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Elements of Education: Final Reflection
Elements of Education: Final Reflection
Student 4
ENG 1311
The University of Texas at El Paso
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Elements of Education: Final Reflection
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Final Reflection
As I reflect upon this project and the amazing individuals who I interviewed, I feel
content that what they gave me was more than any student could have ever asked for. These
silent unsung educators are the backbone of our superb nation. They dispense their phenomenal
wisdoms for every generation to absorb and in turn become wiser themselves. Although the
profession of an educator is broad and exhausting, the rewards are far greater than the anguish
they endure. “You will not always touch every student. That is a fact. However, if I am able to at
least change the lives of a handful of them, I will go home with a satisfied mind”, said Garcia
with a smile. Educators are among the most peculiar and precarious of individuals on the planet
by assuming the duty of teaching the worlds next generation. “I find it a strange and sometimes
startling concept in the profession of teaching. It’s that we are in charge of designing the future
of the world…a little frightening if you think about it” said Vega.
What I gained from the interviews was a final moment to complete my transaction from
High school to college. However, in that small frame of time I was able to recycle what these
great educators had taught me; I rediscovered the purpose behind why they teach.
From Lopez, I was given the compassion and excitement for all types of literature; I
learned that every book has a deeper purpose behind its words, even a children’s book. Every
day I am able to see answers in all things, but I find it more interesting to see life as an infinite
paradox.
Garcia taught me the values of learning, being appreciative to all things because I have
the capability to apply any concept into my fortitude of knowledge. But what he also taught me
was to wise with the knowledge that I have earned.
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Through Vega I achieve the concept of my endless imagination; I was able to find an
expressive way to elaborate my idea into a “living” creation of mine. I learned that the mind and
the soul can create wondrous things.
The purpose in naming each individual interview after a universal element is interpreted
by the title of my project: “The elements of education”. I wanted to guide the reader closer to the
ideals and personality of the educator I was interviewing as well as the characteristics the subject
holds.
For instance Garcia is an individual who is always growing, even at 30, he still wishes to
learn and is always eager for more adventures; he is like ambitious fire, whose flames fan far and
wide, spreading across the air. Fire also pertains to Literature because it is ever expanding by
locating a solid past source, like grass or wood or Shakespeare, and burns it, not destroying it but
changing its form into something entirely new.
Lopez is person rooted with tradition and led by her predecessor’s belief of heritage, she
teaches the basis of Literature, from grammar to rhetoric; like the earth, she is always in tune
with the past and readily admires its beauty.
Vega is like water, always thinking, always analyzing, but remains quiet; the ideals he
formulates are original just as the flow of water is formless. Art in this sense is like water, it can
be contained in any size, shape, or form and it is powerful enough to break iron and steel,
perhaps even the ideals of nation. I wanted the reader to be able to connect the symbolism of the
educator and the element before and after they have read the interview because I feel that a
human being is more connected with the small simple things, rather than the huge and
complicated.
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“Paperwork”, is a term widely used by all public school educators; it a reoccurring theme
that I discovered during my three interviews as well as researching my career. The nondictionary definition of “paperwork”, which most educators refer to means the countless forms
and regulations they must consent in order to teach by their state’s standards. They have no
choice really. For example, the three educators whom I interviewed all agreed, independently, on
the idea that their lessons are dismembered and remade to better suite the schools appearance on
paper. “The school demands funding, that’s apparent, but what I take personally is the districts
interruption of my, and many others, teachings for students”, said Lopez. Garcia said something
similar, “I want to give my student s a greater education. How can I accomplish this if my rubric
is dismantled into a TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skill) only learning style? I
must admit, I am bit more professional than this.” What both Garcia and Lopez are referring to
are the district’s policy on public school rating when it comes to testing and state evaluations; the
district applies its limits for teaching openly; it would rather have educators teach to improve a
student’s capability to score higher on tests rather than incorporate different skills and abilities
for their future. Even non-vocational educators are affected by this policy. “I am an Art teacher,
but I always seem to be riddled with hundreds of pieces of paperwork”, scoffed Vega. The
unfortunate conclusion I draw from this matter of “paperwork” is that educators are granted the
gift to teach, but not freely. Teachers must abide by the districts law, but as many have done,
they simply adapt and make new fresher lessons which teach both for the students and for the
campus. “Teaching for a good mark for the school, and trying to teach the students efficiently, is
possible…but not really enjoyable”, said Garcia.
To finalize my reflection upon these three interviews, I must admit that I feel that I have
completed a full circle. I began this journey of exploring my career with a fresh mind, full of
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questions and determined for precise answers; I knew my educators as a higher force than I, but I
never anticipated knowing them behind their lectures. As I listened and took note, I realized the
perilous virtue these individuals dare to reveal. I became aware of the bliss and the discovery, but
not without imagining the pale and sometimes tireless task of teaching. Now, the journey must
end, or must it? A great teacher once said, “It is the journey, not the destination which brings us
the greater happiness”, Socrates said that. I believed what he said and still do; my journey has
only just begun.