From the Archives 6

A proposal for work to be submitted for review of application to teacher education program: rejected.Questions for the Essay for Admission to Teacher Education Programs1. You have decided to become an educator, to teach a particular subject matter for which you understand there to be a meaningful purpose. First explain your understanding of the purpose of education in a society such as ours and then, the purpose of instruction in your chosen discipline(s). From your experience as a student and an adult living in the United States of America, answer the question of whether or not your own education has prepared you well for dealing with the contingencies of life in the 21st century, what you received from your education that helps you to live life effectively, and deficits, if any. Discuss what was done right and what could have been done better and how you will do what is necessary to insure that your students receive the education they need and deserve.2. Below are three elements of the Common Core State Standards. Read them and discuss how learning required for meeting any one or more comports with the kind of learning required of you as a student. Did the education you received prepare you in such a way that you would be able to meet these standards? How so and how not? Should students be educated in such a manner as to be able to meet standards such as this? In your piece discuss your sense of whether and how these are important goals or not and how you think teachers can and should respond to the requirements of these standards (either in their teaching or their advocacy for or against the standards).Elements of the Core Curriculum State StandardFrom the Mathematics Standards:Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.Mathematically proficient students understand and use stated assumptions, definitions, and previously established results in constructing arguments. They make conjectures and build a logical progression of statements to explore the truth of their conjectures. They are able to analyze situations by breaking them into cases, and can recognize and use counterexamples. They justify their conclusions, communicate them to others, and respond to the arguments of others. They reason inductively about data, making plausible arguments that take into account the context from which the data arose. Mathematically proficient students are also able to compare the effectiveness of two plausible arguments, distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that which is flawed, and—if there is a flaw in an argument—explain what it is. Elementary students can construct arguments using concrete referents such as objects, drawings, diagrams, and actions. Such arguments can make sense and be correct, even though they are not generalized or made formal until later grades. Later, students learn to determine domains to which an argument applies. Students at all grades can listen or read the arguments of others, decide whether they make sense, and ask useful questions to clarify or improve the arguments.From the English Language Arts StandardsCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.8Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses).CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.9Analyze seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century foundational U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (including The Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address) for their themes, purposes, and rhetorical features.