PHD Education Statement of Purpose Sample, Applicant from Taiwan, Autism Spectrum

I want to give my professional life to the promotion of multilingual education, worldwide, and especially in the USA. I plan to make the fullest contribution possible in this regard as a professional researcher in the area of learning and the mind. I will labor to contribute to a modernization of educational policy that fully reflects solid scientific evidence in support of the intellectual and social value of multilingual education for the stimulation of the higher executive function skills of school children, resulting in enhanced academic performance.

UXX is my first choice for earning the PHD Degree in Education not only because I live in Davis, California with my family so it is by far the most convenient; but I also feel that I am a good fit with the focus of your program since I am already steeped in the study of connections between cognition and mind on the one hand, and learning science on the other. This is especially true with respect to children with disabilities. Education at UXX is oriented towards the promotion and appreciation of multilingual education and literacy development, immersion schools, bilingual classrooms, etc. It would be a special honor for me to learn not just in my classes and through interaction with my peers, but also through intensive engagement with UXX’s Mind Institute, the ideal location for me to develop my talents as a researcher.

Born and raised in Taiwan, I learned Japanese as well as English early on since I excelled at languages and our island was a colony of Japan for a very long time. As an adolescent, I also began studying Spanish intensively and went on to complete my undergraduate studies primarily in this area. Thus, I am proficient in this language as well as Japanese, in addition to being a near-native speaker of English and a native speaker of Mandarin. My husband is from Hong Kong so Cantonese is also heard frequently in our home.

Both of my children were born in Kentucky. One is autistic and the other speaks three languages fluently. I became a stay at home mom, mostly for my son, now age 11, who needs a lot of help. It was not until my daughter, now 8, began her Spanish immersion kindergarten program that I have really been in a position to give my best to graduate school. My husband is now engaged in research at UC Davis related to Autism and virtual realities. Now, I too want very much to engage in intensive research in the area of Autism at UC Davis, in my case, studying how cognition affects verbal skills and ways of learning for children who are not neuro-typical (e.g. autism). I also look forward to an in-depth study of Autism as a culture-based disorder, especially in terms of treatment. The primary catalyst for my intellectual focus on "Mind and Learning Sciences" has clearly been my son.

I am a promoter of multilingualism and an advocate for multilingual education. Fascinated by the process of language learning through immersion, I follow my daughter’s progress in Spanish immersion school very closely. I also work hard with her to master Chinese language quickly, spending every summer in Taiwan. I often find myself amused by her Kentucky accent in English. Living and loving language acquisition is the center of my world and I have no intention of leaving my Autistic son behind. He is also making progress with his language skills, only much more slowly. But, he is learning, more and more all the time. I find myself gravitating towards the value of learning in community magnified and focused by contact in the virtual world. My husband and I frequently brainstorm at length for ideas in this area.

Last year I taught in a public school and my philosophy was to embrace, encourage and empower through task-based learning. I look forward to becoming a better teacher at the same time that I gear up for the fullest career development through research in the area of multilingual development for children - on as well as off the Autism Spectrum.