Running head: MA CULMINATING ESSAY

MA Culminating Essay
Melissa Corts
Teachers College, Columbia University
April 8, 2014

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A. Change in Professional and/or Intellectual Self-Image

Looking back at the personal statement that I provided when I was applying to Teachers
College, not much has changed when it comes to my goals and interests. However, what has
changed is how quickly I want to get there. I have realized that it is okay to take a little longer to
figure out exactly what I want and that I do not need to have the answer to what I want to do for
the rest of my life. I can try different positions and work with different types of students, and it
doesnt mean that I have to change my ultimate goals.
Due to my personal experiences, I have developed a longing to work in areas dedicated to
bettering the lives and futures of low-income and underrepresented youths. My mother was very
young when I was born, but she always did everything in her power to make sure I received the
best education possible. First, by making sure to finish her own education and, second, by
placing me in the best educational environments she could find. For this reason, my education
was always my escape. I may have grown up on welfare and not have had the luxuries that other
children were privy to, but in school none of that mattered. At school we were all the same and
we all had access to the same resources. From the time I entered the classroom until the time that
I left, nothing else mattered except for what we were learning. The teachers I had did not judge
us on where we came from or what we were wearing. They simply wanted to help us succeed.
This feeling never changed whether I was in elementary school or completing my graduate
degree. I guess I am so drawn to education because I want to be able to do the same thing for
other students. I believe that everyone has a right to the best education possible and I want to be
a part of a field that hopes to make this a reality.
I have had multiple experiences with low-income communities. The first being my own
life, and the second is from continuously returning to volunteer in these environments. As I

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mentioned, my parents were very young when I was born. Additionally, my parents were not
married and my mother was forced to care for me on her own. For this reason I grew up on
welfare in Harlem, NY. I never noticed that this was a problem; to me it was the way that
everyone lived. However, looking back I can see how different my early life was from my
privileged classmates. Something that I noticed even more when I attended a commuter college
in an affluent neighborhood. Around my early teenage years we were able to move into a better
area, but that did not end my experience with low-income students. Throughout high school and
to this day I have volunteered my time with students from low-income backgrounds. In high
school I would assist students with their homework at an after-school program for low-income
families. Also, my mother became a teacher in East New York and, for the past few years, I have
volunteered my time whenever possible at the school. Having these experiences has helped me to
realize how much of a need there is in these type of communities and how to approach these
types of situations. The Higher and Postsecondary Education program helped me to realize just
how much help these students need and some of the ways in which we can help them. However,
the program also made me realize that a one year program was not going to give me all the
answers in just how to make these changes. That is when I realized that I still have a lot to learn
and it might take me a while to reach my goals, but Ill be that much wiser for taking the scenic
path to get there.
I am aware that I still have a lot to learn, especially since the majority of my education
before this year has nothing to do with Higher Education. I view my time in this program as
something to pull from throughout this learning curve of mine. I would like to take a few years to
work after I finish the program to get some real life experience, and then come back for further

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study. I am interested in the development process of students and I would like to do research in
this area in the future as I pursue an advanced degree.
Knowing all this now, I guess if I had to rewrite my personal statement, it would look
something like this:
When I reflect upon my thoughts about student affairs professionals, the first word that
comes to mind is service. I believe that the people who go into this field are not there for the
money, but rather for the people. Maybe this is an overly optimistic view, but one that I believe
nonetheless. I actually went to school to become an accountant with the idea that the only reason
you get a job is for the money and, therefore, the only reason you go to college is to get a jobI
was a first generation student and did not have much context about the college process. About a
semester into my time at college I realized how much I hated what I was studying, but I still
believed that financial gain was the all important factor which led me to stick to my major. It
took me until my senior year to realize that I truly needed to enjoy the work I did, this was going
to be what I would be doing with my life and not just four years at college.
The majority of my time throughout college was spent engaged in extracurricular
activities: I was on the executive board of the student government, I was the Editor-in-chief of
our news organization, I was a Student Ambassador, I was (I actually still am) an involved
member of our college community. I loved my school and everyone knew it. When I look back at
my time in college, the majority of my fondest memories occurred outside of the classroom
this is also where I met some of my most influential mentors. When I hit this time in my college
career, realizing that I needed to rethink my future, it was these individuals that I turned to to
help me make a realistic plan. I was under the impression that there was nothing that I truly
enjoyed that I could see myself doing for an extended period of time, but it was the Director of

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Campus Life that pointed out that all of my involvement on campus did not have to stop once I
walked across the stage on graduation day. She informed me that all of my involvement could be
turned into a careerthis was the first time I realized that Student Affairs was more than just
something fun to do after class. When I look back on how my time in college has influenced my
career goals, I realized that the most important part of my education happened outside of the
classroom: this was where I was challenged, this is where I developed as a person, this was
where I honed my skills and began to understand my passions. I wanted to make sure I could
help make this a possibility for future students; I think it is safe to say that this was the initial
goal I had that led me to pursue this program.
But where am I now? Technically, it has only been a year since I made the decision to go
into Higher Education, so not too much has changed but my goals are definitely more developed
than just I want to help students. Throughout this year I have supplemented my in class
education with an internship in Admissions. My time working in admissions has opened my eyes
to how wide the college preparation gap is, something I was never even conscious of a year ago.
Reading the applications of students in impacted areas made me realize how important it is for
students to have proper counseling and education; there is so much more than just showing up to
school that truly prepares someone for college. This is now one of my goals. I hope to be able to
influence students that have college going aspirations, but a lack of supportit breaks my heart
to have to deny a student that is so passionate to get out of their community and do better for
themselves, but their grades and activities are below our expectations. If only these students had
that one person that guided them throughout the college process, then they could be such an
inspirational addition to an elite college community.

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It is my belief that Student Affairs Educators should be the support system of the next
generation. College-age students are going through an extremely vulnerable time in their life and
they need those who have successfully been through the process to help them along. The
majority of those students will not continue on to become Student Affairs professionals, it takes a
very specific kind of person (in my mind) to commit themselves to this type of job. I feel as
though I am an altruistic kind of person, and that for the most part the Student Affairs field is
driven by this personality trait; those who would rather do for other people than seek out some
sort of personal gain. However, the natural trend is for people to advance towards leadership the
longer they are in the field; one of my fears is that as I advance in my career I will move further
from the students. This program will surely lead me towards a job in Higher Education, but I am
hoping to discover a way to remain in a position where I can influence the lives of students while
also moving up the ranks within my career.

B. Intellectual Development:
One of the concepts that I took the most interest in during this past year was the
topic of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). Lee Shulmans Teaching as Community
Property: Essays on Higher Education (2004). In the book, Shulman discusses what makes up
PCK and how Jaime Escalante used this in his teaching.
When looking at Escalantes teaching methods, as summarized on pages 130-133 (2004),
there are seven kinds of knowledge that present themselves. These types of knowledge include
the knowledge of the subject matter, curriculum knowledge, knowledge of the learners and their
prior experiences, general pedagogical knowledge, knowledge of the purposes and value of the
subject matter, knowledge of educational contexts and pedagogical content knowledge (p. 92-

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93). According to Shulmans theory of pedagogical content knowledge, which he explains further
in Knowledge and Teaching (2004), it is the combination of these different types of
understanding that allows for a subject to be taught effectively (p.93). In the former article,
Shulman takes particular interest in Escalantes teaching methodwhich was made famous by
Stand and Deliver (1988)because Shulman explains that Escalante uses each of these
knowledge bases in his lessons (p. 130).
The first type of teacher knowledge that Escalante uses is the one that is most basic, and
that is the knowledge of the subject matter. In other words, the teacher should have a deep and
expert understanding of the discipline that they are teaching. It seems like this knowledge base
should go without saying when it comes to teaching, but Shulman explains that it is becoming
more common for teachers to have a basic understanding of the main points of the subject and
not a deeper understanding of why these things are so if they were asked to explain it. Shulman
uses the example of the fifth grade math teacher who knows how to answer her students when
asked about the rules of mathematics, but cannot explain to them why it is so that when we
divide fractions by fractions, were supposed to invert and multiply because she never studied
that when she was in school (p. 131). A good teacher needs to understand the subject matter
completely and not just the important points. They need to be able to explain the principles of the
discipline and why it so that they are this way.
The next type of teacher knowledge that presents itself is curriculum knowledge. This is
when the teacher knows the educational materialssuch as textbookswell enough to be able
to weed out the pieces that are unimportant. For example, some teachers will use a textbook and
go in an orderly fashion through every chapter of the book. However, Shulman explains that an
outstanding pedagogue recognizes that you cant teach everything, and so understands the

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subject matter deeply enough to be selective (p. 131). He explains that the teacher needs to be
familiar with the resources to know whats in the book that you can live without (p. 131).
In order to aid in his teaching, Escalante also has the knowledge that the learners come
into the classroom with this set of prior experiences that aid in the learning process by linking the
individuals experiences and interests with the subject. Escalante does this when he connects the
concept of negative numbers to the beach. He explains that you dig a hole and you put the sand
next to the hole. The hole? Minus two (p. 130). Escalante knows all of the students have a basic
understanding of the sand and uses this basic concept in order to illustrate a more complex idea.
By doing this, Escalante helps the learners relate to the topic and internalize the information.
Next, the teacher must have knowledge of the purposes and values of the discipline. In
other words, the teacher knows the goals of the discipline and is able to direct the conversation
so that necessary information to understanding those goals is expressed in the learning process.
For example, Escalante understand that if you dont understand about negative and positive
numbers, you are dead as you continue trying to study mathematics (p. 130). So by knowing
what the goals of learning the subject are, Escalante is able to direct the early conversations and
lessons in order to discuss the principles that the students will need to build upon and refer to.
Stepping away from the subject matter specifically, the teacher also needs to have general
pedagogical knowledge. Meaning that there are general principles of classroom management that
are applicable to the teaching process regardless of the subject matter being discussed. Shulman
speaks to Escalantes expertise of this point when he remarks, Escalante had years of experience
teachinghe wasnt an instant success. He had to learn from experience (p. 132). In other
words, Escalante knew what worked and what didnt work when it came to teaching and
developed his teaching method in accordance with what helped him to teach the subject matter.

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Also, the teacher needs to have knowledge of educational contexts. This knowledge takes
on more of a social and political form, because the teacher needs to know what he is dealing with
as far as the students are concerned, the structure of the school and the cultural and community
impact. Shulman explains that Escalante stepped into an environment where the teachers had no
real expectations for the students. The existing teachers had decided, these are the wrong kinds
of kids for mathematics (p. 132). However, Escalante refused to give up on these students but
still recognized the fact that students didnt care because the community didnt care. Rather than
accepting these negative expectations, he challenged his students and organized his classroom in
such a way that he could capitalize on this understanding rather than reinforce it (p. 132).
The last piece, which Shulman explains both stands alone and as a combination of the
preceding principles, is Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). PCK is when the teacher is able
to blend the opposing concepts of content and pedagogy in such a way that they are able to
effectively transfer the subject matter to the learners (p. 92). One could argue that the entire piece
(p. 130-133) acts as an example of effective PCK. However, Shulman notes that Escalante is
simply an anomaly, so it is not his specific method that was effective, but rather his
understanding that there is a way to connect the subject matter to the individuals and discovering
what that balance isto Shulman mastering this balance is what leads to the desired results of
deeper learning (p.133-134).
I think the reason this concept stand out to me so much is because I hope to be able to use
it as I go on to teach as a corps member of Teach for America. I can only hope that my teaching
over the past year will help me to formulate lessons that would be able to get through to my
students, the way Escalante was able to get through to his.