Master of Adult Education

When I began the Master of Adult Education (M.Ad.Ed.) program offered at St. Francis Xavier University I did not understand exactly what I was getting myself into. Knowing that I wanted an academic program that would challenge me in ways I had yet to experience in life, I had hoped that this program would be an opportunity to do just that while providing me with a credential to support professional growth and advancement. Beginning my journey in the winter of 2017, as part of the recently revamped 3-year cohort model, I found myself stretched in many ways throughout the program.

Elements of myself as a practitioner, educator, and professional that I formed or further developed while in the M.Ad.Ed. program include: an appreciation of the philosophical understandings I have of the world in which I live; language to articulate the epistemological views I hold; a greater understanding of self, formed through critical reflection; and a growth of knowledge in the areas of: informal learning, community development, leadership, and place. As one of the most rewarding and purposeful endeavours I have participated in to-date, working towards the completion of the M.Ad.Ed. credential was challenging but wholly worthwhile.

My Academic Work

In an attempt craft the strongest work I am capable of, both in professional practice and in academics, I often look to the work from those who have come before me to to identify what elements are present in the highest quality work. As I worked through each section of this academic program I often found myself seeking out examples from previous students of what a final submission might look like in each step of the process.

To support students that come after me, and in-line with the auto-ethnography I completed, I decided to make public all of my submissions for the M.Ad.Ed. program. Believing that personal experiences, including my own, are often representative of a larger group experience, my aim is to provide examples of work completed as part of the M.Ad.Ed. to aid future students as they complete their program.

Below I offer all of the documents I submitted during my M.Ad.Ed program—these are provided as submitted, without advisor feedback or corrections integrated (unless otherwise noted), and for reference only.

Although I have chosen to not include the grades received for individual academic components I am willing to share that I am a 85%+/A+/4.0 student. All submissions below reflect this level of academic achievement.

No part of any document found below can be used in works by other scholars without the appropriate citations/references made, or individual permissions granted by me.

AE000-Application

The following documents were submitted to St.FX along with the required forms as an application for acceptance into the M.Ad.Ed. program:

• Statement of Purpose
• Curriculum Vitae (January 20, 2017)
• Transcripts
• Missing: Reference Letters (confidential)

AE500–Foundations Institute

All major work completed while in on-campus in Antigonish, Nova Scotia during the Winter of 2017 for the mandatory Foundations Institute:

• In-Class Presentation on Non-formal Learning
• Final Submission
  • Includes:
    • learning plan,
    • critical annotations, and
    • review of history of adult education

AE510–Professional Portfolio

My portfolio was much larger than it should have been. This was the most difficult part of this program for me.

🌐 View portfolio website

AE510–Literature Review

As the portion of this program that I felt was most daunting going into it became the most thoroughly enjoyable part of the process for myself.

• (Initial) Reading List
• Final Submission

AE520–Research Project

Not included below is the incremental work completed on a weekly basis as part of the online Moodle title, Learning to Love Research. Additionally, as my research didn’t require ethics approval there is no Research Ethics Board (REB) documentation included.

• Learning to Love Research Moodle
  • Summary Presentation
• Proposal
  • Preliminary Research Plan
  • Final Submission
• Research Project
  • Final Submission

AE530–Reflective Learning Evaluation

Rather than completing a more creative product for my final project, I selected to take a more traditional route and wrote a 25-page reflective account of the learning i experienced over the 3-year program period.

• Final Submission

AE601–Synthesizing Oral Examination

The final requirement of my program was a synthesizing oral exam in front of my advisor, an external reviewer, and my peers. In addition to the presentation, and Q&A period, I was required to submit a slide deck.

• Presentation

Post-Program Work

While I successfully completed all of the work that this program required, and did not opt to compile a formal thesis from my efforts, I found myself wanting to extend my learning and engagement with my research. The following reflects work completed post-program which connects to my Master of Adult Education research efforts.

• Thesis—While not formally recognized as a thesis, I complied my literature and research project into a single volume, with some additional text added. I wanted a single representation of my academic work that I could share with others, and something I could print a copy of for myself as a reminder of the 3-years worth of work I invested.