Assignment: Defining Your Mission to Promote Positive Change

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." -Henry Adams

You may be familiar with this iconic quote about teaching by Henry Adams, an American historian and member of the family that included two U.S. presidents. Of course, the idea applies to all teachers, women and men. The idea is also at the heart of Walden University's expectations for you as a member of the BSEE program-to prepare teachers who are ready and able to promote positive change. That change might be at the level of a single child, a family, or a community. Whatever the scope may be, it means actively working from the belief that you can affect eternity. The decisions you make each day in your future classroom can have a lasting and positive influence on your students and through them, in larger ways. Pause to consider what a powerful and exciting proposition it is to be a teaching professional!

Your potential influence also means that it is important to consider fundamental beliefs you hold about education and the purpose of school. Your reading in the text this week included an exploration of the two main viewpoints on the purpose of school: to transmit society's knowledge and values, and to reconstruct society.

As you read, you may have found yourself agreeing more strongly with one viewpoint or another. For this Assignment, you will expand on your initial thinking to support you in setting goals to meet as a teacher change-maker.

To prepare:

• Review the Week 1 Learning Resources. Pay particular attention to the reading in Chapter 9 of the text, "What Is the Purpose of School?" (pp. 248-255 in the text), and any other Learning Resources that can help you reflect on the purpose of school.

• Complete the exercise "Where Do You Stand?" on pages 253-254 of the text. (You may print out these pages to make it easier to answer the questions and interpret your responses. You are not required to turn in the exercise as part of this Assignment.)

• Reflect on your responses and what they indicate about your beliefs about the fundamental purpose of school: to transmit culture or to reconstruct society.

• Consider any functions of school that you believe are not included among the 20 points in the exercise.

• Think about how your beliefs about the purpose of school will influence your role as a teacher professional and your mission as a teacher change-maker. Consider the value of critical thinking as a teacher professional and how self-directed learning will have an impact on your teaching.

To complete this Assignment:

• State your views on the purpose of school. Include at least two points that are not listed in the "Where Do You Stand?" exercise, and explain your reasoning.

• Explain how your views about the purpose of school relate to your ideas about the role of a teacher professional. Include ways critical thinking and self-directed learning will support your role as a teacher professional.

• Working from your concept of the purpose of school, state 2-3 goals for how you can embody the Walden goal of promoting positive change as a teacher-in transmitting culture or in reconstructing society.

• Refer to the text and other resources this week to support your thinking. Be sure to cite all Learning Resources using APA style.