Proposal for Journal Article
April 19, 2006
In my journal article, I plan on covering several elements of the home schooling controversy, including different factors that went into shaping this controversy. I am going to introduce a specific character and follow through with that characters story. Perhaps this character will humorously portray a home school student in the way that most people stereotype homeschoolers. Then I will give lots of historical background showing how public education in America got to where it is today, and why none of these changes have ultimately been for the better. At the end of my essay, I will be arguing that education is going downhill because of a variety of factors, not just one exact factor. My goal is to get my readers to see that education, in the traditional sense, is key. I want to enlighten the reader so they are not forced to choose between home schooling, public school, and private school, but so they reevaluate education as a whole and begin inquiring for themselves about the education system in America.
I am aiming this article to be published in Educational Leadership: Improving Professional Practice. This is a magazine conducted by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and focuses on the quality of teachers rather than the quality of teaching. The magazine tries to define a “high quality teacher”. Most of these articles argue that teachers must continue to improve rather than apply some prescription to their students. The magazine asks questions such as should professional development be inspirational or survival oriented? Example articles that have been published include “The Satisfaction of Teaching” and “Transforming Practice in Urban Schools”.