that we might be able to undertake in the future. I'm interested in learning more about how to share and apply the results of action research. There are so many worthwhile and competing goals in education, that having a great idea, even one supported by research, isn't always enough to implement change. In order to learn more about sharing effectively, I'm going to try to trust in the process we're learning and go through what we have outlined, one step at a time. I need to focus on completing my research first, so I have relevant data and research to develop and support ideas for change. Then I will shift my focus to learning and applying effective ways to communicate my findings and ideas. One of my favorite quotes from the course was: Nothing within a school has more impact upon students in terms of skills development, self-confidence, or classroom behavior than the personal and professional growth of their teachers…When teachers stop growing, so do their students. Barth’s work (as cited in Dana, 2009, p. 32) Barth succinctly states what I have always believed, that it is important to be a life-long learner, especially in rapidly-changing technology-related fields. However, I don’t think I realized the impact that my continued growth would have on my students, and I’m encouraged and provoked to press on. Dana, N. F. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin and American Association of School Administration.