Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read the assigned chapters in Introduction to education: Choosing to teach by Krogh. Chapter 5 considers the “community” in conventional classrooms giving strategies and techniques for creating a classroom where children thrive socially and academically. Models for classroom management are discussed in detail.
Chapter 6 examines the complexity of curriculum development while also analyzing the different forms of assessment. Chapter 9 considers the nature of teaching and the occasional controversy over its definition as a profession. This will allow the reader to reflect on if they display a “goodness of fit” as a potential future educator.
In your paper,
- Summarize the responses of your interviewee in third-person point of view.
- Analyze how the educator’s responses did or did not align with concepts addressed in your textbook and two other scholarly sources.
- Evaluate your “goodness of fit” for the profession, using specific details and research to support your conclusion.
- Describe concerns you might still have about your chosen profession and how you would resolve them.
For the Final Paper, you will demonstrate an understanding of the complex set of issues that must be considered as you embark on your professional preparation to become an educator. The best way to do this is to conduct an interview of an educator to get a realistic perspective of the profession. It is hoped that after the interview you will have a better understanding of the daily responsibilities and how the teaching philosophies and learning theories guide the educator in making decisions. In addition, you will then have an opportunity to reflect on your own “goodness of fit” as a future educator.
Please be courteous of the professionals you are interviewing. Plan and schedule your interviews early. It can be difficult to secure an interview date. Writing or emailing a thank-you note is a recommended professional practice.
Interview Questions: You will interview one educator at the elementary level (K-5) or secondary level (6-12) depending on where your own teaching interests lie.
Please ask your educator the following questions and record his or her responses. Please note the directions for the location of your responses/analysis within your
Final Paper. If you choose to interview a librarian, skip to the section with questions for librarians that appear after the teacher questions.
Questions for a teacher interview: If you have selected a teacher to interview, use this set of questions.
Teacher responses/analysis below will go into Section 2:
- Why did you decide to become an educator? What was your motivation and what attributes do you think are important for an educator to exhibit to be effective? (Attributes/Motivation)
- What is your philosophy of education? What is the role of the educator and the students? (Teaching Philosophy)
- What are your learning goals for your students? How do you effectively meet their needs? (Learning Theory)
Teacher responses/analysis below will go into Section 3:
- What do you believe are the most effective methods for educating students? (Learning Theory)
- What is your comfort level with technology and how do you integrate it within your lesson planning? (Technology)
- How do academic standards drive your instruction? Do you feel a need to teach to the test? Why or why not? (Academic standards)
- What types of assessment do you use in your classroom? Can you give me an example of a formative and summative assessment? (Assessment)
- How do you incorporate elements of multicultural education in your classroom? Can you provide a specific example? (Diversity)
- How do you effectively manage a classroom? What is most challenging about issues related to discipline and classroom management? (Discipline and Classroom Management)
Teacher responses/analysis below will go into Section 4:
- How do you foster a positive relationship with students, parents, and the community? (Relationships)
- What are the best and worst parts of the teaching profession? What concerns might you have for the future of our education system? (Contemporary Concerns)
- As you have gained experience, how has your philosophy of education changed?
**Alternative Option: If you have selected to interview a librarian in lieu of a classroom teacher, this is acceptable, provided you still meet the expectations of the Final Paper. The alternative questions are as follows:
Librarian responses/analysis below will go into Section 2:
- Why did you decide to become a librarian? What was your motivation and what attributes do you think are important for a librarian to exhibit to be effective? (Attributes/Motivation)
- What is your philosophy of education? What is the role of the librarian and the students? (Teaching Philosophy)
- What are your learning goals for your students? How do you effectively meet their needs? (Learning Theory)
Librarian responses/analysis below will go into Section 3:
- What do you believe are the most effective methods for teaching library concepts? (Learning Theory)
- What is your comfort level with technology and how might you integrate it in the library? (Technology)
- How do academic standards drive your instruction? (Academic standards)
- Can you give me an example of a formative and summative assessment you might use in the library? (Assessment)
- How do you incorporate elements of multicultural education in the library? Can you provide a specific example? (Diversity)
- How do you effectively manage your groups of students? What is most challenging about issues related to discipline and student management? (Discipline and Classroom Management)
Librarian responses/analysis below will go into Section 4:
- How do you foster a positive relationship with library patrons and the community? (Relationships)
- What are the best and worst parts of being a librarian? What concerns might you have for the future of library sciences? (Contemporary Concerns)
- As you have gained experience, how has your philosophy of education/library sciences changed?
Final Paper Requirements: After you have collected the responses from your educator, prepare an eight- to 10-page paper to include the following sections. Use the recommended Final Paper Template
to organize your work.
Section 1: Introduction:
Provide an introduction that includes demographic information (educator name, school, grade or discipline taught, number of children at that school, other pertinent information). Include why it is important to seek out and speak to current professionals in the field you are interested in entering. What is the rationale for conducting an interview?
Section 2: Summary and Analysis: Motivation and Philosophy
Summarize the answers the educator gave to the interview questions 1 through 3 in third-person point of view. Remember that a summary is a “retelling” of what the educator said; you may not to use direct quotes from the educator or copy/paste questions and answers directly. For each response, you must also analyze how the educator’s responses aligned or did not align with the information presented in your text and two other scholarly sources. Show how the responses of the educator supported or did not support what you learned in this class. You must have at least two in-text research citations in each section. Please refer to the Final Paper Template for correct organization of each section.
Section 3: Summary and Analysis: Instructional Practices
Summarize the answers the educator gave to the interview questions 4 through 9 in third-person point of view. Remember that a summary is a “retelling” of what the educator said; you may not to use direct quotes from the educator or copy/paste questions and answers directly. For each response, you must also analyze how the educator’s responses aligned or did not align with the information presented in your text and two other scholarly sources. Show how the responses of the educator supported or did not support what you learned in this class. You must have at least two in-text research citations in each section. Please refer to the Final Paper Template for correct organization of each section.
Section 4: Summary and Analysis: Relationship-Building and Reflection
Summarize the answers the educator gave to the interview questions 10 through 12 in third-person point of view. Remember that a summary is a “retelling” of what the educator said; you may not to use direct quotes from the educator or copy/paste questions and answers directly. For each response, you must also analyze how the educator’s responses aligned or didn’t align with the information presented in your text and two other scholarly sources. Show how the responses of the educator supported or didn’t support what you learned in this class. You must have at least two in-text research citations in each section. Please refer to the Final Paper Template for correct organization of each section.
Section 5: Conclusion: End your paper by redefining your specific career goal in the field of education. Discuss your experience with the research portion of this final assignment. What surprised you most about the information you learned from your informational interview? Do you think you are a “good fit” for your career goal? Why or why not? Consider the attributes that you exhibit that make you a good fit and what motivates you to pursue the career you have identified. What concerns do you have and how might you resolve them? End with a powerful, inspirational statement that leaves your reader satisfied.
Your paper should be formatted according to APA Style and must include a title page and reference page. You may find the Introduction to APA (Links to an external site.) resource helpful. Please refer to important APA style reminders. You must use a minimum of two scholarly sources in addition to the course text. For help in planning and organizing your assignment, please access the Final Paper Template.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
Click to view an EXAMPLE
of this week’s final paper.
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