Conclusion

My journey through the Master of Education program has been long but satisfying. It is as if I am now a very different person from when I started the program! I have developed from being an instructional designer to a training program manager. I have also taken on a leadership role with the High Park Ski Club, Canada's most active travelling ski and snowboard club. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined doing so.  

Objectives Review

At the outset of the program, I merely intended to attain the certificate in instructional design; consequently, I had set the bar quite low with these objectives:

• Become a better facilitator
• Become a better instructional designer

It is safe to say that I exceeded those objectives after merely completing the instructional design certificate program! In fact, by the end of MDDE604, I was already a better instructional designer and facilitator. I feel I truly attained a level of mastery against these objectives after building the facilitation skills training program as part of MDDE621.

On reflection, I realize I have attained several additional achievements:

• I have learned to be an effective independent learner! This achievement is an outcome both of learning about learning and of putting various techniques, grounded in learning theory, into practice (e.g. using CIP practices such as mind maps and scaffolding, behaviourist tactics like stepwise instruction and repetition, and constructivist concepts like applying knowledge to existing situations).
• I have expanded my perspectives on teaching. I am now much more apt to integrate social reform in my teaching practice. I also consider teaching perspectives when I coach facilitators on my team.
• I have developed an educational leadership These skills have enabled me to lead and direct my team of training professionals and also the more broadly skilled board of directors with the High Park Ski Club.
• I have become a critical consumer of research. When presented with evidence, I now seek a full picture of the research that led to the results. This orientation towards research has helped me to flush out false flags in both my professional and volunteer roles.
• I have acquired a systems view of organizations and organizational issues. When leaders present problems to my training department, I now ensure our team steps back to conduct proper system inquiry in order to thoroughly understand issues and their context before developing interventions. 
• My evaluations are now more holistic in nature. Since completing MDDE617, I have taken on a role as a program manager, and so evaluation has truly become one of my core job responsibilities. My evaluations now consider both stated objectives and goal-free outcomes. I also now deliberately integrate formative and summative evaluation in my programs.
• My project management skills are significantly stronger than when I started the masters program.
• I have become capable of and comfortable with facilitating at a distance. Equally importantly, I can select the tools most likely to produce effective outcomes given time, budget, thematic and participant constraints.

Next Steps: Creating Change

The skills, knowledge and attitude I have gained in the Master of Education program empower me to complete these upcoming initiatives:  

Social Leadership

Presently I am the president of the High Park Ski Club, Toronto's most active travelling ski club. We are in a precarious situation in which we urgently need to grow our membership levels in order to remain sustainable for the next decade. I intend to empower our volunteers to conduct an evaluation around our entire snow sport portfolio in order to understand how we can grow our club and bring winter sports to more people in the GTA. 

Professional Leadership

I now find myself available to move into new opportunities in the educational arena. With my background in instructional design, systems inquiry and leadership, I hope to find an underserved organization that needs leadership in the area of adult education.

Next Steps: Learning and Development

While I am excited that the Masters program is drawing to a close (finally!), I actually see that more opportunities for growth and learning have now opened. Here are some of the areas where I look to grow:  

Giving Back to the Canadian Ski Instructor Alliance

While working on this e-portfolio, I have been travelling back and forth between Toronto and Mont-Sainte-Anne, my favourite eastern ski resort, pursuing ski training. The Canadian Ski Instructor Alliance, Canadian ski teaching body, has a four-level instructor certification system, and I have already attained the third level in the “teaching” domain, with just the ski portion left to go! Upon completing the ski portion I will be in a better position to positively influence the organization's growth and development. 

Growth as a Leader

At this point I feel I have only scratched the surface in my development as a leader. There are countless avenues out there which I can pursue in order to develop additional leadership skills and expertise. I intend to connect with a community of leaders in order to further my development as a leader.