Reflective Essay
Yifang Shi
As time flies, we are about to finish our Education Specialist Program. I am full of joy and
also receiving a greatness of accomplishment. I've seen numerous touch points throughout my
career that have shaped and affected my leadership views. Fundamentally, I have experienced
my position as a leader who articulates and implements a leadership vision for the future and
inspires others to participate in education. After this two years Education Specialist program at
From the course School as a Formal Organization, I learned improving the quality of
education and teaching is to ensure the standardized management of schools. From the course
Curriculum & Staff Development, I learned that I have to focus on teaching routine
management. From lesson preparation, classroom teaching, and after school guidance, the
development of education and teaching activities should be innovative, effective and actively
promote the method of education reform and teachers' innovative ability. From the course
School & Community Development, I learned that to strengthen education practical, to generate
the community support, to carry out the target, and to improve the school education quality, is
targeted to motivate teachers and students, and to create effectively teaching and learning
environment. From the course Human Resource Management & 4 Supervision, I learned that
we should give full play to teachers' enthusiasm and encourage them to participate actively. As
a school leader, we should often listen to the views of teachers, encourage them to develop
Through my internship experience, not only I learned deeply about how to play the school
leader role, but also I understood that the teacher-student relationship is another important
factor in creating a school that can provide quality education. Equality and harmony should be
established between teachers and students. In the communication with students, teachers
should understand students, respect students, treat each student with tolerance and equality.
During the past two years, it’s hard for me to count how many nights I stay till 12am to
work in my home office. Those hours are the best and only time that I am able to dig into my
heart of education. I started to learn how to balance my life with working full time, studying in
the Education Specialist program and taking care of a three years old toddler. This brought
additional pressure to myself, but luckily I learned more time management skills and tasks
organizational skills. For the past two years, I missed most of my family Friday Night Movie
time. My husband and my daughter always feel frustrated whenever I could not join them to
watch movies because of my workload. This was certainly the most difficult part of the program.
However, it became much more manageable after the first semester. And now at the end of the
program, I feel I am much more confident with saying that I made it successfully!
Besides the challenge parts, the best thing that I love in this program is the cohort. I am
proud of this group of people who has the most inspiring ideas, the strongest support to each
other, the most depth of knowledge, and of course, the most and best humor I’ve ever and never
experienced. I will never forget my friends’ laughing with tearing, will never forget our tacit
understanding, will never forget every Wednesday, we eat together, learn together and explore
For the future, in order to have a good sense of service for education, I will develop three
habits, the habit of exercise, the habit of learning, and the habit of reflection. In today's world,
where science and technology are advancing by leaps and bounds, new educational theories
are emerging and competition is fierce. It is very important for a good principal to keep a clear
head, perform his duties effectively, prevent problems before they happen and pay attention to
improve our own moral, psychological and cultural literacy. We should have "three love",
namely: enthusiasm, passion, and true love. True love is the principal should love their teachers,
love their students, love their career, and love their school.