Grad's guide to graduate admissions essays - Colleen Reding 2015
Harvard graduate school of education
General graduate studies
“1 — 3 — 7 — 9 — 3 — 9 — 1 — 7.” My first-grade student taught me this sequence, which can be used to find all of the prime numbers starting with 11, because the ones digits of prime numbers form a pattern. With that sequence, and with the numbers 49 and 77 as examples, I taught my first-grade student the subtlety of exceptions to rules. Numbers are orderly, predictable, and comforting. They are not irregular or erratic like a conversation, nor are they ambiguous like a smile or a glance. All the same, they are alive and meaningful to many of my students. Through 2 1/2 years of trying to take my students’ perspectives, numbers have become meaningful to me too; numbers are a way I can connect with my students when they are feeling down and explain complex social nuances when they are feeling curious.
Today there are 33 students enrolled at the Auburn School in Silver Spring, MD. While that was the number of classmates I had myself as a young child, that number sounds enormous to me today. It is more than twice the number of students in September of 2011, and it is more than six times the number of students who started at the Auburn School when the campus opened in 2010, with five students, two administrators, a language arts teacher, a social studies teacher, and myself, a math and science teacher. Today I serve as the Auburn School’s Social Learning Specialist, a new position the Auburn Team has created, because all of our incredibly bright students have social and communication challenges. Before the Auburn School opened, these students struggled at their previous schools, not because they lacked the intelligence to learn, but because they were misunderstood by their peers and their teachers. With the amazing teamwork of the staff, students, and families, I have helped to grow the amazing model of the Auburn School, which I’ve seen transform the education and lives of my students, and the students at the other two Auburn campuses. It is my goal to employ scientific research to continue to create, improve, and grow a social and educational model for students with Asperger’s and related disorders across the United States.
Two is the number of jobs I work this year, and three is the number of days a week I spend at each job. While the nearly 60 hours a week can at times feel overwhelming, I can honestly say that I enjoy every minute as I am fortunate enough to be able to combine my two passions of education and research. After graduating with a BA in Psychology from Georgetown University, I knew that I wanted to become a teacher in order to understand children with autism on a personal level before I entered the research world. Now, I spend every day that I am away from my students as a research associate at the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders (CASD) in the Pediatric Neuropsychology division of Children’s National Medical Center. At CASD, I am a project manager for several studies on cognitive flexibility, executive functioning, and social skills in school-aged children on the autism spectrum. Although my weekends may seem shorter, my weeks do not seem longer because this year I have obtained equilibrium and balance between scientific research and educational practice. My teaching team benefits from the research-based knowledge I bring from CASD, and my research team benefits from the practical advice and applications I bring from Auburn. With this balance, I have solidified my determination to integrate the fields of education and neuropsychology.
One graduate program provides the synergy of science and pedagogy, which I have had to create for myself this year. At the Mind, Brain, and Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, I would collaborate with experts in the fields of biology, cognitive science, and education to refine and answer my questions on creating a model for Asperger’s education. The overarching question driving my pursuit of an education in the MBE program is: How does understanding an individual’s neurological difference help me create and adapt a learning environment to provide the greatest opportunities for growth and success?
Careful selection of the right classes and professors will help me address and develop several subsets of my overarching question. How do we alleviate the extreme sensory, social, and executive functioning challenges of individuals on the autism spectrum so that they can focus on forming the relationships they desire and achieving the academic potential of which they are capable? MBE core classes, such as Introduction to Education Neuroscience, will provide me with a foundational understanding of the interplay between neuroscience and pedagogy necessary to recognize the root of such challenges. How can one model fit the huge variability among students with social and communication challenges? Classes focusing on individual differentiation and Universal Design for Learning with authorities such as David Rose and Todd Rose will help me tackle that question. Flexibility to take some courses outside of the MBE will allow me to maximize my one year at HGSE by enrolling in classes to address additional interests including Critical Issues in Special Education Policy and Practice. In short, the MBE program provides academic opportunities to address my questions and deepen my understanding of the interconnectedness of science and instruction.
Sixteen academic credits a week allows time to engage in extracurricular work and learning activities to focus further on my questions and goals. At the Full Day Open House at HGSE, Dr. Hunter Gehlbach spoke about enhancing social environments and teaching perspective-taking to learners and educators. I immediately knew I wanted to become involved in his research. “How do educators take the perspectives of individuals with special needs?” and “How do we teach individuals with ASD to take perspectives?” are fundamental questions to improving the social and academic experience of learners on the autism spectrum. In several e-mail exchanges with Dr. Gehlbach, we discussed that although his research focuses primarily on neurotypical individuals, it could reasonably be applied to help those with perspective-taking deficits. Just as the MBE program is designed to combine research and practice in its courses, I plan to combine academic studies and practical research in my daily schedule. It is only through approaching my questions with this balance, offered by HGSE, that I will feel confident in working toward my goal to develop a nationwide model for Asperger’s education.
Innumerable are the questions I could ask about how best to teach children with Asperger’s and related disorders. While each answer to a research question will lead to further questions, each answer will also lead to better strategies to be employed in classrooms around the country. A master’s degree from the Mind, Brain, and Education Program at HGSE will equip me to ask the best questions, uncover the best answers, and employ the best strategies for students on the autism spectrum and with other learning needs. While I may brighten a student’s day by listing all of the prime numbers to 500, I can brighten his future by teaching him the social, sensory, executive functioning, and academic strategies he needs to integrate himself successfully into high school, college, and an independent life.