Personal Statement for MA International Education
"Thank you for opening a door for me", says a touching note attached to a gift for me from a girl in the International SOS Children Village Nanchang. The Village, where I worked for one year as a volunteer English teacher, cares for children who have lost parental care. At the time of parting, I felt that this gift was well worth the hard efforts I paid, and became more convinced of my dream of becoming an educator. The teaching experience constitutes the reason why I want to pursue postgraduate study in MA International Education and to become an outstanding educator through the structured study and extensive communication with global educators available in the University of Manchester.
The one-year teaching in the village strengthened my understanding of education in practice. I not only tutored my student English but also cared for her mental status, supporting her on the path to independence. I was really proud to see how she has changed and grown this year. But meanwhile I realized the unfair distribution of educational resources in China. For instance, she never heard of MOOCs and didn't know there were so many learning resources on the Internet. I have become increasingly aware that the status quo of Chinese education has much to be desired, especially for those children belonging to disadvantaged groups. Anyway it is not a thing that I myself can tackle so I want to have further study in your programme to gain evaluative and analytical skills then engage critically with education policies and practices within our national systems.
My enthusiasm for education inspires me to major in English of a normal school. Learning English, the international language, is exactly part of internationalization, where I had a lot of international contacts like reading papers from global scholars and working as international volunteers. The courses I studied ranged from applied linguistics to teacher development, which deepen my interpretation of education. To further understand learners, I minored in Psychology and gained fresh perspectives and more research methods. I also finished an academic paper, studying the role of attribution model in the education of oral English. Last summer, I went to London for UCL summer school as an insider of the International education. The immersive experience not only improved my academic level but also gave me a broader international vision. To help more people enjoy such advantages is my ambition of an international educator.
In my educational practices, I am also critically thinking about the development of international education in the new era. This summer I interned in the Innovative Education Center of Tencent, the biggest Internet company in China. I worked on an online tech-camp to teach AI to middle school students. I creatively integrated digital tools to design online courses and combine streaming media, thus students in the camp learned effectively online. I reflected that in such an era of technological development, a variety of new educational models have emerged, greater attention has been devoted to the educational value orientation of the general public. The comprehensive application of diverse educational approaches would make international education more promising in the future.
Applying for the MA International Education, I am particularly captivated by the International atmosphere and world-leading research in the programme. I like the course Intercultural Engagement and Work in Communities since it gives us the opportunity to blend in with local communities and to experience cross-cultural communication. It is such a valuable chance for us to step out of theoretical learning and truly feel the differences and similarities of international education. I sincerely hope to join the UoM community where I can actively engage in cutting-edge research and practice in International Education and realize my career goal of being an International educator.
