The purpose of the General Field component of the Qualifying exam is to test students' general knowledge of philosophy of education and their skill in applying philosophical reasoning to educational theory and practice. Candidates will be expected to address the question in a well-organized way, with clarity of language and theme, consistency, and sensitivity to context. While these questions are not designed to be research projects, you are encouraged to use readings that can help to inform your answer.
Sources listed in some of the questions are suggestions only.
Both approaches have their loyalists. Aside from reading, the daily curriculum the students all receive would be the same. Though both approaches have strong advocates and research evidence to support them, this researcher personally believes that the whole language approach is superior for most students, that it does more to develop positive attitudes about reading, that it promotes better writing as well as reading habits, and that it leads to an enhanced sense of self-confidence in students. Partly due to concerns about each of these three proposed characteristics of knowledge, some scholars have turned to more interpretive or hermeneutical conceptions of inquiry. This hermeneutical turn has sometimes been criticized as an alternative to the JTB analysis.