Comprehensive Exams
Philosophy of Education Specialization

All Ph.D. students and all Ed.D. students who began their program after July 1, 1992 are required to take a comprehensive examination. There will be two forms of the examination, one for the Ed.D. and one for the Ph.D. The following regulations for the comprehensive examination will apply from July, 1995.

GENERAL

 

1. The purpose of the examination is in part to determine the student’s preparedness to write a thesis. Accordingly, the comprehensive examination committee consists of two faculty members who are likely to become members of the thesis committee. At least one of these must be a member of the Department. Mutual agreement of faculty members and student is required to form a committee. Forms for the establishment of the committee can be obtained from the department Academic Liaison Officer and after completion must be filed in the Department.
2. Ideally, the committee will be established before the beginning of the final year of required residence and the examination completed early, leaving as much time as possible to work on the thesis. The committee and the student jointly determine items to be included on a comprehensive reading list of books and articles.
3. The examination may be either an open-book examination or a take-home examination to be returned to the committee normally within one week. The choice of option is made by the student.
4. The committee may initially make one of three decisions about the student’s performance:
   a) that performance is satisfactory, in which case the student may continue in the program;
   b) that the student be required to engage in a two hour oral examination which is based primarily on the written answers but which may include other questions, of a relatively general nature, on the field. The outcome of (b) may be either (a) or (c);
   c) that performance is unsatisfactory, in which case the student must rewrite the examination within two months. In unusual circumstances an extension of up to two further months may be granted.
   
   In the event of unsatisfactory performance on the first examination, the committee must provide a written statement of reasons for the judgement as guidance for preparation for the re-examination.
   
5. A second judgement of unsatisfactory performance results in the termination of candidacy.
6. The student may appeal the time-lines in extenuating circumstances and may petition for change in committee membership (but only prior to the first examination).
   

In the Philosophy doctoral programs, the comprehensive examination is in three sections, and students provide written answers to four questions, one each from Sections A and B and two from Section C.

Ph.D. Students

Section A:
Historical figures in philosophy of education: 3 or more questions set by Philosophy faculty, 2 by student’s comprehensive committee.

Section B:
Historical themes or approaches in philosophy of education: 5 or more questions set as above.

Section C:
Contemporary issues in philosophy of education: 5 or more questions set by the philosophy faculty, 3 by student’s comprehensive committee.

Ed.D. Students

Section A:
Central figures in recent philosophy of education. Questions set as for Ph.D.

Section B:
Historical themes or approaches in philosophy of education. Questions set as for Ph.D.

Section C:
Contemporary critical issues in education (with a professional emphasis). Questions set as for Ph.D.

The questions set by the philosophy faculty are established at a philosophy faculty meeting. They are reviewed and possibly changed each year. Changes do not come into effect until at least six months after they are announced.

These questions take due account of the content of the survey course TPS1440. It should be noted that the survey course TPS1440 deals with the areas in Sections A and B of the doctoral comprehensive examination and is seen, in part, as preparing students for the examination. It is offered in the Fall term, thus giving students the opportunity to build on it in preparation for a comprehensive examination the following Fall. The issues in Section C of the examination are dealt with in philosophy of education courses generally. Normally at least one of the questions in Section C is related to the anticipated thesis topic.

The comprehensive committee’s questions are set after an appropriate process of consultation with the student.

 

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Philosophy of Education Comprehensive Examination
Ph.D.

(Answer 4 questions, one each from Sections A and B, and two from Section C)

Section A: Historical Figures in Philosophy of Education

 

1. Discuss comparatively the conception of the person found in the educational ideas and proposals of two of the following: Buddha, Plato, Aristotle, Ibn Sina, Descartes, Rousseau, Wollstonecraft, Dewey, Piaget.
2. What view of the relationship between the individual and the state underlies the educational theory of two of the following: Confucius, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Woolf?
3. Discuss critically the role played by appeals to nature within the educational thought of one or more of the following: Lao-tzu, Aristotle, Astell, Rousseau, Locke, Nietzsche, Dewey.
4. Compare and contrast the views of the goals of education in two of the following: Confucius, Plato, Ibn Sina, Aquinas, Rousseau, Dewey, Oakeshott, Peters, Habermas.
5. (To be set by the student’s comprehensive committee)
6. (As above)
   

Section B: Historical Themes or Approaches in Philosophy of Education

1. Discuss comparatively the theories of knowledge embedded in two of the following philosophical/educational traditions: Platonism, rationalism, idealism, empiricism, pragmatism, existentialism, progressivism, social constructivism, behaviourism, cognitive developmentalism.
2. The education of women has been sometimes present, sometimes absent, as a theme in philosophy of education. Discuss.
3. Identify and articulate at least two competing perspectives on the notion of freedom. Discuss how they differ in terms of impact on education.
4. Compare and contrast two main historical views of the justification of education.
5. (To be set by the student’s comprehensive committee)
6. (As above)
   

Section C: Contemporary Issues in Philosophy of Education

1. Discuss the implications for the philosophy of education of the foundationalist/anti-foundationalist debate within the discipline and its possible effects on the future of education.
2. Assess the ideal of gender-neutral education.
3. “Education must be morally neutral.”/ “Education can never be morally neutral.” Pick one side and defend it against the other. Provide examples.
4. It is often claimed that the curriculum of schools should be organized around the knowledge most worth having. What might be meant by this claim, what is your view on this matter, how would you support your view, and what might be the implications for education?
5. Is indoctrination unavoidable in any formal educational system? Why/why not?
6. (To be set by the student’s comprehensive committee)
7. (As above)
8. (As above)
   

Philosophy of Education Comprehensive Examination
Ed.D

(Answer 4 questions, one each from Sections A and B, and two from Section C)

Section A: Central Figures in Recent Philosophy of Education

 

1. Compare and contrast the view of the educated person developed by two of the following: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Alfred North Whitehead, Richard Peters, John Holt, Jane Roland Martin.
2. Discuss the tensions perceived between individual freedom and social constraints found in the educational writings of two of the following: John Dewey, A. S. Neill, Michael Oakeshott, Ivan Illich, Maxine Greene.
3. Analyze comparatively the role of the teacher found in the central works of Paulo Freire and Henry Giroux.
4. (a) Discuss the relationship between Paul Hirst’s notion of the “forms of knowledge” and the traditional understanding of “liberal education”.
   (b) Discuss the implications both for his theory and for education of Hirst’s more recent disavowal of his original theory of the “forms of knowledge”.
5. In The Education Feminism Reader Lynda Stone documents the rise of “education feminism” over the past 20 years as an integral part of the philosophy of education. Analyze the respective positions of two of the thinkers included in the anthology within Stone’s concept of “education feminism”.
6. Discuss critically the view of the social function of education held by two of the following: Marx, Dewey, Whitehead, Russel, Neill, Oakeshott.
7. Discuss and evaluate John Dewey’s critique of classical education.
8. (To be set by the student’s comprehensive committee)
9. (To be set by the student’s comprehensive committee)
   

Section B: Historical Themes or Approaches in Philosophy of Education

 

1. Identify and critically compare two philosophical views of learning relevant to your professional background.
2. The education of women has been sometimes present, sometimes absent, as a theme in philosophy of education. Discuss.
3. Identify and articulate at least two competing perspectives on the notion of freedom. Discuss how they differ in terms of impact on education.
4. Compare and contrast two main historical views of the justification of education.
5. A common theme in philosophy of education has been the integration or synthesis of knowledge as opposed to the mere accumulation of facts. Discuss, with reference to past and current views of the goals of education.
6. Compare two different views of the place of cognition and emotion in education.
7. Discuss major themes in the philosophy and social theory of the critical school (Critical Theory, the Frankfurt School) and their relevance for education.
8. (To be set by the student’s comprehensive committee) 
9. (To be set by the student’s comprehensive committee)

Section C: Contemporary Critical Issues in Education

 

1. In some clearly specified professional context explain and evaluate contemporary affirmative action initiatives.
2. From some clearly identified theoretical perspective, discuss some central issue of professional ethics within the profession with which you most closely identify.
3. Identify and critically analyze arguments for and against recent policy mandating “destreaming” in one or more Canadian provinces.
4. From some specified location of a professional educator, discuss critically the nature and desirability of different forms of influence that might be wielded by that educator.
5. Critically evaluate the educational relevance of Charles Taylor’s notion of a “politics of recognition” to the development of the ideal of democratic education as it relates to two of:
   a) multiculturalism
   b) anti-racist education
   c) gender differences in child development
   d) violence and conflict-resolution in schools
6. Should an educational system incorporate the use of the latest and most sophisticated technologies in the process of education? To what extent can educators control the use and outcomes of technology and to what extent does technology control its users and especially educators?
7. Describe and assess one or more major changes, which have taken place in educational philosophy and policy in Canada (and Ontario) during the last two decades.
8. (To be set by the student’s comprehensive committee)
9. (To be set by the student’s comprehensive committee)
10. (To be set by the student’s comprehensive committee)