ED 8444 u01d1 Introductions
Post a brief bio of yourself, including your specialty and degree program, area of work, goal after completion of your degree program, and geographic location or time zone. This information will assist in developing a community of inquiry in this courseroom.
Hello to all.
Again, my name is Britt Gulstrand. I live in Saint Paul, Minnesota (fabulous place to live, even after the ridiculously long winter we just came out of) in the Central Time Zone. I live here with my husband, Mark, my two daughters (ages 14 and almost 11 – in 3 weeks!), and three young-ish Golden retrievers (ages 5, 4, and 3). Between the lot of them and my school obligations, I am very busy.
My degrees are in science teaching: I have a B.S. in Middle School Science and an M.Ed in Secondary Science Curriculum and Instruction. I also started to earn an M.S. in Geoscience (online program endorsed by the National Science Teachers of America) last spring. However, as of next week, I will be putting this on hold in order to focus ALL of my professional energy on my PhD.
I am seeking to complete a PhD in Post-Secondary and Adult Education, with an addendum of the Post Master’s Certificate in College Teaching. I am three quarters away from completing all necessary and required coursework. I will have completed all coursework and colloquia by December 30, 2011. I have doubled up on my coursework to meet this goal. This will leave my doctoral exam and of course, the dissertation to be completed after the New Year.
My goal upon completion is to attain challenging yet satisfying employment in the Adult Education community. I have added a couple of non-required courses to my last few quarters in order to round out my already well-balanced education at Capella. I have done so in order to best meet the needs of a future employer. Many years ago I made the mistake of not seeking sound advice, and received a perfectly good but limited teaching license. This has since come back to haunt me as I seek a different path in education. However, I now believe I am on the right path for my next stage in professional education.
I spent the last 15 years in the K-12 sector of education as a middle school science teacher. Upon being offered a teaching position in the district where my own children attended school, and closer to our home, I found myself in the “new kid on the block” position. Because of the “last person in, first person out” hiring policy, coupled with the downfall of the economy two years ago, I found myself without a teaching position in August 2010. I now consider it to be an absolute blessing.
Although the experience as a whole was instrumental in becoming the educator I dreamed of being, I found that I longed to make education a “better place” through a different path, that being adult education. I feel that I took advantage of every offered opportunity while in K-12 education and simply ran out of methods of being an integral catalyst for change. I am hoping to resume that passion as I head into the world of adult education.
No matter which doors are opened for me upon completing the PhD, I look forward to the challenges and experiences that lay before me. Whether I play a role in educating new and talented teachers or in a role that takes me to the community college/university environment, bringing education to the historically underserved (Swail, 2002), I am thrilled to have this opportunity to expand my learning in ways I never thought possible. The PhD community has been challenging and enriching, and I am honored to have had the opportunity to learn with exceptional people.
Swail, M. (2002). Higher education and the new demographics: Questions for policy change. Change, 34(4), 14. Retrieved from EBSCOhost on April 15, 2011.
