Week 6 Discussion 1: Reflecting On Your Coursework

Week 6 Discussion 1 Reflecting On Your Coursework

Reflecting on your coursework is an opportunity to share your takeaways from the course, discuss how action research can influence educational change within the classroom, district, and nationwide, and receive feedback on your final Folio and paper. Students should submit their Folio links and draft documents early in the week to allow for peer and instructor feedback, enabling revisions before final submission. The initial post requires a discussion of key learnings from the course, including new knowledge gained and how it will be applied in current or future teaching environments. Additionally, students should analyze how action research can impact educational change at various levels—individual classroom, district, and national. Engagement with peers through responses and discussion is encouraged to enhance learning and refine final submissions.

Paper For Above instruction

The final project in this course involves creating a comprehensive, web-based Folio that showcases your mastery of the program learning outcomes (PLOs) across your master's program—whether MACI, MAECEL, MAED, MATLT, or MASE. The Folio should include redesigned activities from prior coursework that demonstrate your competency in each program area, accompanied by artifacts that exemplify your skills and knowledge. Additionally, a narrative reflection is required, explaining your learning journey, how you applied knowledge gained, and how the program has influenced your professional development.

The narrative should also include a ranking of each PLO based on its relevance and importance to your current or envisioned professional setting. Students are encouraged to reflect on how they currently utilize each PLO or how they might incorporate them in future roles, whether in actual teaching positions or hypothetical scenarios. Challenges faced during the creation of the Folio and strategies for overcoming them should be discussed in a concise two-paragraph reflection.

Designing the Folio requires professionalism in appearance, logical organization, and ethical use of technology, ensuring it is visually appealing and easy to navigate. The assignment specifies including at least one artifact per PLO and aligning these with scholarly references to support the competencies demonstrated. Citations must adhere to APA format, with a minimum of three scholarly sources beyond the course textbook integrated into the narratives.

The final submission must meet page requirements—generally 2-3 pages for the reflective narrative—and demonstrate clear, organized, and polished writing with proper syntax and mechanics. A thorough review against the grading rubric is advised to confirm all criteria are met, focusing on content quality, APA adherence, and source integration. Early submission within Week Six is recommended to facilitate peer feedback, which can be used to refine the Folio and reflection prior to final completion.

This culminating project allows learners to synthesize their educational experiences, showcase their competencies, and reflect critically on their development as educator leaders. The process fosters skills in educational research, digital presentation, and professional self-assessment, aligning with the overarching goal of demonstrating mastery of the program outcomes and readiness to apply these skills in real-world educational contexts.

References

• Phelps, P. H. (2008). Helping teachers become leaders. The Clearing House, 81(3). https://doi.org/10.3200/TCHS.81.3
• Schlechty, P. C. (2001). Shaking up the school: How to Support and Sustain Educational Innovation. Jossey-Bass.
• Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Longman.
• Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017–1054.
• Flores, M. A., & Day, C. (2006).Contexts for learning: pedagogical approaches to professional development in schools. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22(2), 219–232.
• Hargreaves, A., & Fullan, M. (2012). Professional capital: Transforming teaching in every school. Teachers College Press.
• Loughran, J. (2002). Effective reflective practice: in search of meaning in learning about teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(1), 33–43.
• Vasquez, V., Hogan, K., & Lamberg, T. (2011). Common Core State Standards and the Role of Teacher Leadership. Journal of Teacher Leadership, 4(2), 38–45.
• Day, C. (1999). Developing Teachers: The Challenges of Lifelong Learning. Routledge.
• Lieberman, A., & Mace, D. (2008). Teachers as leaders in their schools: Building a culture of collaborative professionalism. In D. H. Gitomer & C. C. Bell (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teacher Education (pp. 488–502). Routledge.