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EDU 4290 |
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Bookmarks (just click on the bookmark to go to the bookmark indicated):
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Formulating
One's Philosophy of Education:
Four written exercises comprise this semester project for Philosophy of Education (EDUC 4290). Taken individually and collectively, these four exercises assist the student to define and, then, to defend one’s philosophy of education by engaging the student in conversation with others who have thought deeply and penetratingly about these matters. When the student has completed these four exercises, the student will have explicated a clear and comprehensive educational philosophy in a style conversant with scholarly standards that will serve as a sound foundation for one’s decisions about educational issues. That is, one’s decisions will be ethical, as Aristotle used that term in his Nicomachean Ethics. For many (if not, most) students, the project will be one of their first experiences with professional writing. At first, students will experience writing in this way as somewhat artificial, especially until one learns how to express one’s voice in the most forcible and compelling way possible as this is identified by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edition). Students should remember that developing proficiency in professional writing involves trial and error, editing, and rewriting/revising. That is, students will learn to write better by confronting the fact that they do not write quite as well as they might believe! Learning to write professionally also involves learning to read more critically (i.e., among other matters, appreciating how authors express themselves for better or worse). Lastly, professional writing also demands a personal commitment to inculcate the self-discipline required to write well. What this means experientially, however, is that students typically experience frustration when they discover that they do not know how to write as well as they believe they do write. APA style is formal and structured, following conventions required of those who write for the social sciences. Students tend to write in an informal style, following the conventions associated with conversation. Frustration, then, emerges as students begin to make the transition from informal to formal style and from conversation to scholarly writing. Some students also become embarrassed when they discover that they do not know how to write as well as they believe they do write, at least in so far as this is reflected in the grade received (typically on Exercise #1). They wonder what the professor must think about them and their professional practice as educators. While this reaction is understandable, it may not be helpful if students get mired down in trying to figure out what to do instead of learning from one’s errors, developing the disciplines associated with APA style, revising one’s work, and correcting for those earlier errors in future writing. The grade received on an assignment reflects not a professor’s judgment of students as human beings; instead, the grade reflects the quality of students writing as measured against the criterion of excellence in scholarship and style. To promote learning to write in APA style, students are provided the opportunity to revise Exercise #1 in light on the commentary received on Exercises #1. When writing each exercise that is included in this portfolio, students should focus upon attending to clarity of expression more than the details of citing and referencing resources. Students will learn the latter through the experience of not citing and referencing correctly in the portfolio and revising their written work for future submissions.
Reflecting upon one’s background, experience, and reading of the philosophers studied in class, the student will identify the purpose for which society historically has educated youth and the role of the teacher in translating that purpose into educational experiences for youth. Each of the three exercises will be evaluated for content (70%) and style (30%).
Understanding the purpose for which society educates youth and the role of the teacher in translating that purpose into educational experiences for youth, the student will state in Exercise #4 one’s philosophy of education. Each topic the student treats must reference the literature studied in class, either to support one’s stance or to critique the philosopher’s assertion. The completed statement will represent the student’s first, provisional philosophy of education. As such, it can serve as the foundation for future reflection based on the student’s professional experience and, over time, demonstrate one’s philosophical and professional development. Exercise #4 will be evaluated for content (80%) and style (20%).
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