Educational
Philosophy
Paper Information
This first set of items are required reading for the course and should be reviewed before beginning the assignment:
_How to Write the Educational Philosophy Paper
_A Sample Educational Philosophy Paper posted to GoogleDocs. Note that the proper format for naming the file should include both your name and the name of the specific document or assignment. For example, "Student Name - Educational Philosophy Paper." Also remember to attach and fill-out the self-evaluation rubric (link above).
These items explain the basics of APA style and plagiarism. (Also see links below for automated assistance in formatting your references.)
How To CIte Sources and Avoid Plagerism
APA Format Template and Scoring Rubric (Make a copy of this GoogleDoc template and use it to format your paper in APA. Fill out the scoring rubric when you hand in the final draft of your paper)
About Your Statement of Educational Philosophy and Practice:
In order to assist you in critically analyzing and applying the different theories of education to which you have been exposed during your teacher preparation, you will write a statement of your educational philosophy. This paper will be an integration and explanation of your educational philosophy and its implications on your teaching practice. You should not need to invent your own theory of education. This paper should focus on an integration of traditional Western educational philosophy (i.e., progressivism, existentialism, perennialism, and essentialism) and your personal application of this theory in your classroom. But remember, this is not a paper about the historic philosophical schools, it is a paper about your philosophy.
An alternate paper might develop the rationale for a new school. This new school proposal needs to be thoroughly grounded in a philosophical perspective and explained in great detail. The document must be primarily text/prose (not bulleted points) and be at least 10-14 pages in length. This translates to a word count of between 3,500-5,500 words (using 12-point Arial font, double spaced). This refers to the body of the paper only. It would not include the title page, abstract, or references.
The paper must be documented (the same as the philosophy paper) in APA style. The school proposal should include: the school's mission statement or vision, curriculum overview, approach to student motivation, approaches to parent and community involvement, approach to assessment and evaluation, and a plan for professional educator development. The plan should also include an annotated budget including both projected revenue and expenses. If you chose this option, please schedule a one-on-one meeting with the course instructor to review the expectations for the assignment.
Whichever paper you write, it should be approached as a summative critical integration of your teacher preparation program. This paper (if done well) could be the centerpiece of your teaching portfolio. It should display the professionalism and clarity you would like to project in a job interview.
Your theories of education will undoubtedly change as you become more experienced, but this experience will force you to make some choices and take a stand. Your continued investigation of education will be enhanced by this road map.
This paper should conform to American Psychological Association (APA) style. APA is the standard professional format for educators. The APA Publication Manual is available in the reference section of the library. The paper must conform to APA format for bibliographic research, inclusive language, documentation, and professional style.
Portions or drafts of the paper will be handed-in several times during the term to provide opportunities for feedback at the pre-writing, drafting, revising and editing stages of the writing process. It will be graded in two parts. First your paper will be assessed with regards to its completeness and the clarity of the ideas presented (20 points). Then the paper will be evaluated with regards to its style (correct English usage, thematic focus, APA style, etc., 10 points). Overall, the paper is worth 30 points.
Because this class fulfills a required university writing graduation skill, you must pass the writing assignment in order to pass this course (whether or not you are completing your bachelor's degree at Augsburg University).
This paper will be posted electronically on Google Drive for feedback and review.
Several documents which discuss how to develop your paper will be distributed in class or are available on this webpage. Several in-class activities will also assist you in identifying and developing your educational philosophy.
These remaining items are highly recommended additional resources on research, editing, manuscript preparation and APA style, but are not required reading for the course:
that visitors can pay for, if they so desire.
matter of speaking, as visitors can share this library of references and papers with others. CiteULike also has a flexible filing system based on tags, and visitors can customize these tags as they see fit. It's a fantastic resource, and it's compatible with all operating systems.
Multicultural Experience Enhances Creativity: The When and How (PDF file of a 2008 American Psychologist article by Leung et al. discussing the conditions in which multicultural experience enhances personal creativity. This article illustrates the format of an APA article similar to that prepared in this class.)
_Web-based APA Style Helpers (includes a link to Microsoft's website where you can learn how to use Microsoft Word to automate the formatting of references in APA style)
In addition, the following educational philosophy and reference books are available in the Lindell Library for EDC 490/580 students to use.