Winter, 2006
Each student in the program, as an ongoing part of the work for the quarter, will develop a personal statement of her or his philosophy of education. You will prepare a draft early in the quarter and will reconsider that draft every few weeks in light of new reading and program activities. You will then turn in a final draft at the end of the quarter with your portfolio.
Philosophy of Education Paper - The draft of your philosophy of education is due January 19 and is to be posted on WebX that same day. You are to bring four copies of the draft to seminar, where we will read each other’s papers and provide advice and feedback.
Your philosophy of education must address at least three topics:
You might also want to address related issues like the nature of knowledge and how your philosophy addresses issues of equity and social justice. You should make use of, and cite appropriately, books that we read last quarter.
Seminar Essay Papers - Three times during the quarter, you will write a short essay of three to five pages where you will describe how the seminar readings and other relevant program work from the prior two weeks affects your philosophy – does this work challenge your thinking? Might you have to rethink parts or all of your philosophy? Are your philosophy and your recent work in the program compatible? If so, how is this true? These papers are due by 1 pm on Thursdays Feb. 2, Feb. 16 and Mar. 2.
Seminar Response Papers – Five times during the quarter, on days when other papers are not due, you will prepare a short 2 or 3 paragraph response to the week’s assigned readings. These are due at 1 pm on Thursdays of weeks 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. Feel free to identify the author’s thesis and arguments in those papers, but we are interested primarily in a thoughtful response to the thesis and arguments.