Personal Statement: Motivation, Leadership, And Career Goals

My primary career goal is to study and work with artificial intelligence. Medical procedures, food distribution, and medical diagnoses could all be improved by incorporating it. Artificial intelligence is going to shape the future in groundbreaking ways, and I wish to become a part of it.

Time is passing and opportunities are opening for more students with special needs. Many students in college are getting more interested in Special Education as career that will allow more organization to have more workers with a big potential that will have an important impact on these kids with disabilities. However, this will require more training for the students that organizations around the country can give them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,“the career outlook for special education teachers should remain steady through 2024, with an increase of 6%, the national average for job growth in the United States. The median salary for this position is just over $55,000 annually,” (“Master in Special Education”) The approach the

First, about my past leadership skills were understanding and gaining knowledge from people. When I was a child, I would always look up to my father and mother as role models to help lead a family together. Both of my parents gave me positive reinforcement in school and out of school so I can be successful in life. I have also taken an interest in

The leadership of the special education director is an essential role in the educational realm. Two of

In the profession of a special education teacher, a person commits to helping children achieve their best and to help “students overcome their obstacles” while finding a way that the child can effectively learn (Hollingsworth). My mom’s career as special education teacher for twenty-two years, allows me insight and experience into the tougher aspects of this career, but also the rewards to the job. My mom helps me understand that a special education teacher guides a child to expand their strengths, develop strategies to overcome weakness, and to make best use of all available resources. Through helping her, and learning from her experiences, she taught me that a career in special education can not only challenge me, but may also become a

Since the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was finalized, in October, 2006, there has been a push to transition special education students into general education classes. This places additional pressure on the general education teachers and their school districts, who are expected to prepare them. Before a district can initiate the change there are several issues that need to be addressed. Districts are supposed to provide specialized professional training that prepares a general teacher would need to be funded at the district level, unfortunately, many districts can’t afford it. As noted by Allison Gulamhussein, in many districts,

Leadership in Special Education has been the objective for a long time. A few years into the education field, through collaboration with peers, shared visions, and most importantly several years of experience in the area of special education, becoming a special education director is now becoming more of a reality. Even though lifestyle changes prolonged this dream, until recently things started to fall into place, and now the opportunity is presenting itself again.

Is a leader as defined in the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, merely one who leads - synonymous with a boss? Or something more? I believe that a leader is much more than that and can be defined in any number of ways. In attempting to define a leader personally, I will use both myself and others as examples.

Starratt’s work resonates with any educational change initiative, but this book has added dimension and depth to my work. Every day I attempt to orchestrate organizational change in dysfunctional special education departments that serve special needs individuals. First, Starratt (2004) makes it clear that an overarching goal of an effective and ethical educational leader is not only to identify the critical areas of concern, but to initiate the change needed to uphold and enhance the “common good.” In my current career, that applies to special education systems requiring reform where unwilling administrators do not reorganize priorities for that to happen. While the definition of the phrase, “the common good” may be unclear, when it comes to initiating change in special education practices, the indisputable outcome should be the ownership of all special needs students by every staff member.

While I attended Wichita State University for my bachelors of Social Work, I was afforded the opportunity to participate in a leadership program two consecutive years. We learned tips on strategies to become more effective leaders. Whenever I participate in activities that require me to take a leadership or supervisory role, I tend to think of what I learned in the program. The conflict that I identified as a supervisor in this activity was mainly that we had a student with erratic behavior, with firearms at home, and a mother who not only, saw nothing wrong with it, but wanted him removed from public school and is largely uncooperative with the school regarding his psych eval.

Presently I am a Special Education teacher working with children who have a wide range of disabilities. My class setting is integrated, which mean half of the class is general and the other half is special. My primary goal is to modify general education lesson plans to meet each student’s needs and abilities. These needs may include, but not limited to emotional, physical or cognitive disabilities, teaching basic literacy and life skills. I have an interest in this field because I feel with the proper help and assistant; students make positive changes in their academic and social life. Providing early intervention is essential when teaching kids with disabilities. One of the main reasons why I have made the decision to pursue a PhD in education, specialization in Special educator, is because I enjoy what I do and would like to make a difference. My ultimate goal is to keep making a difference by helping those that needed it and provide them with the proper resources to enhance their ability. I want to be an example to my children and have them see the end result of what happens when one desire to strive for the best and what they can accomplish. I want my children to see that with hard work, motivation, dedication, concentration, and having no limits that they will attain any goals they may set forth.

During the last six weeks, I have learned a lot about the true meaning of a good leader. The discussions have helped me identify what my strengths are and what are the areas that I need to improve on. Although, I have been in management roles, I would not identify myself yet as a leader. I am a very result driven individual which is strength of mine, but that can also lead me to be desensitized to other’s emotions or challenges they might be facing. Throughout the course, I have also come to realize that I have limited self-awareness. On the contrary, one of my strengths is my social awareness. I have the ability to go into social or networking events and pick up on emotions, or facial expressing to understand the overall mood of that environment. To be socially aware is particularly beneficial because, I can find common ground with anyone I meet to initiate conversation. Therefore, when I see that person again, I can make those personal connections. Another one of my strengths is the ability to look at a current process and streamline it to a leaner, more effective and efficient way. During the last several years I have been hired to be the visionary of new divisions and to implement processes that would support the company’s vision and mission while still driving results. My values are what contribute to the success I have been able to achieve over the years, however. My resilience and work ethic towards my job shows through in the

The key to any successful school district is the administration. Teachers essentially provide structure, organization, and the background of a child’s future. To educate students with learning disabilities, it is essential that the staff has the training and resources needed for the appropriate people, place, and time (Lazarus) (What is Inclusion, 2001, n.p). It is unrealistic to expect that regular education teachers will always be aware of the latest research or be able to readily adapt the school's

In discussions with Ben Robertson and Matthew Rose on what our topic for the Instructional Leadership Action Plan (ILAP), we all believed that providing teachers with more information on the Special Education Process would well serve the needs of all teachers. Ben and I both talked to our principals about having the ILAP at our respective schools and both principals agreed that the need for it was great in both buildings. However, when discussing travel for Matthew it was decided that we would have the ILAP at Nickelsville Elementary and would later hold the same ILAP, based on our feedback from teachers at Nickelsville Elementary and our cohort, at Gate City Middle School.

It has been 10 years passed since last time I entered in college as a freshman, and now, at the end of 2017, I decide to go back to college for pursuing a new major and reaching a new objective of career path. All of these will start from Fullerton College.