Reflections on Experience

8/10/2019 Reflections on Experience

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Moulton | 1

Andrew Moulton

Advanced Trends in Education

Mallorca

July 9, 2014

Growing up, my father was largely absent from my life. Stoically responsible, he was either

working at the factory or sleeping. When he was awake he insisted upon a strong back and strong

work ethic; my first job came at age five picking peas at the farm. I liked to work hard and was

good at it, yet over the years and through arguments ranging from subtle to overt; he contradicted

his actions and insisted upon the importance of a college education.

I was a successful student but high school education failed to inspire me, so at eighteen, modeled

after my fathers actions,but not without a bit of Kerouacsinfluence, I hit the road in favor of

experience. I spent a year broadening my skill set with the AmeriCorps, and then pursued a

profession in building. I felt empowered. It was only after four years, after the road had beat me

up, after I had witnessed in a very direct and immediate manner the inherent weaknesses and

frailties of the body, that I was convinced and accepted the voice compelling me to look more

intently at what the AmeriCorps had shown that I had intuitive talent for. Education had settled

into my bones. I matriculated at College of the Atlantic.

As I studied, words and their associated meanings surfaced: experiential education, Dewey,

Tragedy of the Commons; the constant variable throughout my life was and always has been

books and writing.


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Again, after colleges focus on the theoretical, I craved an action-based lifestyle. I was reluctant

to give up my studies entirely however, and saw the Peace Corps as an extension of my

undergraduate work. I was selected to be a Peace Corps volunteer in the second poorest country

in the Western Hemisphere. It was an interesting experience; I saw so much of myself in the

Honduran people. Most poignant of all, my grandparents had immigrated illegally. My Honduran

peers still saw me as an impractical, rich, privileged white boy. It was hard to resolve. The

difference setting me apart was my education, my exposure and competence with the language in

power. I dedicated myself wholeheartedly to dissolving the inequities of race through basic and

technology-free education.

Coming back to the States, the culture shock of re-integrating into society was disorienting.

Being in education and working with young people, especially the overlooked boys, somehow

felt like the right way to bring my experience together, to reconcile the differences between the

Honduran world and the glittering American life.

I was fortunate to find a job working in education with immigrant populations in the city of

Providence. Shortly thereafter, the economic downturn dissolved the position and I transitioned

into higher education, always intending to help create opportunity for students with a working

class and immigrant background. As an admissions counselor worked intimately with technology

and directed these students toward scholarships, trouble shot their questions about the application

process, and campaigned on their behalf in the admissions committee. My desire to be in the

classroom pushed me to start work on a teaching certificate and Masters in Education. When my

son was born, my wife and I decided to move closer to my wifes family inEurope and found a

job teaching English at an international school in Switzerland.


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Young men at the Ecole dHumaniteresonate with my teaching style. My Expository Writing

and English Literature classes, with one exception, are entirely composed of young men. These

students were all unsuccessful last year; they were disaffected, troublesome, and problematic.

Much to their own surprise, they have enjoyed the challenges I have set out for them, they feel

successful, they are confident expressing themselves in the written form. They have turned

significant corners in their lives, but what I have done is mostly intuitive and informed by a

broad study of education. I grapple with the challenge of getting these young men interested in

actively sculpting their own education. I work with identity, I work with grammar, I work with

anything that appeals to my students with the intention of encouraging them to deeply consider

the things they believe are important. If they can then express that love to others, and even better,

if they can express that love through words, well, then theres something good that Ive helped

cultivate in this world. I feel as though I need to better understand current media platforms, even

to the point of getting exposure to television programs since I havent watched tv for over a

decade. I would like to learn more about how I can engage my students on a level that allows

them to deepen their knowledge of writing intrinsically using all of the collaborative and

integrative tools at their disposal.

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Reflections on Experience