In class today, we surveyed our friends about the purpose of schooling. We went to Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media to see what people outside of the School of Education (including many practicing educators), think about this topic.
Here are some highlights:
What is the purpose of school?
"Education. I also believe that in addition to learning about the subjects provided in school, school helps us learn about ourselves. I wish all levels of school were like college-- where I feel that people actually learn how to "be themselves" and learn how to better themselves in order to better the world. To me, school helps us be a better "us" all around."
"If you listen to a lot of mission statements: the purpose of school is to create an educated workforce. Personally, I think the purpose of school is really to help people learn to Think Critically."
"To create a better society, by exposing students to new things, new people, and giving them new experiences to enable them to make informed decisions, be able to consider and value viewpoints other than their own, know how to find information on their own when confronted with something new, and do all this with a critical/empathetic lens."
"To create a better society, by exposing students to new things, new people, and giving them new experiences to enable them to make informed decisions, be able to consider and value viewpoints other than their own, know how to find information on their own when confronted with something new, and do all this with a critical/empathetic lens."
"School" in modern America has become as much a babysitting service as a place to educate children. It's a place where you know your children will be supervised for 6-7 hours a day while parents are at work. Actual educational value varies wildly."
"I would say school provides an atmosphere to learn how to work with and for others, with increasing responsibility transitioning to self-governance over time, hopefully before college is over!"
"Ideally it's to empower people (with both technical and critical thinking skills) to overcome oppression. this is the hope, and this is possible, which is why the idea of popular education makes me teary. lately education is as class-divided as anything else in the US, with the upper echelons paddling around in relativist theory that either gets us nowhere (i'm sorry "agreeing to disagree' is cop-out bullshit) OR it gets them somewhere but does not provide them with the reasoning to determine why they're miserable and what part they're playing in making others miserable. the lower echelon is pipelined into the prison system. it's cheaper (and in fact generates revenue!) to imprison part of the population than it is to educate them."
We've found that this question has been a constant throughout the history of education, and we are divided on the answer. How people feel about the purpose of education shapes the policies and curriculum in so many ways. So, Blogger friends, what do you think is the purpose of schooling?
