Portfolio #1
Portfolio #1 Update
Winter 2008
Although the first portfolio review is expected to be completed by the end of the third semester of study, I personally found that I only had enough experience in the program to consider a serious consultation with my Advisory Committee upon completing my fourth semester (actually sixth, if you include my first semester as a pre-admitted student and the summer semester of 2008). Only following this Fall 2008 semester did I truly began to see how my ethereal goals stated for admission may actually begin to be realized in much more concrete ways. This realization also led to a complete re-shuffling of my Committee based on the discoveries I will share here and elsewhere. Although developed more fully in the Research Reflections, Professional Ponderings, and Analytic Synthesis portions of my portfolio, I will distill the essence in how “things” have changed since writing my Personal Goals Statement for Admission to GMU.
First, academically from a logistical perspective, I believe I have found an achievable balance of having two classes per semester and one or two over the summers. Two evenings at school, one to two other weeknights devoted to study, and every other weekend dedicated to this pursuit have proven manageable. From a content perspective, having completed the majority of the common core classes, I am now pursuing those titles which pertain to my specialization and secondary concentration and the fire is brightly burning. Although I have always made a point of using every available class assignment towards my own overall academic, research, and professional objectives where possible (I did this in my M.A. program as well), it has been difficult up until this most recent semester to genuinely make a serious connection with what I believe my contribution to the body of knowledge may be as I progress forward. My passion for lifelong learning has been tested and refined over the past 25 credit hours and led to a new level of maturity in how I approach my schooling. Not willing to sacrifice this precious time for “just anything,” I am even more passionate about how I integrate my prior academic work with the present. My original academic and research interests upon entering this program had stemmed from my experiences at the University of South Florida which culminated in 2004. There, I had looked at the leading factors which defined high-quality leadership development programs, particularly as they related to values formation in a military setting. I had initially thought that my GMU studies were to continue that work, particularly where such programs leveraged technology in the process. However, my academic interests have shifted to refining my understanding regarding a more theoretical confluence and how that impacts the new audience of which I am a part, the Federal government. It makes it particularly enjoyable when I see such a natural intersection – the principles of adult learning theory and game-based learning theory and how I might lead in ushering in a new era of promoting learning and development activity which supports that intersection. Subsequently, I am now finding it more difficult to schedule those classes which will align with this direction!
From a research perspective, the desire to be a person of influence was only begun to be realized during this most recent semester in completing a course on qualitative methods. The connection between academics, research, and my profession started to gel with the completion of a class project which uncovered the attitudes of Federal government employees towards e-learning using an interview-style of data collection. I believe this experience truly began to define my identity as a researcher and led to a heightened interest in further developing my role as a genuine contributor to the field.
Professionally, the most has changed. Commented on in much more depth elsewhere in this e-portfolio (Professional Ponderings), suffice it to say that I can very clearly reflect on the fact that I have found that profession in which I believe I will “flourish in this lifetime” (please see Personal Goals Statement for Admission). This past 24 months has involved a first retirement, the beginning of a new career, and introduced me to a body of believers – folks who actually make a living doing exactly that which I believe I could also do for the rest of my working life. The combination of academic rigor, research orientation, and performance-based outcomes is a reality for many of these new acquaintances and I am eager to join their ranks. Additionally, although I work for a Chief Learning Officer in government, I see the need for strong Instructional/Informational Technology skills as a growing competency for these positions and feel particularly well-suited with my direction at GMU to be poised for such opportunities down the road.
Finally, personally, I’ve now celebrated ten years of marriage and seen my wife enter a Doctoral program of her own. Together we’ve found a foundational purpose in education and our both pursuing to be educators. Our vision for the future is to hold professorial positions and use our talents to ignite others towards lifelong learning in the passions we each hold.