Developing a Professional Identity Pursuing an education specialist degree has solidified my professional identity, as I build confidence in my skill set and level of competency. I have already established myself within the field of education but have shifted focus to special education. This course has helped me to develop a professional identity as a special education teacher and one who eventually hopes to advocate and inform public policy.

Personal Philosophy and Ethics

My personal philosophy of education is based on ethical principles like equality and social justice, which is also what drove me to learn more about how I can contribute to the field of special education. As Krek & Zabel (2016) point out, educators need to be driven by overarching principles that inform their curricula and pedagogical practices. Otherwise, educators have no way of gauging their contributions to the profession or even of assessing the impact they make on the lives of students. When educators take their role and responsibility seriously, they can see how their actions and words have a strong influence on everything from social norms and values to the integrity of communities. As hard as it is to overcome our fear of being reprimanded for challenging the status quo, I need to remember that it is now my professional duty to speak up on behalf of underserved populations and call out injustice when I see it.

Perceptions of the Education Profession

I have always been drawn to the education profession because of the impact that teachers had in my life. Therefore, I feel generally positive about the future of the profession and look forward to contributing to it in a meaningful way. While there are many things I would like to change about the nature of education in America, I have also been surrounded by caring teachers in a professional community dedicated to helping students achieve their goals. I believe that more students need access to a diverse range of tools they can use to maximize their strengths and improve upon areas of weakness. Teachers play an instrumental role in reaching out to students who are not well-served by the educational environment or prevailing models of classroom design or instruction.

Goal Setting and Purposefulness

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Rather than only think about the next five years, I am now thinking ten and twenty years down the line to imagine how I can leave a legacy in the field of special education. Driven more now by a sense of greater purpose, I feel more energized and inspired, willing to take risks. One day I hope to be a leader, and until then I will develop the professional acumen and gain experience necessary to inspire others to recognize how they can also contribute to improving the future of special education.
Theory, Research, and Practice

Theory informs research, which in turn informs both theory and practice. The cyclical and interdependent relationship between theory, research, and practice is especially evident in the field of education. I have learned how educational policy and practice depend on a solid body of evidence showing what students respond to and why. Some leaders in the field of education take a resource-based approach, understanding that educational policy and practice need to be cost-effective due to limited resources. Others know that pedagogical practices and instructional design are more dependent on educator attitudes, organizational culture, ethics, and a guiding philosophy than on budgets.

Skills Recently Mastered

The Importance of Time Management

Without effective time management skills, I never would have been able to get this far in my career. This course has helped me to improve my time management methods even more. As my course load became increasingly more challenging, I needed to reconsider how I was allocating time to different tasks. For example, I am not yet fully adept at library research using scholarly databases. The time it takes for me to complete a search is longer than I would like, and in the beginning of this course I was not giving myself enough time. Now I know that I need more time to research, which pays off in the quality of my work. Effective time management comes down to prioritizing: deciding for myself which tasks are most critical and which steps I need to take now in order to complete those tasks. As Barrett (n.d.) points out, it is extremely helpful to make to-do lists on days when I am feeling overwhelmed. According…