Right now, sit back and take a few moments to contemplate a time that within a split second caused you to make a change. Keep it in your mind and try to remember what change you made because of it. Still remember it? Good. It is the change that we make for ourselves that sticks with us. Initiating and experiencing change, for better or worse, continuously molds and shapes us into what, at first was our future self, but then becomes who we presently are. Over the past ten years, living as a foreigner in China, I have continually made changes that I want to see within me. I have set three goals for myself to quell complacency and be the needed change.
Goal 1: Acquire an American teaching license
On the traditional path to becoming a teacher, getting a teaching license is part of the standard teacher preparation program. I didn’t intend to become a teacher in my undergraduate studies and therefore am what people would refer to as an “alternative” educator. Moving to China and teaching for nearly ten years now has reassured me that teaching will become a lifelong career. With the
intention of setting needed changes in motion, having a teaching license will legitimize my efforts and afford many new opportunities to me. With these resources, I will be en route to a monumental shift in my career. Because I’m in China and am unable to return to the United States, I will enroll
through the well-known online teacher certification program called TeacherReady®. I feel thrilled to have the opportunity to receive my teaching license this way. With the wisdom I will gain from my licensure program, I can apply it towards my impending doctoral studies.
© Evgenii Permiakovl
Goal 2: Obtain a Ph.D.
To further pursue one’s studies after receiving a master’s degree requires a specific type of dedication that is found in those who want to push themselves to the brink of madness or understand that their overarching purpose demands the knowledge of how to face society’s most pressing challenges in the education profession.
Both my second and third goal are strongly intertwined with each other in that my third goal hinges upon my doctoral studies. I intend to apply to Michigan State University and enroll in the Educational Psychology and Educational Technology (EPET) program. For years of commitment to learning, I’m looking forward to what research awaits and the network of professionals I will have the privilege of working side by side with. Throughout my doctoral study and completion, I will pledge myself to my third goal of improving Second language learning (SLL) practices in China.
© MSU EPET Facebook
Goal 3: Improve ELE practices in China
Being in China for close to a decade has led me to various places around the country. From the bustling metropolises to the rural villages where the average educational attainment of its residents is middle school, there are major disparities among them. A lot of research, insightful practices, and calls for English language learning reform I have read about are advocating for changes within U.S. borders.
Students who had the opportunity to move to the United States or were lucky enough to attend an international school that had the capability of sending its students abroad will benefit from the benevolence of those who worked hard to bring this expertise to them, but what about those students who come from those small towns and villages with limited to no economic means? I want to take what I will learn through my doctoral studies and apply my research to the rural areas of China, working with local education
bureaus to foster changes in the way English is taught as a second language in primary and secondary schools. Courses like Cultural Perspective on Learning and Development or Current Issues in Motivation and Learning in the Ph.D. program at Michigan State University will help me achieve my end goals.