General Expectations for Writing in Education
Tone
The tone can vary for different kinds of assignments. For a research paper, the tone should be formal and professional. Personal pronouns may be allowed if there is a reflective component to the assignment, but opinions should be supported by research. Strictly reflective assignments can have a much more informal tone and speak exclusively about personal experience. More creative projects like lesson plans and teaching philosophies should feel personal, but should also appear professional.
Audience
Research papers are intended for an audience of readers who are familiar with the field of education, but who are not necessarily familiar with the course material. Students can assume that their reader has a general understanding of the important concepts that they are writing about. However, writers cannot assume that the reader know about every detail covered in class, even though it is the professor who will be reading and grading the paper. For reflective writing, students can often assume that the audience is the professor and do not need to do as much explaining. For lesson plans and teaching philosophies, the student should imagine the audience as a future employer.
Person-First Language
Writers are encouraged to always use inclusive language. Person-first language is an important concept especially in the discipline of special education. For example, instead of describing someone as a “disabled person”, it is expected that they will describe them as a “person with disabilities”. By putting the word “person” before the disability, the writer emphasizes their subject’s humanity before their disability. This reminds readers that the people they are dealing with are individuals and are not defined by their disabilities.
Sources
Writers should use primary sources for data pertaining to the subject they are writing about. Using secondary sources is a good way to provide commentary and insights from other professionals in the field. Writers should usually paraphrase or summarize rather than directly quote from secondary sources when possible.
Citations: APA Style
Formal writing should use APA style. Students can refer to the Purdue OWL APA style guide (new tab).