To Teach or To Learn: Future Goals Essay
by: Candace Bill
Of all the categories for this capstone website, the ability to talk about my future goals is the most intriguing part. I started my journey within my Master of Education in 2017, so it has been a long road towards my goals. With this educational addition to my repertoire, I am hoping to become much more desired within the college community and eventually secure a teaching career either online or in the classroom. My three plans for future study include connecting socially with college professors and human resources professionals, securing a part time position at a college, and finally returning to school to continue my education with a Doctor of Philosophy in Education.
My first goal is to improve my social connections within the human resources and college professor community in hopes of leveraging these connections in a future career. Historically, I have learned that a great method of networking is by joining Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA) conferences. As a certified human resource professional (CHRP), I must maintain my certification by paying for a membership and fulfilling educational requirements every year. The HRPA offers conferences and information sessions frequently to help CHRP members fulfill their educational requirements. In these sessions, there is multiple opportunities to connect with other HR processionals, specifically ones who are already teaching at a local college. At the conference, I will pass out business card and expect them in return. I will connect with everyone on LinkedIn to discover if anyone is directly aligned with my career path and could help with guidance on how to reach my goal. The benefit of this goal is the additional learning that will also be added. These HRPA conferences often have themes and are used to keep current HR professionals current with new policies, procedures, and best practices.
My second goal for future learning is to secure part-time employment either online or at the local college, known as Fanshawe College. This goal becomes more complex because I have no experience teaching and the school will want some previous experience to hire a new teacher. My plan to start teaching is to use my connections from my first goal to moonlight as a speaker within an already established HR class at the college. I will use my willing connection as a mentor and join classes to take notes of their program planning. Hopefully, they will be understanding and want the extra help of a teacher in training in the classroom or online environment. The reason I consider this goal a learning goal is because I need to create and expand my teaching capabilities and I know it would be an immense learning curve to transition from working professionally to teaching professionally.
I would like to make use of my Master of Education and not waste the time I have spent learning theories, history, planning, and other elements of the numerous courses. To ensure I achieve this goal, I am also willing to expand my school choices to non-local online schools or less accredited colleges. Of all my professional goals, obtaining a teaching career is the highest on my list.
My final future learning goal is to continue my formal education and achieve my doctoral research degree in either education or business. When applying to Michigan State University (MSU), my intent was to complete a master’s program at an accredited university. I had already achieved a masters at a for-profit school, but it was not considered highly enough to apply to the Canadian school for a doctorate. To achieve this goal, I need to research the best school available with online classes and within my limited budget. My workplace will pay for my education, but with yearly limitations. This yearly limitation becomes relevant with most schools offering limited timeframes to complete all the course, much like MSU with the five-year limit on a master’s degree. To ensure my education is relevant to my location, I will attempt to apply to a Canadian school, likely Athabasca University. Although a large part of me is ready to have the free time, I know my mind will not stay idle and I will get eager to make use of my workplace tuition assistance.
My future goals after my master’s degree is complete are lofty and time consuming. They all involve personal effort and could become more difficult than anticipated. I need to ensure I keep a balance between my personal life and my professional life prior to exerting too much effort on goals. I know I will work hard to network and achieve a teaching career, but my intentions to obtain a doctorate may be implausible. However, my current targets involve all my goals listed above.