Educational Philosophy Paper Information

The Process of Gathering Information: Start with Your Goal

• First you must determine what major question(s) you wish to answer. In this case your first question is: what is my educational philosophy?
• Skim pages 69-92 in Ryan and Cooper's Those who can, teach, 5th edition (pp. 70-99, 6th edition) and/or an article that deals with educational philosophy and tentatively choose a philosophy from the five classic educational philosophies--perennialism, progressivism, essentialism, existentialism, and behaviorism. You may wish to choose more than one, which is allowable, but be aware that this will make your later synthesis more difficult. Eclecticism, while quite common, is more problematic than it might appear at first glance.
• Based on your initial impressions and curiosity, write several (4-8) questions you want to answer as a result of your research. This gives your inquiry a purpose and direction. For example: Why do I want to be a teacher? How does my approach fit my subject area? What ideas from the progressivist (perennialist, essentialist, behaviorist, and/or existentialist) approach would support my beliefs? In what type of classroom would I feel comfortable?
• Consult several (6-10) sources beyond Ryan and Cooper that discuss your approach to teaching and learning. Use journal articles and book chapters rather than entire books as your resources (see more on this below). Be sure to use up-to-date resources. You may also wish to interview a practicing teacher or speak with a favorite professor. They may have other resource ideas for you to pursue.
• As you pursue your background research you can delete and add to your list of questions. Some may turn out to be dead-ends; other may occur to you during your research.

Your Major Resource: Scientific Journals

• Most students start their substantive research by looking at one or more indices, either in manual (book) form (e.g., Educational Index, ERIC, or Psychological Abstracts) or an online equivalent (e.g., Academic Index/InfoTrac, ERIC, PsycINFO/PsycArticles, FirstSearch, etc.). Either form is acceptable and are available at Augsburg. Speak with the reference librarian if you aren't familiar with these resources. In general, PsycINFO/PsycArticles is your best sounce for all items in the social and behavioral sciences.
• These indices should lead you to such journals as the American Journal of Education, Harvard Educational Review, and the Journal of Education or more research-based titles such as The Journal of Educational Research, The Journal of Educational Psychology, and the Review of Educational Research. Do not take more than one article from commercial education magazines such as Teacher, Instructor, or Learning, or popular magazines such as Time or Newsweek. The publication standards of these commercial and popular magazines are not nearly as rigorous as juried scientific journals.

Organizing and Documenting Your Information

Sort your findings into logical groupings oriented around your research questions. Once you start to see patterns develop (e.g, question-->answer, key idea-->supporting documentation) generate an outline of your paper using your research questions and the following outline as your guide. This paper is a documented research paper--that means each and every idea that is not your own must be documented (i.e., from where did you get this idea?). Ideas can come from journals and books, other media, or they can come from course lectures and personal communication. All of these sources can be cited. See the APA style resources on this website to see how.

Important point! Use your main ideas, research questions and/or other key statements as section titles. This helps to give each sub-section an organizing theme.

Suggested Outline of Your Paper (The numbers and letters used in this outline should not be used in your final draft.)

I. Introduction: Preview you main points

1. Make clear what your topic/thesis is and why it interests you.
2. Carefully illustrate your key ideas with examples. The more theoretical the concepts you're trying to get across, the more important such examples become.
3. State clearly the major question(s) you're trying to answer or main ideas you're exploring.

II. Body: Report the information you gathered

1. Identify the key ideas you have highlighted in your introduction and discuss them in-depth here. There should be a 1:1 correspondence between your introduction and the major sections of your paper, i.e., if you say in your introduction that there are four main ideas you want to explore, then there should be four main sections in the body of your paper.
   
2. Report the information you gathered about your philosophy of education. Cite authors as you refer to their work. The American Psychological Association's (APA) standard format permits you to cite authors in the text either by enclosing their last names (not  first names) and the year of publication in parentheses, as in 1 below, or by using their names in the sentence itself, as in 2. In general, the first option is preferred because it emphasizes the ideas (rather than the author) so it flows better.
   
   
   1. "A perennialist teacher usually believes in the study of a rather specific set of readings, often called The Great Books (Adler, 1970)."
   2. "Adler (1970) promotes the idea of a curriculum based on a specific set of standard texts, often called The Great Books."
      

__C. Discuss and apply what you've learned from your research. Some possible questions to guide your review:

1. What are your main beliefs about teaching, learning, and young people?
2. How do these correlate with your experiences in school (as a student or teacher--stories and illustrations are a useful tool here.)
   
3. How will what you've learned affect your decision to become a teacher? (Stories and illustrations are a useful tool here.)
4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your philosophy?
5. What are the contradictions within your approach and how do you resolve them?
6. What are the implications of your approach on:
   
   1. your instructional methods?
   2. your politics?
   3. your discipline strategies?
   4. your ideas of what curriculum should be emphasized?
   5. grading?
   6. relationships with students, other teachers, administrators, and parents?
   7. student motivation?
   8. the way you view the worth of schooling and education?
   9. school reform?
   10. ...these are not an exhaustive list, nor should you feel obligated to discuss them all.
       

III. Conclusion: Review your main points and place them in a context.

1. Synthesize the information you gathered into summary statements which explicitly answer the major questions you raised at the beginning of your paper.
   
2. What new questions does your research raise? How might those new questions be addressed?

IV. References: List your references according to APA style. If you are unsure of the proper form, consult the APA Publication Manual (available from the bookstore and in the reference section of most libraries) or the APA resources elsewhere on this website.

V. Title and Abstract

1. The title and abstract should give your reader a quick overview of your paper to decide if they wish to read the article itself, and to prepare them for the key issues you want to raise. A well written title and abstract makes your paper easier to read.
2. A recommended length for a title is 6-12 words. It should be fully explanatory when standing alone and identify the key concepts under investigation.
3. The abstract should perhaps be between 100-120 words in length and should contain a brief review of: the key concepts under investigation, your philosophical point of view, and your major findings and conclusions.
4. Despite the fact that the title and abstract are written last, they are placed at the beginning of your paper.

How Should You Write?

While an in-depth discussion of this questions is beyond the scope of this review, some basic criteria are important to remember:

• "Good writing is good teaching" (Bem, 1987, p. 174). Organize your thoughts before you write--strive for precision, clarity, and comprehension.
• Write simply and directly. Intelligent nonprofessionals should be able to read your paper and understand what you did and why.
• Don't comment on the process of writing--it should be transparent (Bem, 1987). For example, don't write, "Now that we have covered five key existentialist writers, we are going to turn to three application of existentialism," just do it.
• Don't use technical concepts or abbreviations without first defining them.
• Use the active voice and refer to yourself in the first person.
• Use the past tense when describing others' previous research and the present tense when describing the results of your current work. For example, "Educational researchers have demonstrated that Cooperative Learning increases student comprehension by an average of 15% (Johnson, 1988).  A teacher with whom I spoke agrees--students using Cooperative Learning methods are learning considerably more than those in traditional classrooms (J. Rivet, personal communication, January 12, 2022)."
• Use gender-inclusive language.

Revising and Rewriting

• Writing is a process. It involves prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. Allow yourself enough time to include all of these steps.
• Put your paper aside after writing your first draft. Come back to it after you gain some perspective.
• Get a friend to critically review your paper. Don't argue with them if they say "I don't understand what this part means." The verbal, on-the-spot explanation you give your friend is not part of your paper (yet)--if your friend says it's vague, it's vague!
• Be compulsive about every detail. Print out draft copies and don't be afraid to mark them up. Rewrite your paper until it is something of which you're proud.
• Don't rely on spell checkers to catch all spelling errors.

Printing and Packaging Your Paper

There are a few relatively easy points to remember about printing and packaging your paper which will enhance its readability and style.

• If at all possible, use a laser or high-quality ink-jet or laser printer for your final copy (like those available on campus) if printing out your paper.
  
• For maximum readability, use an 11-point or larger serif font (typefaces with little lines on the tops and bottoms of its letters) if printing on paper. For printed documents, use 12-point Times Roman which is available on virtually every computer-- Macintosh or Windows.
  
• Sans serif fonts (those without lines on the tops and bottoms of its letters, such as Arial or Helvetica) are not recommended for long text passages (such as research papers and essays) that are printed on paper because they are much more difficult to read.
  
• Interestingly, these rules switch in an on-line environment. When "printing" to an on-line document such as a web page or Google Drive, you should use Arial or Helvetica sans-serif fonts.
  
• Except for a few special circumstances, don't use more than one typeface in your document.
• When printing to paper, double-space your document, leaving an ample margin (at least 1 inch) on all sides.
• Do not justify the right margin--leave it ragged. Leaving your right margin ragged makes your text easier to read in most circumstances.
• Make backup copies of your paper and keep them in several different places/formats, e.g., online, locally, and a hard copy.

Where to Go for More Information

• Model educational philosophy outlines and final drafts of papers are available for inspection. 
  
• The Augsburg College Writing Lab is a drop-in program for students needing assistance with any writing project. It is generally open several hours each weekday and Sunday (closed Saturdays) and is located on the main floor of the Lindell Library, just to the left of the main entrance. Virtual appointments are also available. Later in each term they also provide extended hours--look for notices on these extended hours. Trained English majors will assist you in preparing your paper. For more information, follow this link.
• A writer's best friend? An outline This StarTribune column breaks down the process of preparing an outline into several easy-to-follow steps. Use it to prepare the first draft/outline of your paper.
• Effective Writing: When things get complicated, take it step by step is a review of the steps necessary to plan and write a major paper.
  
  
  Some excellent references for preparing and writing papers are:
  
  
  • American Psychological Association. (2020, 7th edition). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, D.C.: A.P.A. (See especially Chapter 2.)
  • Bem, D. (2004). Writing the empirical journal article, in Zanna and Darley (eds.). The complete academic. New York: Random House. (Much of what is highlighted here is taken from Bem's excellent article.)
  • Augsburg Library Research Video Tutorials. (A series of short "how to" videos available for viewing on the Augsburg Library website)
  • Gelfand, H. (2009). Mastering APA style, 6th Ed.: Student's workbook and training guide. Washington, D.C.: APA.
  • Strunk, W. & White, E.B. (1979). The elements of style (3rd ed.). New York: Macmilian. (This book is the classic in the field--available everywhere: easy to read and inexpensive.)