Pursuing Education In An Urban Setting With Elementary School Child

Essay 1

The two experiences that have motivated me to pursue education in an urban setting with elementary school children are the community development project in Belize and the honors colloquium - Educational Equity & Civil Rights. When I enrolled at the University of Arkansas, I had a burgeoning interest in education due in part to the volunteer opportunities with children I had experienced in high school. Because of this interest, I decided to join the community development program in Belize’s education team. The goal of this project was to holistically improve the community of Dangriga, Belize by bringing together students and faculty from a myriad of disciplines and skill sets: business, engineering, education, ecology, and public health.

I was the only non-education major and the only male on my team. In Dangriga, my co-teacher and I facilitated daily literacy skill small groups for 2nd and 3rd graders and taught creative writing lessons with 4th and 5th graders. In addition, we helped the health and business teams create lesson plans for high school students. Not only did I get the opportunity to view education from an interdisciplinary perspective, but I also developed a better understanding of working with children in underprivileged areas. The students I worked with were so eager to learn, and although they seemed to be unaffected by their condition, in comparison to my own education these children were grossly underserved. This experience not only strengthened my desire to work in education, but also awakened my awareness of how different levels of educational privileges affect

As an educator, I would now feel comfortable to seek assistance and guidance from my supervisors and peers when I need the support. Considering that educating elementary school children in urban settings will be a new and challenging experience for me, I feel confident in knowing that I will feel comfortable taking advantage of the support and guidance from those around me and that this will allow me to be a better educator. In addition, this experience will help me to emphasize to my students that education is a community and interpersonal experience. I would want to help my students understand that they can work together when they are struggling and to take advantage of all of the resources that they can to succeed. Without accidentally trapping myself in this graduate level statistics course, I would not have had the experience to grow as a learner and open myself up to seeking help from outside