James Jensen
Educator / Learner
Future Learning Goals
Beyond The Walls Of A Classroom
"By all means, learn beyond the classroom. In the end, that's all that will matter"
Gossy Ukanwoke
When creating a roadmap for oneself, it is wise to begin with reflection. Reflection on our wants, needs, and passions. Critical self-reflection can be a daunting process. It causes us to ask ourselves the tough questions about the future. For me, I have always had an idea that my career would not be confined to the classroom. Not that there's anything wrong with the classroom or my everyday practice, but I have had a sense that I may eventually find myself elsewhere. As a lifelong learner with a deep passion for teaching and learning across all forms, I have seen my personal and professional interests align with leadership more than anything. Leadership, while a broad topic and area of study, is the cornerstone for successful schools. In order to have successful educational institutions that work for all students, we need to have effective leadership at all levels. My passion for leadership permeates into all facets of what I do and plan to do throughout my career. I believe that the ultimate goal of educational leaders should be to empower teachers and administrators to be constantly reflective, push to develop their practice, and emulate the characteristics of lifelong learning. In order to become the most effective educational leader that I can be, I hope to pursue three core areas of future study beyond graduation: integrate technology into the professional development that I design, continue my work with non-profit advocacy centered around teacher empowerment, and grow my own professional skills in teaching and leadership through continued coursework via the University of Chicago.
Goal 1: Technology Integration with Professional Development
Throughout my professional experience and through my coursework, I have seen the significance of technology integration across all contexts of education. Advances in communication and digital technologies have shifted the landscape of education for all learners, both adolescent and adult. From spending time across a multitude of professional development and training programs aimed at skill building in new teachers, I have seen firsthand just how ineffective these training models can be. I have been fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to help redesign training and professional development programs like these for a number of Chicago Public Schools. Moving forward, I hope to focus my design process around technological integration that can allow for a more experiential, collaborative approach to training and professional development. More specifically, I hope to utilize the Google Education Suite to focus more narrowly on collaboration. Training and professional development needs to be hands on and applicable to the learner. When we emphasize the learner and connectedness, we see real learning taking place. By utilizing the Google Education Suite and technologies like it, we can reimagine what training and professional development looks like for teachers and administrators.
Goal 2: Empower Teachers via Non-Profit Involvement
For the last 2.5 years, I have been working with the non-profit group Teachers Supporting Teachers part-time in addition to teaching full-time at Sayre Language Academy. TST is built on the idea that in order to retain teachers, we identify and build their capacity to have a lasting impact in their schools. The mission of Teachers Supporting Teachers is to mobilize and support teacher leaders to have a lasting impact in their schools. During this time working with TST, I have acted as a professional instructional coach for teacher leaders in various schools within CPS. Prior to coaching, I was the teacher leader at Sayre and provided professional development to staff, worked as a mentor for new teachers, and led other forms of programming last year. The coaching and leadership work I have provided to these teacher leaders has led to (data backed) teacher empowerment, the formation of new mentorship and programming committees at their respective schools, and effective projects, development, and team formation all centered around the idea of teacher development and empowerment. Moving forward, a goal of mine is to not only continue this work centered around teacher empowerment and mobilization, but to expand my role. Currently, I am instructional coach for two schools and work with two outside teachers, in addition to the teacher leader at my school. My hope is that I can expand this role and manage two more schools under my caseload by the end of this next school year.
Goal 3: Return to School to Pursue my PhD
My last major goal upon graduation is a simplistic yet significant one: I hope to go back to school. It sounds crazy to say that now, having spent so much time in educational programs the last 8 years, but I feel called to continuing my schooling beyond a Master’s degree. The University of Chicago’s Urban Education Institute has several world-renowned programs that are focused on educational leadership and accountability. These programs are incredibly competitive, but their research and results are fascinating. In order to maximize my own potential as a teacher leader, administrator, and curriculum/instructional coach, I believe I need to enter one of these programs and pursue a PhD in Educational Leadership and Accountability.
Looking Ahead
Being reflective is important. It gives us a sense of where we have come from but also where we are going and want to go. My journey with Michigan State University has been long and filled with twists and turns. I would not be where I am today without the skills and relationships I have built through this University and this program. It has taught me a lot about my practice but also what it means to be reflective and what it means to lead.