AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 1

Signature Assignment: Autobiographical Essay

Katrina Rone

College of Western Idaho

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Abstract

The is autobiographical essay that summarizes my educational background, work history, and

service and/or extracurricular Activities. Also included is my take on how ethical reasoning can

be used in education to solve an ethical dilemma in the education field. To conclude I will talk

about why I choose education as a career and my professional goals for the future to help

complete my ultimate goal of becoming a professional teacher.

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Signature Assignment: Autobiographical Essay

Educational Background

My education began at home; I was homeschooled for the better part of my education. When

ninth grade approached, I decided to attend public school for the rest of my high school career.

After I graduated from Emmett High School in 2009, I went straight to college and attended the

University of Idaho for two and a half years and studied with the College of Natural Resources.

After a couple of years in college I decided to take a break from school. Between when I first

joined college and the present, I have worked and gained more experience at life and have slowly

realized and developed my love of teaching and working with kids. Even having two kids of my

own I feel an even bigger connection to my want of teaching. I decided to make the big step in

finishing my education at the College of Western Idaho with the goal of getting a bachelor’s in

Elementary Education. Even from a young age I enjoyed working with children, so pursuing that

dream at CWI seemed like the reasonable course of action.

I have not had much unique educational experiences other than my few years at the

University of Idaho. Two programs that I was involved with at the U of I was marching band and

a natural resource program. These programs really helped shape me in what I want to do with my

future and teaching. I love natural sciences and music and would to be able to share and teach

that love. To be able to teach my passion to children and open their eyes to the world and all that

it has to offer would be a dream of mine. With not very much educational experience in teaching,

one of my main goals right now is to gain as much education and experience as I can to be the

best teacher possible.

The education that I am receiving right now at the Collage of Western Idaho includes a class

that introduces a person to the teaching world. It talks about what it takes to be a teacher; all the
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pros and cons, the legal aspect of teaching, and even the ethical side of teaching. This single

class has really opened my eyes and made me understand that teaching will not be a walk in the

park, but it will also have a lot of rewards. In just the one semester that I have studied, my eyes

have really been opened as to what it means and takes to be a teacher. It has helped me recognize

some of my strengths and weaknesses and has also really encouraged me to further pursue my

dream of teaching.

Work History, Service and/or Extracurricular Activities

The education field is a place that I do not have much experience working. I do have work

experiences that I can transfer over to the education field and develop them into becoming the

professional educator I want to be. My current job that I work is in retail. I manage many

different tasks as well as a couple people that work under me. I have learned how to multitask

under pressure and have learned to not be afraid of that pressure. I can transfer those skill when it

comes to managing a classroom full of students and have deadlines to meet. Overall I believe

that I have some good tools to help manage the stresses of being a first-year teacher. The skills

that I have acquired will help me in my future profession of teaching, but it is not only the skills

that I have that will benefit me but also my experiences that I have in the past years.

When I was younger, I was involved with 4-H greatly. This program helps kids complete

hands-on projects in areas like agriculture, sciences, and leadership. I was involved as a 4-H

ambassador who traveled around to different clubs in the community and gave speeches to adults

and kids as to why 4-H would benefit them and the community. This taught me the skills of

public speaking and gave me the courage to speak in front of groups of people of all ages. In

turn, public speaking will be a great asset as a professional educator because I will have the

knowledge of how to affectively talk in front of a group. Being nervous the first time standing in
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front of a classroom will happen, but I also know that I have experiences to lean on giving me

the courage to stand and teach. Not only has 4-H given me skills I can use as a professional

teacher, it has also provided some experience working with and teaching kids.

I did many 4-H projects that involved raising and caring for animals, and a couple “non-

animal” projects. One of those “non-animal” projects was called Teen Leader; someone helps

and advises younger kids in 4-H. I got to teach and advise children of many ages the knowledge I

knew of a project. My love of teaching started to develop while I would advise these kids and, in

turn, my eyes were opened to the love of teaching. I enjoyed watching the kids succeed in an

area that they were previously struggling in and loved watching the kids complete their projects

successfully. With all these experiences I had in 4-H, I started to develop a love for teaching, and

I started to see my future as being a teaching.

Ethical Reasoning in Education

When someone is faced with an ethical dilemma it can be hard to decide what action is right

or wrong. Dilemmas are problems we face that do not have a definitive right or wrong answer.

As professional teachers we are faced with these problems that could go against our morals and

beliefs. But how do we solve these dilemmas in education? How do we decide what is right and

what is wrong? Using a set of ethical theories is a good way to help solve these questions.

A good example of an ethical dilemma in the classroom brings me back to my high school

science class. The science teacher, who we will call Mr. A, believes strongly that only

creationism should be taught in a science class setting and that evolution does not have a place in

science books. He also has stated to the classroom that evolution is a lie and that creationism is

the only way to teach science. To add to the dilemma, the parents do not want evolution to be

taught in the classroom. Should a teacher’s lesson be based on what they think is correct in their
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view and the view of the many or should they teach every aspect including what goes against

their beliefs? This is where using ethical theories to solve a moral dilemma comes into play.

A good way for a teacher to solve an ethical dilemma in the classroom is to look at a few

ethical theories and then decide what they would like the outcome of their situation to be. A

couple ethical theories that could help solve this dilemma would be Egoism and Utilitarianism.

Both theories have pros and cons to them, but in the end the teacher will have to ask themselves

if they are in teaching to benefit themselves or the students.

Ethical Egoism is an ethical theory that focuses on the person’s self-interest. It also focuses on

what will benefit the individual in the future. For example, in the long run, you would reap the

benefits of your actions from the past; those actions to begin with are probably something you

need to do, not want, but you do them because you know that it will benefit you in the future. If a

professional teacher was looking at Ethical Egoism to solve their dilemma, they first would need

to think about the impact teaching only part of a subject would have on themselves as

professional teacher. If a teacher only taught part of a subject the students would lack any

information or understanding that would be required on standardized testing. Thus, students

would fail the testing and the scores would reflect on the teacher. Now, if the teacher were to

teach both aspects of the subject, the students would better understand the material, pass

standardized tests, raising the achievement level of the class and the teacher would better

succeed at their job. On both sides of the matter the teacher would also have to consider his job

prospects. If the students fail, how would his job prospects look for the future? The students

succeeding in class will greatly improve his job prospects and thus his future.

Utilitarianism is a little bit different from Ethical Egoism because it looks at the impact the

persons actions have on everybody. The dictionary states that Utilitarianism is “the doctrine that
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an action is right insofar as it promotes happiness, and that the greatest happiness of the greatest

number should be the guiding principle of conduct.” Using this theory, the teacher must think

about how their actions are benefiting the class. If they do not benefit the classroom then

something needs to change. Teaching only creationism does not benefit the classroom because

the students will be ill prepared for testing and for future science classes to come.

If I was the professional teacher in the situation on whether to teach creationism and/or

evolution, I would take the approach of using Utilitarianism to solve my dilemma. I would try to

figure out what would benefit my students in the long run and make everyone happy. I feel like

teaching only part of a subject would deprive my students of everything there is to be learned.

Thus, it would be wise, and ethically correct to teach both sides of the matter. But, either way,

using either of the two theories I have discussed is a good example how we as teachers can solve

ethical dilemmas and how not one ethical dilemma is wrong. When we use these theories, we

improve our chances at becoming successful at the job we do, and our students will become

successful in their schooling.

Considerations for Choosing Education as A Career

One of my favorite quotes is by Margaret E. Sangster stating that, “No one should teach who

is not in love with teaching.” From a very young age I have been in love with teaching. When I

was a little girl, I was teaching my younger brothers how to write their name. Then, when I was a

teenager, I was helping young kids in the 4-H program with their 4-H projects. And now, as a

parent of two young children, I enjoy teaching them everything there is to know about colors,

numbers, letters, shapes, and life in general. This love that I have for teaching is the number one

reason why I chose education as a career and why I know I will succeed in that career. Alongside

my love of teaching, I also have many skills that I have acquired throughout my life experiences.
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Some of the skill that I possess will help enable me to be a good and effective teacher.

Through the years of working with small children and even working with animals, I have

developed a high level of patience. I know not to rush and to remain calm, even in stressful

situations. On top of being able to keep a level head, I am very self-motivated and always willing

and open to learn new things; especially if it helps me become a better teacher and my students

become better learners. Not only do I possess skill that will help me be an effective teacher, but I

also believe that having skills to move beyond teaching is important as well.

On top of the all the skills I previously stated, some skills that I possess would help me move

beyond teaching; into other aspects of the education field. I have great accounting experience

through my time in 4-H, and through a couple jobs where it was my duty to keep records. I also

work very well with others and understand that great communication skills are key to working

with other employees and students. These skills I have are valuable if I am looking into

progressing my career, such as becoming a principle or vice principle. Regardless, these skills

will help benefit me in other parts of the education field as well as the teaching field.

When I look back at all the skills that I have, I feel like they will really benefit me in my

education career. I have skills in sewing and horseback riding that I know will not benefit me in

the education field. But whether I want to become a teacher, a librarian, or even a school

principle, I know that I have the skills to achieve my goal. The education field is fit for people of

all different skill sets; a person has options other than becoming a teacher if they wanted to work

with children. With the broad range of skills that I have I know that I can pursue the many

avenues of teaching and what it has to offer.

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Professional Goals

To complete my main goal of becoming a teacher I have a couple long and short-term goals to

help keep me on track. My biggest goal that I have in the long term is to graduate with a

bachelor’s in Elementary Education at Boise State University and become a certified teacher. For

me to achieve this long-term goal, I first need to focus on getting my associate’s in Elementary

Education at the College of Western Idaho. To reach these long-term goals, I have a couple steps

in place to help me achieve them.

My first step is to achieve my associate degree. I plan on registering for online classes every

semester; this includes the fall, spring and summer semesters. Attending online classes will allow

me to continue raising my two young children and work part time. In about two years’ time, I

will have my associate’s in Elementary Education. After I achieve this, my next step will be

transfering to Boise State University as a full-time student and complete my bachelor’s degree in

Elementary Education and ultimately achieve my long-term goal of becoming a certified teacher.

I have also put some short-term goals in place while I am working on the previously stated

long term goals. My first short-term goal would to be to complete the next semester in school,

summer 2019 with good grades. I need to work on getting my grade point average up to get

accepted into the education program at Boise State University. Without a higher grade-point

average, I will have a very low chance of getting accepted and not being successful at achieving

my long-term goal. But with hard work, my future looks bright in completing this goal.

Another short-term goal that I have is based on gaining experience. I plan on volunteering my

time at the local public schools as a tutor or teacher’s aide. I want to better serve my community

and in doing so I can also gain experience in the teaching field and help better understand what

grade level I would like to teach in the future. Having these short and long-term goals in place
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really has me focused and I feel positive that I will achieve my ultimate goal of becoming a

successful professional teacher.