What is the Purpose of School?
The debate has raged for many years, and no consensus has been reached: What is the purpose of school? The obvious answer would seem to be to educate students. But is this really what is wanted, or needed?
Many people believe the purpose of school is to train workers. Or, put another way, train students to enter the workforce. Business leaders, especially, often espouse this point of view, and their concerns are valid. Students must be ready to enter the workforce upon graduation from high school or college, as this will be the only way they can support themselves and contribute to society. But is this the true purpose of high school or college? Shouldn't businesses train their own workforce, rather than farming this out to the schools? There are plenty of fine technical schools designed specifically to teach a trade, and many businesses have excellent training programs, but to hear some tell it, all students should be trained for a job. It is a requirement now that students are encouraged to have a career pathway, in addition to the core classes they must take. Fortunately, the state has seen fit to include the Fine Arts as a pathway, so students don't lose the opportunity to participate. However, this was not always the case, as when the pathways were first set up, the Fine Arts were not included.
When I was in college, I was told in one class that the original purpose of public education was to have an educated populace, so that they could read, debate the issues, and then make the best choices when voting. This may or may not be true, but it does relate very closely to my philosophy of the purpose of school. I believe that the purpose of school, including college, is to educate students about the world we live in, and to teach students how to THINK for themselves and HOW to learn.
Students need to know where to find the information they need, and they need to know how to evaluate that information so that they can make the best decisions on how to use that information, or whether to discard it as unhelpful or false. I believe the loss of this purpose has led to the much of the polarization we have in this country today, and much of our low test scores. Students today rarely know how to think for themselves, or how to evaluate the information presented to them, and tend to believe whatever is told them as truth.
Much of this has to do with how the information is presented in school, and the purpose it is presented. Since the testing craze has started, the focus has been learning for the test, as opposed to learning for the sake of learning. When I substituted in a Social Studies classroom last week, there was very little for me to do, as the co-teacher presented all the information. Several times, this teacher emphasized the information that was required for the test, while minimizing, or trivializing, other information. This is understandable, as every teacher wants students to do well on the state tests, as it impacts the students' grades and the teacher's evaluation. However, when information is presented this way, it implies that the teacher (or state) decides what information is important, and that what the student might find interesting or important doesn't matter. Of course, the student can always research interesting topics on their own, but we know how often that happens. If it's not going to be on the test, why waste their time? We have set up the hierarchy of what's important for the student!
Another observation I noticed was that this teacher inserted his own political and personal viewpoints several times into the presentation. This is tantamount to telling the students that they need to agree with this teacher's viewpoint. This is opposite of what I believe should happen. I rarely presented my personal viewpoints as facts to be believed. I believe strongly is presenting opposing views to political and personal opinions. Now, this doesn't mean I never told students what I believed or felt was right. However, I never presented these as the only right way to believe. If a student asked, I would happily explain my beliefs, and, more importantly, why I believed that way. I also felt it important to challenge their beliefs by making them defend their beliefs. Many times, I would play Devil's Advocate by questioning them, even though I may have believed the same as they did. This forced them to go beyond just saying, "It's what I believe, that's all," without understanding WHY they believe it. Of course, many would discover that they believed a certain way because their parents/friends/adults in their life believed that way. My goal was always to get them thinking independently, and hopefully, start researching. These topics ranged anywhere from the value of modern music to religious beliefs to political beliefs to school policies.
Hopefully, I taught students to think for themselves and not to believe everything they read or hear, and I hope I taught them to love learning, as I myself love to learn new things-one of my favorite passions is to read science articles in the newspapers.
Until next time, may your day and your loved ones be blessed!
Many people believe the purpose of school is to train workers. Or, put another way, train students to enter the workforce. Business leaders, especially, often espouse this point of view, and their concerns are valid. Students must be ready to enter the workforce upon graduation from high school or college, as this will be the only way they can support themselves and contribute to society. But is this the true purpose of high school or college? Shouldn't businesses train their own workforce, rather than farming this out to the schools? There are plenty of fine technical schools designed specifically to teach a trade, and many businesses have excellent training programs, but to hear some tell it, all students should be trained for a job. It is a requirement now that students are encouraged to have a career pathway, in addition to the core classes they must take. Fortunately, the state has seen fit to include the Fine Arts as a pathway, so students don't lose the opportunity to participate. However, this was not always the case, as when the pathways were first set up, the Fine Arts were not included.
When I was in college, I was told in one class that the original purpose of public education was to have an educated populace, so that they could read, debate the issues, and then make the best choices when voting. This may or may not be true, but it does relate very closely to my philosophy of the purpose of school. I believe that the purpose of school, including college, is to educate students about the world we live in, and to teach students how to THINK for themselves and HOW to learn.
Students need to know where to find the information they need, and they need to know how to evaluate that information so that they can make the best decisions on how to use that information, or whether to discard it as unhelpful or false. I believe the loss of this purpose has led to the much of the polarization we have in this country today, and much of our low test scores. Students today rarely know how to think for themselves, or how to evaluate the information presented to them, and tend to believe whatever is told them as truth.
Much of this has to do with how the information is presented in school, and the purpose it is presented. Since the testing craze has started, the focus has been learning for the test, as opposed to learning for the sake of learning. When I substituted in a Social Studies classroom last week, there was very little for me to do, as the co-teacher presented all the information. Several times, this teacher emphasized the information that was required for the test, while minimizing, or trivializing, other information. This is understandable, as every teacher wants students to do well on the state tests, as it impacts the students' grades and the teacher's evaluation. However, when information is presented this way, it implies that the teacher (or state) decides what information is important, and that what the student might find interesting or important doesn't matter. Of course, the student can always research interesting topics on their own, but we know how often that happens. If it's not going to be on the test, why waste their time? We have set up the hierarchy of what's important for the student!
Another observation I noticed was that this teacher inserted his own political and personal viewpoints several times into the presentation. This is tantamount to telling the students that they need to agree with this teacher's viewpoint. This is opposite of what I believe should happen. I rarely presented my personal viewpoints as facts to be believed. I believe strongly is presenting opposing views to political and personal opinions. Now, this doesn't mean I never told students what I believed or felt was right. However, I never presented these as the only right way to believe. If a student asked, I would happily explain my beliefs, and, more importantly, why I believed that way. I also felt it important to challenge their beliefs by making them defend their beliefs. Many times, I would play Devil's Advocate by questioning them, even though I may have believed the same as they did. This forced them to go beyond just saying, "It's what I believe, that's all," without understanding WHY they believe it. Of course, many would discover that they believed a certain way because their parents/friends/adults in their life believed that way. My goal was always to get them thinking independently, and hopefully, start researching. These topics ranged anywhere from the value of modern music to religious beliefs to political beliefs to school policies.
Hopefully, I taught students to think for themselves and not to believe everything they read or hear, and I hope I taught them to love learning, as I myself love to learn new things-one of my favorite passions is to read science articles in the newspapers.
Until next time, may your day and your loved ones be blessed!
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