Where to next?

Where to next?

Finishing my degree is only one more stepping stone on my lifelong learning journey. I am looking forward to having space from my formal education to pursue the pending informal education opportunities that I seek. Firstly, I need to find a mentor for my next phase of life. As “adulting” becomes more complex in my growing family, I recognize the need for guidance and support in my personal and professional life. Second, I must learn the primary steps for starting a world schooling hub. As of this writing, this seems the best route to begin the institution I envision. Third, learning the various paths to take in educating my child is necessary. His birth has transformed my relationship with my degree and I want to continue exploring how to serve his growth best.

Mentorship

One of the biggest characteristics of my professional life highlighted in pursuing my Master’s degree is how unconventional an educator I am. I often had to consult with my professors to determine how I could meet assignment requirements given my specific working situation. When the assignments required real-world intervention, I used small groups of homeschool students, random classes I was attending outside of MSU, or my learning journey. Living and teaching in various countries has meant that my perspective is colored by a wide array of cultural and teaching contexts. I am not strictly a teacher. Education is among my professional pursuits. Utilizing my Masters, finding fulfillment in my working life, and being the parent, co-parent, and partner I want to require tact that I am acquiring with each passing day. However, the complexity of my life situation can be made simple with the guidance of experienced educators, world changers, and parents from whom I can learn. Today, I do not have a specific question. However, new challenges arise every week. Finding a mentor who can offer wisdom and experience outside of what I know can alleviate the mental and emotional burden of forging a path I have never seen. Following my degree I will leverage LinkedIn to find leaders in alternative education who can offer insight and guidance.

Worldschooling

Engaging with the worldschooling community feels like an appropriate and achievable entry point for me to build the institution I envision. I foresee being able to create programs and experiences catered to educational tourists, that can ultimately support place-based educational programming for students in my community. While I have imagined this model in various permutations, I have no experience launching such an organization. I need to learn more about worldschooling hubs, business models for worldschool programs, and models for integrating local and tourist educational experiences. Creating a successful educational institution requires learning from previous endeavors. While I have yet to hear of an organization doing what I envision, I do not want to reinvent the wheel. There are successful worldschooling programs that include cultural immersion and engage meaningfully with local students. I need to study what has been done to build what I intend to be better. I recently joined a worldschooling Facebook group with thousands of members from around the world. I intend to begin reaching out to folks who run worldschooling hubs and scheduling visits and informational interviews.

Child Raising

A significant chunk of my pedagogy revolves around my son. He is my most valued student. While he is still under one year old, I spend time considering what his educational needs are and how his educational journey will unfold. How can I facilitate a productive and valuable learning experience for him? How do I integrate his learning into our lives? In my degree, I learned about children’s literature, which I used to build his library. I used my class in multicultural classrooms to start writing letters for him about his identity to ensure he is prepared to meaningfully engage with his heritage. There will be plenty more considerations for his learning that I need to study.  I want to seek courses on edX and Coursera that can guide me in early education.

Completing my degree marks a significant milestone, but it is merely an additional stepping stone along my education journey. I am eager to explore new avenues of learning that go beyond formal education. My immediate goals include finding a mentor to guide me through the complexities of personal and professional growth, particularly as I balance the demands of my family. Another key priority is diving into the worldschooling community, which aligns with my vision for creating an educational hub. Finally, I want to continue shaping my approach to my son’s education, ensuring that his learning experience is integrated into our lives in meaningful ways. With these goals in mind, I am excited to step away (at least for now) from higher education and engage with my future vision.