Culminating Experience Journey of a Reflective Educator

Background

The masters degree program in the Department of Reading Education is committed to the conceptual model of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh College of Education and Human Services. At the heart of this framework is the development of the educator as Caring Intellectual. As a reading educator, such an individual would exemplify the harmonious integration of four key roles: reflective professional, skillful practitioner, change agent and lifelong learner. In those roles, the Caring Intellectual would have actively explored issues and ideas in the field of reading as they relate to culture, learning, content, diversity, curriculum and pedagogy. The Department of Reading Education Department has embraced assessment characteristics compatible: assessment should be authentic, performance-based, ongoing, individualized, personalized, flexible, and growth-oriented.

Summary of Directions

In accordance with this, as a culmination of your degree work you will be required to submit a Reflective Journey Project, READING 798 in which you have documented your growth and change on your journey of becoming a Caring Intellectual. You must provide evidence within this portfolio that you have achieved goals reflecting competencies as a reflective professional, skillful practitioner, change agent and lifelong learner. In providing this evidence, you must demonstrate that issues and ideas related to culture, learning content, diversity, curriculum and pedagogy have been addressed.

As you initially embark on this journey, in READING 705 Reading in the Elementary School and READING 735 Adolescent Literacy:Programs and Practices you will be asked to provide written statements profiling past and current efforts as a reflective professional, skillful practitioner, change agent and lifelong learner. From these profiles, you will be asked to identify key goals on which to work as your journey continues.

As you move into the program, you will be involved in course work designed to assist your development as a reflective professional, skillful practitioner, change agent and lifelong learner. You will be invited to use opportunities within your course work to work on identified goals. Projects completed as a part of the course work can be integrated into your learning portfolio to serve as evidence documenting progress toward those key goals.

Evidence may include, but not be limited to, EXAMPLES such as the following:

Reflective Professional: intense goal setting reflecting new avenues of practice with timeline projecting completion, development of a philosophy, best sample entries from learning logs, reflective journals, reader response activities; thoughtfully written essays, commentaries, position papers, autobiographies, personal stories; submitted or professionally published manuscripts;

Skillful Practitioner: identification and implementation of a personal learning experience positioning one to be in close contact with professionals, best sample lesson plans, case studies of work with individuals and groups of students, analyzed copies of student work, photos and summaries of changes in classroom practices;

Change Agent: letters of invitation, support and appreciation documenting professional presentations, political involvement, and leadership in professional organizations; products as outcomes of program development;

Lifelong Learners: Logs and annotations of self-initiated readings, records of attendance at professional meetings.

Near the end of the journey in READING 785 Practicum in Reading, you will be asked to professionally prepare your Reflective Journey Project for review. You must clearly outline the contents of your portfolio, caption evidence contained within and provide a final reflective statement evaluating the growth in the four key areas: reflective professional, skillful practitioner, change agent and lifelong learner. Material presented must be summarized and limited to what will fit within the official notebook you are provided.

Your Reflective Journey Project will be reviewed by two faculty members, one you choose when completing the Candidacy worksheet and the other will be selected at random by department personnel once Reading faculty have approved your Candidacy.We wish you well on your journey. 

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