Adventures & Possibilities

Because of Master's Admitted Student Preview Day, I am being reminded rather frequently that this blog has a "following" of sorts. A little intimidating, but I shall try to continue walking the fine line between entertaining, honest, and informational. And trying to blog more!

This week has been like most others: busy busy busy. It is easy to lose perspective when you are surrounded by the same people and under the same weird hanging lights of GSE and the library. However, I have some news to share...

Yep, I spoke with a woman yesterday in the Monitor and Evaluation area of Fundacion Omar Dengo in San Jose, Costa Rica. I shouldn't call it an interview, because it seems that all of the IEDPers expect some formal interview and instead the potential-internship boss starts asking about dates so...it's more like a conversation to figure out if you're a right fit for each other. Yes, this was in Spanish so...I was a bit nervous.

The funny thing is, I took like 15 of these selfies with my small lablet (laptop-tablet) because I do not have a smart phone and my camera broke recently. BUT I wanted to capture the moment (and the makeup!). I assumed it would be a video skype call so I put in my contacts, put on makeup, fixed my hair...I even cleaned my room!! And what happens? Her video wasn't working. Ohhhh well....because I'M GOING TO COSTA RICA THIS SUMMER. I'll be helping with monitoring and evaluation of their ICT programs in classrooms. Observations, interviews, focus-groups, analysis, recommendations...oh my oh my!

In addition to the extra spring in my step from my news yesterday, today was Master's Preview Day. 7:30am, I was in GSE carting materials over to Claudia Cohen Hall and then we had a panel. Talking about the wonderfulness of GSE and IEDP reminds me how grateful I am that I am here and also reminds me how LUCKY I am to be here.

A student asked about challenges we faced when we first started at Penn. Definitely prepare your eyes!! They will not be the same after grad school because of all the reading and the time you will spend staring at computers! Besides that, making sure that you make (and take) the time for self-care is essential. I am on campus usually from 9am (the latest) until 7pm or so during the week, and usually spend the entire weekend in the library (it opens at 10am so I get to 'sleep in' a little). However, when I leave campus, I see it as my personal time to catch up with friends, what some t.v. shows, call family and friends, do laundry, etc. I don't try to fool myself into working; if I can't focus, then I will do something else and not feel guilty about it. Everyone works differently, but I think it's a challenge many of us face---taking the time you need for yourself, and not apologizing or feeling guilty about it.

Also, a student said that she was very nervous about starting at GSE. Grad school is intimidating, but once you start, you realize it is like riding a bike! You find your niche and get into a groove. Plus, everyone is nervous also! GSE is such a wonderful community. I have yet to encounter GSE students that are not kind, friendly, and real. Yes, you will be pushed beyond your comfort zone, but that is the point! It is a new adventure and it wouldn't be an adventure if it wasn't a bit daunting. I was reading about teacher reform for my curriculum class and there was a quotation that made me reflect on my time at GSE: "Renewal is not simply a recollection of the past but the creation of a third space of possibilities" (Carson, 2009, p. 157). In a way, doing an advanced degree is a kind of a renewal of self and you leave with more possibilities. 

On that note...I have a curriculum to fix, an assignment to start, and a policy brief to polish!

Reference: (I know, I am an APA-formating dork. I have accepted it.)

Carson, T.R. (2009). Internationalizing Curriculum: Globalization and the Worldliness of Curriculum Studies. Curriculum Inquiry, 39(1): 145-158.

"March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb."

I actually had never heard the above phrase before last night referring to the weather in this area. Friday I was running around West Philly with my shoes totally soaked from the rain/slush/snow and by Saturday afternoon, it was totally melted and the sun was shining. Granted, my shoes are still not totally dry, but fingers-crossed for only sunny days ahead!

It is hard to believe that we just have finished the first week of classes since Spring "break," but it was a loooong week. Master's Admitted Students Preview Day is on Friday, March 27th, and I will be there at 7:30am setting up with the admissions team. (There's breakfast and lunch soo...I shouldn't complain!) I hope to see some potential IEDPers and GSEers in general on Friday!

Highlights:

Curriculum Mapping: We looked at the overlaps of a teacher education curriculum for a school in Pakistan that our professor worked on.


I have not talked a lot about my "easy, fun class" (as I call it): "Self, Culture and Cognitive Development" is the real title. I randomly shopped the class and I fell in love because the instructor is a PhD candidate and super relaxed and the class always has really interesting readings. For the class, we have to write a proposal for research or an intervention related to the topic. I chose to look at the cross-cultural differences of life-long meditators from Eastern and Western contexts and contrast them to non-meditators from the same contexts on the view of the self. I will admit it: I totally dorked out while researching. It is not a long final product (10-pages double-spaced minimum) and I saved 28 articles because I found so many interesting ones so I wanted to save them to read "when I have time" aka after grad school. One quotation that really got me thinking was: "It feels a certain way to be a self in one cultural system or another; and in itself, understanding these differences is an extremely important part of understanding culture" (Cohen & Hoshino-Browne, 2007, p. 3). 

After a 5 hour working-meeting for the curriculum project, I headed to the library and worked gleefully for 4 hours straight on the midterm paper (5 pages). My favorite classes are always ones where I can chose my topic and really enjoy the whole process of researching and writing and it doesn't feel like "work." That's how ALL of education should be, but instead the gleefulness ends up getting stacked under all the stress to get it done (often because of ridiculous page number minimums). 

 We had an IEDP alumni panel this week to hear about life after Penn. Some found it reassuring. I was rather the opposite. There were a lot of questions about jobs, interviewing, etc. and I left the class feeling soo anxious. It doesn't help that my internship is not settled yet, but I guess it was also a reality check that although we are all running around like chickens with our heads cut off, we are almost finished! It is scary and exciting, but there were also some great readings about identity for the class, one of which was from our professor, Dr. Ghaffar-Kucher (2014). A key quotation for me was: "Since my voice is one of the few (at this time) that speak to the experiences of a subset of Muslim immigrant youth, rather than shying away from my research because of the skepticism on one hand and pressure to represent on the other, I have to “speak louder”" (Ghaffar-Kucher, 2014, p. 14). 

We also read Carr (2011) and these sentences resonated the most with me and ones I hope to remember in the future while going forward in this field of development: "We cannot unsettle development without unsettling ourselves, as development requires us to think about the ideas of change and progress, and our role in both...If you are unsettled, it means you are paying attention to this tension and trying to address it. If you are uncomfortable, you are probably doing it right" (Carr, 2011, p. 2798)

Trivial lowlights: the grad center was closed yesterday due to some planned power outage so I had to heat up my food in GSE and eat a REALLY early dinner (at 3:30pm), my shoes are still not dry from Friday's snow, and a housemate ate TWO of my amazing Trader Joe's veggie burgers...


References (My professors read this blog! I have to make sure it's in APA formatting at least! This is what grad school does to you...) 

Carr, E. R. (2011). If you are uncomfortable, you are probably doing it right". In (D. Simon (Ed.) Geographers and/in Development: A Symposium. Environment and Planning.

Cohen, D., & Hoshino‐Browne, E. (2007). Culture and the structure of personal experience: Insider and outsider phenomenologies of the self and social world. Advances in experimental social psychology, 39, 1-67.

Ghaffar-Kucher, A. (2014). Writing culture; inscribing lives: a reflective treatise on the burden of representation in native research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, (ahead-of-print), 1-17.

(Not sure why there are white-highlights and I can't get rid of them for some reason, grrr!)

You've got questions, and I've got answers

We had a great google hangout last week with some admitted students to IEDP. We actually had around 17 confirmed for the hangout, so there were three or four of us split up around the library. Here are some things that came up and questions I've been emailed as well:

What ideas/concepts/models/principles have you encountered in IEDP that have deeply impacted/reshaped your thinking about the international education landscape?

One of the required classes is EDUC 514 "Basic Education in Developing Countries," and that definitely is something that shapes a lot of our views about this field. Dr. Wagner and Dr. GK teach different sections and definitely go about it in different ways. Overall, there is a big distinction between old vs. new development and also where development should go in the future to actually work well. We all have questioned and re-questioned our roles in development work, and I think for most of us, that re-questioning is so helpful to confirm that we want to do this work and to do it in a more culturally relevant and contextually specific way. "What is good development work and what is our role in it?" is a core question that comes up in all of our classes and it is something we should always be asking ourselves as practitioners to not fall into the rut of old development.

Unlike other international education master's degrees, which often seem to be focused on management or policy, IEDP seems to examine the ins and outs of development thoroughly. How flexible would the application of the degree be for those seeking work in fields that don't directly address development concerns?

One of the main reasons I chose IEDP at Penn was because it is a very flexible program. Although you only need 10 course units to complete the program, there are five electives so if you want to focus on curriculum, human rights, early childhood, etc, then you definitely can. I figured that after this degree, I can either go back to teaching (it really is a passion of mine and I miss it so much!), get a position that is focused on research, or do program design/implementation/evaluation. I think you can work the classes any way you want to work them and students are able to pursue individual interests as well.

Aside from alleviating busyness and stress levels, are there any benefits to stretching out the program to 1.5 years? Do any students do it part-time over 2 years?

I believe the students who do it over two years are ones that are from the area and/or are working full-time. Mostly, we all just want to get back to work and use what we've been learning! There is so much more time for volunteering, conferences, lectures, etc if you do it in 1.5 years, although Spring is definitely more busy and it depends on your courses in general. I personally think doing 5 classes in the Fall, then 3 classes in the Spring (because it's super busy), and two in the Fall after the internship is the best way to go (although I am doing the program in a year). This is maybe the least stressful way because the Spring is super busy with the CIES conference, policy brief and there is a lot of groupwork for some reason, which just takes a lot of time. There are a lot of things to get involved in that would be great experiences and also enhance your resume, but most of us don't take full advantage because of the course load.

Where do IEDPers go post-graduation? In your experience, do grads typically find work immediately? Do any move on to PhDs?

I will let you know soon enough! Haha, no, really, I feel pretty confident that I can find work that I am excited to do and is also a "step forward" from what I was doing before starting the Master's. Some do go onto doctoral programs, but I would say the majority do not plan on it. Generally, I've heard of alums getting a job after applying to just a few and others who applied to 30 before they got a job. It just depends on how flexible you are with location and the positions you are willing to take. You can check out some alum profiles on the website.

Are there opportunities for volunteering/interning while taking classes? Do students work during the program?

Yes! There are tons of opportunities for mentoring/tutoring/interning and working with professors at Penn. It is actually hard to not get involved with conferences, lectures, research and volunteering. A few students are working on campus and there are opportunities at the beginning of the year to get those jobs. Also, working in the student housing with the undergrads is another option to help off-set costs. One of our cohort members is doing this and she seems to really enjoy it and she gets a meal plan.

What are some housing options?

Most grad students live around campus in West Philadelphia in studios, shared housing, or rent a room with a family. Another option is the graduate housing at Sansom which is super close to GSE and is really easy if you don't want to deal with the hassle of finding housing in the city. The prices are definitely more than some other options, but it is definitely conveniently located and hassle-free. I live in a shared housing situation with five other students. Although I have to deal with differing opinions of what "clean" is, my rent is super cheap ($400/mo with utilities included), it's only 15 minutes from GSE by foot and I get a little separation from school-life. Drexel University is also super close so some housing is in this area (north of campus--where I live). Also, there's a Penn Bus that goes around East and West areas of campus so some just take this around rather than biking/walking.

General price range is $400 - $1,000.

Advantages of being a Graduate Assistant (GA)? 

The process for being a GA is changing from this past year. For my cohort, we just got notified with our acceptance if we were offered a merit scholarship and/or a graduate assistantship. This year, there are about 16 of us out of the cohort of 24 who are GAs, although I've been told that the process is different for those starting in Fall 2015. It's a great way to be more involved with IEDP and to spend 4-5 hours a week on something different besides classwork and to get paid for it.

What's the process for the internship?

The internship process starts in the Spring semester, although we were asked for our resumes at the end of the winter semester. The professors will get a feel for our interests and geographic preferences, then kind of "match-make" us with different organizations/locations/positions. If you say that you ONLY want to be in Brazil or only want to work with Room to Read, then they will try their hardest to make that happen. There is a bit of flexibility because there are usually more positions than there are students, but everyone has been placed in the past five years of the program. Students are given some funding to help cover some of the costs because usually the organization does not contribute anything financially. Some do get housing covered, but it depends on the organization. Here's a list of the orgs that IEDP works with.

There will be more google hangouts for those who missed the first one. Follow IEDP on Facebook for the news and check out the IEDP homepage also for those details!

Cheers!

IEDP 2014-2105 "In the Midst": Rachel

A few weeks ago, Ore filmed me for the IEDP cohort video series. It
was totally last minute and I had been avoiding it a little, but I did
it and of course, promptly forgot about it. She spotted me in the
grad center and told me the video was up so what am I doing instead of
my policy brief?? Looking at all the IEDP videos and laughing awkwardly
to myself! 



I definitely recommend watching, especially for the bloopers!! Christian's is great!