Lavín Portfolio 3

Analytic, Personal, and Professional Essay

In this essay, I touch on some of the highlights that exemplify the type of work I did and

the growth I experienced during the Spring and Summer of 2019.

Addressing Feedback From Portfolio II

At my Portfolio II meeting, the two areas of improvement suggested were writing and

methodology. Teamwork was not addressed in during Portfolio II. However, it was an important

aspect of my work since Portfolio II.

Writing. This semester my focus was on writing. I worked on getting two publications

submitted. One of the most important lessons I took from this experience was on editing. When

going through the editing process of the English Learners with Disabilities (ELWD) article with

Dr. Mason, I learned different strategies for editing that help enhance the clarity of a manuscript

(e.g., read sentence by sentence from the bottom up). IN addition to the publications, in EDSE

855, Personnel Preparation Programs in Special Education class with Dr. Weiss, I learned how to

better write article syntheses. This type of writing and the feedback I got from Dr. Weiss were

very helpful to better understand my writing style. It also helped me understand how to be more

direct in my writing, and reiterated that the purpose of a paper must be stated clearly at the

beginning. Although I believe my writing is becoming more structured and direct, I also know

that I need to continue to pay attention to detail. I continue to work on this daily.

Methodology. I expanded my understanding of, and gained experience in qualitative

methodology both by practicing and immersing myself the literature. While working on the

Mexico project with Dr. Francis, I learned about the importance of cleaning transcriptions,

coding manuals, working as a team, reporting findings, and writing discussion sections from

these findings. In my Grounded Theory class with Dr. Reybold, in addition to learning the value

of memos, reflexivity, and journaling, I learned how Thematic Unit Analysis is a great tool to
Lavín Portfolio 3
Analytic, Personal, and Professional Essay
analyze large qualitative data sets by themes. In fact, I used this method to analyze the findings

from the parent interviews in the Mexico project.

To supplement the practical aspect from both the Mexico project and grounded theory

class, I realized I needed to learn more about critical/ race-based methodologies (Pillow, 2001)

and participatory action research (PAR). For this purpose, I immersed myself in the literature of

Testimonios (Perez-Huber, 2012), counterstories (Delgado, 1989), counternarratives (Solórzano

&Yosso, 2001), PAR (Fals-Borda, 1991), and Community Based Participatory Research

(Minkler, 2004). There are several other scholars addressing these topics. These are just key

authors within their fields to serve as an example of the literature I reviewed.

Teamwork. In my Critical Community Research class with Dr. Letiecq, I learned the

importance of personal dynamics within a team. Since qualitative research is more trustworthy

when conducted by a group of researchers, this is an important lesson to carry with me. In the

Mexico project I participated, and subsequently led, the research team through the translation

and coding process. One lesson I learned from my experience in this project is the importance of

being clear from the beginning on expectations. Overall, from my work this semester, the most

important lesson I learned is to surround myself with people who compliment my weaknesses so

my team becomes stronger.

What has happened since Portfolio II

Teaching. During Spring 2019 I taught EDUC 301 Educating Diverse and Exceptional

Learners for the second time. Although I tried to incorporate some of the recommendations from

the previous semester’s evaluation, I very quickly realized that although I was teaching the same

class, I needed to adjust the content to better fit the needs of my new students. Now that I have

taught for two semesters, I can say with certainty that the original purpose statement I wrote
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Analytic, Personal, and Professional Essay
when I applied to my Ph. D. is still true: “I enjoy being in the classroom and teaching future

teachers.” This semester two of my Latinx students asked if I could be their advisor for their

capstone project in their undergraduate program. I felt really honored.

Presentations. In February I attended Council for Exceptional Children conference to

present at the Division of Learning Disabilities student poster session on ELWD. This was a

great opportunity to present at a national level conference around a topic that I am passionate

about. Also, although I did not make it to AERA this year, I was part of an accepted proposal on

behavior interventions for children in Kindergarten to 3rd grade. Finally, I attended American

Association in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) to present the initial survey

findings on the Inclusive Education project Dr. Mason, Dr. Francis, and I started last summer. It

was a great conference and I enjoyed the experience.

In the fall I will be attending the Council for Learning Disabilities conference. I have a

presentation and a round table with Dr. Mason. I also got accepted to the Leadership Institute. I

am very excited about this new opportunity.

Publications. This semester I submitted three manuscripts for publication as first author.

I submitted my piece on Refugios and it was accepted to the first edition of Bridges, the

American Educational Studies Association (AESA) graduate student peer reviewed blog. I also

submitted a systematic literature review of interventions for ELWD in special education journals

to Learning Disabilities Quarterly (LDQ). Although the review got rejected, I am taking this

experience as a learning opportunity and will work on addressing the reviewers concerns to

submit it again to a different journal. Finally, I submitted the initial findings of the inclusive

education survey from Mexico City to the International Journal of Disability, Development and

Education. At the time of this writing, the status of this last manuscript is under review.
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Analytic, Personal, and Professional Essay
Closing

In his book, Research is Ceremony, Shawn Wilson (2008) states “If research doesn’t

change you as a person, then you haven’t done it right” (p.135). This program, and the research I

have done throughout, helped me grow and become more aware of who I am as a person in

relation to my family, my field, and the outside world. I guess I must be doing something right,

and I hope to continue doing this work for years to come.

Lavín Portfolio 3
Analytic, Personal, and Professional Essay
Resources

Delgado, R. (1989). Storytelling for oppositionists and others: A plea for narrative. Michigan

Law Review, 87, 2411–2441. doi:10.2307/1289308

Fals-Borda, O. (Ed.). (1991). Acción y conocimiento: como romper el monopolio con

investigación - acción participativa. Santa Fé de Bogotá: CINEP.

Minkler, M. (2004). Ethical challenges for the “outside” researcher in community-based

participatory research. Health Education & Behavior, 31, 684–697.

doi:10.1177/1090198104269566

Pillow, W. (2003). Race-based methodologies: Multicultural methods or epistemological shifts?

Counterpoints, 195, 181–202. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/42978086

Solórzano, D. G., & Yosso, T. J. (2001). Critical race and LatCrit theory and method: Counter-

storytelling. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 14, 471–495.

doi:10.1080/09518390110063365

Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Canada: Fernwood Pub.