William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

Professor
PhD Program in Educational Leadership
Prairie View A&M University
Doctoral Comprehensive Examination Review Preparation Guide
Cohort III – Fall 2007

Special Note: Items #1 and #14 are required. These items are due on the
day of writing comprehensives for Professor Kritsonis

1. This item is due on the day of writing comprehensives for Dr. Kritsonis.
All doctoral students shall be required to answer this specific comp item: Essay:
Discuss the Six Philosophical Strategies for Implementing the Ways of Knowing
Through the Realms of Meaning (2007) – A Philosophy for Selecting the
Curriculum for General Education by William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

(Note: Book is only available for purchase through AMISTAD

BOOKPLACE, 700 University Drive, Prairie View, Texas 77446
amistadbookplace@earthlink.net – 936-857-9101)

Make certain to discuss your view of the realms of meaning as it specifically

relates to providing leadership in any area of education. Make certain to write your
essay as if you are submitting it for publication as a chapter in a textbook or article
for national publication in a professional journal. Submit two copies along with a
CD, and follow APA guidelines. Use the following format.

Specific Guidelines and Format for Essay:

a. Title (Use the word National in the title)
b. Abstract (50-75 words)
c. Opening paragraph must be as follows:

The six realms of meaning cover the range of possible meanings and
comprise the basic competencies that general education should develop
in every person. A complete person should be skilled in the use of
speech, symbol, and gesture (symbolics), factually well informed
(empirics), capable of creating and appreciating objects of esthetic
significance (esthetics), endowed with a rich and disciplined life in
relation to self and others (synnoetics), able to make wise decisions and
to judge between right and wrong (ethics), and possessed of an integral
outlook (synoptics). These are the aims of general education for the
development of complete persons.

d. Second paragraph, must start with…The purpose of this essay is to

discuss six philosophical strategies for implementing the realms of
meaning as a process for selecting curriculum for the development of the
complete person.
 e. In numerical order, the following six paragraphs must present your
unique philosophical strategies for implementation of some aspect of the
realms of meaning.
f. Last paragraph, must start with…In conclusion, …
g. Length: 6-10 pages; 2-5 references.

2. Write a brief definition of the following philosophies:

Aesthetics Objectivism
Logic Instrumentalism
Epistemology Progressivism
Metaphysics Essentialism
Axiology Perennialism
Idealism Behaviorism
Realism Constructivism
Pragmatism Chinese Thought
Existentialism Middle Eastern Thought
Analytic Philosophy Far Eastern Thought
Reconstructionism Western Philosophy
Scholasticism Confucianism
What is your philosophy of education?
What is your philosophy of life?

3. In relation to the philosophies of leadership presented in your doctoral course, identify

and describe in detail your educational philosophy. Make clear in your response why
you hold these beliefs. Explain what difference such beliefs make to the amelioration
of the actual learning experience of children and youth in schools. In your essay, you
must state your thoughts in a logical manner and demonstrate a knowledgeable
understanding of metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology in your analysis. (text,
William Kritsonis, PhD on Schooling)
.
(Note: This item requires specific knowledge of the philosophies:
Idealism – Realism – Pragmatism – Existentialism – Progressivism – Communism –
Analytic Philosophy – Reconstructionism – Social Reconstructionism - Scholasticism –
Instrumentalism – Essentialism – Perennialism – Behaviorism – Constructivism –
Chinese Thought – Middle Eastern Thought – Far Eastern Thought – Communism -
Jainism - Western Philosophy – Janism – Confucianism

Write your essay using the following format:

1. Title
2. First paragraph, strong attention getting
3. Second paragraph, must start with…The purpose of this essay is to discuss…
4. Third and subsequent paragraphs must present your unique thoughts logically
and include using the terms of metaphysics, epistemology, axiology.
5. Last paragraph, must start with…In conclusion…
4. Discuss the contributions to education of the following philosophers or contributors to
education. These are found in the text William Kritsonis, PhD on Schooling.

a. Socrates
b. Plato
c. Aristotle
d. Malcolm X
e. W.E.B. DuBois
f. Booker T. Washington
g. Jane Addams
h. Saint Augustine
i. George Berkeley
j. George Wilhelm Friedreich Hegel
k. Josiah Royce
l. Herman Harrell Horne
m. Rene Descartes
n. Immanuel Kant
o. Saint Thomas Aquinas
p. Philip H. Phenix
q. Francis Bacon
r. John Locke
s. Herbert Spencer
t. William James
u. Oliver Wendell Holmes
v. John Dewey
w. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
x. Auguste Comte
y. Charles Darwin
z. Soren Kierkegaard
aa. Martin Buber
bb. Friedreich Nietzsche
cc. Karl Marx
dd. Gilbert Ryle
ee. George S. Countz
ff. Alvin Toffler
gg. Saint Anselm
hh. Pierre Abelard
ii. B.F. Skinner
jj. John B. Watson
kk. The Greeks – Sappho – Protagoras – Socrates – Plato – Artistotle –
ll. The Romans - Cicero – Quintilian – Hypatia – Augustine – Boethius –
Cassiodorus
 mm.The Monastics – Benedict – Charlemagne = Alcuin – Guibert of Nogent
– Peter of Abelard – Heloise (Eloise) – Euphemia of Wherwell – Thomas
Aquinas
nn. The Humanists – Vittorine da Feltre – Christine de Pisan – Desderius
Erasmus – Niccolo Machiavelli
oo. The Reformers – John Wycliffe – John Huss – Martin Luther – Philip
Melanchthon – Ignatius Loyola – John Amos Comenius
pp. The New Educators – John Locke – Jean Jacque Rousseau – Mary
Wollstonecraft – Victor of Aveyron – Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi –
Friedrich Froebel
qq. The Americans – Bernardino de Sahagun – Sor Juana Ine de la Cruz –
Christopher Dock – Noah Webster –
rr. Friends of Education – Horace Mann – Robert Owen – John Hughes –
Sheldon Jackson
ss. Progressives – G. Stanley Hall – Francis w. Parker – John Dewey –
Margaret Haley – Ella Flagg Young – Fenwick W. English – John I.
Goodlad
tt. The Outsiders – Emma Willard – Mary Mason Lyon – Elizabeth
Blackwell – Emily Blackwell – Sara Winnemucca – Fanny Jackson
Coppin – Booker T. Washington -
Rafael Cordero y Molino – George I. Sanchez –
uu. The Critics – Maria Montessori – John Watson – Margaret Naumburg – William
E.B. DuBois – George S. Counts – Miles Elwood Cary –
vv. Paradigm Shifters – Thomas s. Kuhn – Howard Gardner – Frantz Fanon –
Malcolm X – Paula Freire – Michel Foucault – Ivan D. Illich

5. Ayn Rand’s basic philosophy is as follows:

“My philosophy in essence,” she said, “is the concept of man as a heroic being,
with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive
achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”

In your doctoral program, you were required to read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn
Rand. Atlas Shrugged presents many challenges and opportunities that
humankind must face during his/her existence relative to life, ethics, morals,
values, and spirituality.

In your essay, discuss several of the most salient or penetrating ideas presented
in Atlas Shrugged that impact people’s lives. In your discussion, make certain to
discuss the contributions of John Galt and Galt’s Gulch.
6. Any Rand’s basic philosophy is as follows:

“My philosophy in essence,” she said, “is the concept of man as a heroic being,
with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive
achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”

In your doctoral program, you were required to read The Virtue of Selfishness
by Ayn Rand. Write an essay to discuss several of the most salient or penetrating
ideas presented in The Virtue of Selfishness that impact people’s lives.

7. Benjamin Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues including the following:

Temperance – Silence – Order – Resolution – Frugality – Industry – Sincerity –
Justice – Moderation – Cleanliness – Tranquility – Chastity – Humility.

As a superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, supervisor, or school

board member, how would you go about implementing Franklin’s Thirteen
Virtues as a required staff development and improvement activity?

8. Briefly define what is meant by nomothetic and ideographic role dimensions.

In regard to your own continuing professional development and improvement,
discuss why it is important to focus daily on your own nomothetic and
ideographic dimensions. (text, William Kritsonis, PhD on Schooling)

9. What are the major components of the Kritsonis Balanced Teeter Totter
Model? Discuss your unique interpretation of the relative importance of this
model. (text, William Kritsonis, PhD on Schooling)

10. What are the elements of the Kritsonis Advanced Knowledge Level of
Thinking Model? Discuss your unique interpretation of the relative
importance of this model. (text, William Kritsonis, PhD on Schooling)
 11. In your doctoral program you were required to study the work of Michael Fullan
the former Dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the
University of Toronto. He is a recognized internationally authority on
educational reform and is engaged in training, consulting, and evaluating
change projects.

Discuss Dr. Fullan’s ideas on the following:

a. Leadership
b. The Change Puzzle
c. Why Change is Complex
d. What is Change?
e. New Insights
f. Brain Barriers
g. Sustainability – The Eight Elements of Sustainability
h. Relationship Building as a Change Agent
i. The New Meaning of Educational Change – Who? Why? What? Where?
j. How to developed a shared meaning on the process of making change
k. Change and the pedagogy of constructivism
l. Key Players: School Principal – Teachers - Schools
m. Key Words
n. Dr. Fullan’s Beliefs
o. Causes of Ineffective School Reform
p. Main Agent of Change in Schools
q. Leadership for Change
r. Dr. Fullan’s ongoing journey to better schools

12. Human Resource Management encompasses broad functions. It includes social

changes, organizing the personnel function, and human resources planning. HRM
includes the planning process: assumptions and forecasts. In parts of the nation HRM
includes collective bargaining; planning aspects, negotiations and administration.
HRM includes personnel process: recruitment, selection, induction, development.
HRM includes appraisal and compensation: general, goal-focused, performance
appraisal, termination of professional employee contracts, fundamental and
administrative procedures.

One of the most important administrative tasks in HRM involves selecting or hiring
employees. Discuss each of the following in this regard:

a. Employee Selection
b. Elements of the Selection Process
c. Objective of the Selection Process
d. Steps: Selection Process
The Interview
Hiring Good Teachers
 Interview Hints
Precautions
e. Final Selection
f. Other or additional comment

13. Human Resource Management involves administrative leadership. Discuss

what does literature indicates about each of the following:

a. What does research say about employee retention?

b. Why do employees stay?
c. What does an effective leader do?
d. What does an effective leader seek?
e. What does an effective administrator do?
f. What does the literature indicate about alignment models?
(Recruitment: Applicant Pools; Hiring Standards; Teacher Certification;
Assessment/Teacher Evaluation; Induction Pr-service; On-the-job
Pre-service; Mentoring; Professional Development and Improvement;
Compensation; Hiring Packages; Training; Performance Management.

14. This item is due on the day of writing comprehensives for Dr. Kritsonis.

In your doctoral program you were required to read the textbook by Dr.
Fenwick W. English, R. Wendell Eaves Distinguished Professor of Educational
Leadership, School of Education, The University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. The title of his book is THE POSTMODERN CHALLENGE TO THE
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION (2003)
published by Charles C Thomas, Publisher, LTD.

This book deals with postmodern philosophical thinking and

recommendations for educational leaders. Make certain to be consistent with
your educational philosophy. In your essay, make absolutely certain to
include the terms of metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology. If you can
intertwine the six realms of meaning into your essay it will be evaluated more
favorable.

Make certain to discuss your view of postmodernism as it specifically relates to

providing leadership. Make certain to write your essay as if you are submitting it
for a chapter in a textbook or article for national publication. Submit two copies
along with a CD, and follow APA guidelines. Use the following format.

a. Title (Make certain to use the word National in the title)

b. Abstract (50-75 words)
c. First paragraph, strong, attention getting.
d. Second paragraph, must start with…The purpose of this essay is to
discuss…
 e. In numerical order, the following several paragraphs must present
your unique strategies for implementing postmodernism in today’s
schools.
f. Last paragraph, must start with…In conclusion, …
g. 6-10 pages. 2-5 references.

15. Be prepared to take a True/False, Multiple Choice Test over Parts I, II, III of the
book by Dr. Kritsonis titled Ways of Knowing Through the Realms of Meaning.
Total Points: 300

16. Be prepared to take a True/False/Multiple Choice over the textbook titled

William Kritsonis on Schooling. Total Points: 335

17. Be prepared to write your philosophy of education.