In one of my college courses, we are looking at the different issues and problems concerning schools. At the moment we are discussing and reading about the purpose of schooling.
What is the purpose of schooling or Education at the pre-college level? Is education just a day care system to keep kids under control? Is it to train future workers? What's the purpose?
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When I was little, my mom said school was a way for her to get a break from me. Now that I'm in college, school is the way for me to get away from her!
Good question. The elementary level is supposed to teach us the foundations of what we need to know, ie: adding, subtracting, reading, writing. While the high school level is just continuing to grow off of the foundation of what we learned back in 1st grade. I have never thought of the schools as a "day care system to keep kids under control"... nice blog.
I think I need to make myself a little more clear. When I am asking for the purposes of schooling I mean in what ways should schooling prepare us for adult life? Should schools instill a love of learning and knowledge? Should schools teach just to make a richer population so that we look better when compared with other schools? Should schools teach morals and behavior or is that something the family should deal with?
My apologies, familes should be the ones who deal with the morals and behavior and as far as what purpose school should have, I believe that they should enrich us as a nation but that it shouldn't be as extreme as being told what we are good at what we should do. For those who school just isn't "their thing", then they need to contribute to society still and not drain from welfare or the government.
Personally I feel that school is pointless, it teaches you nothing about the real world. I've learned more from reading books on my own about the subjects I need to learn.
This post would have been infinitely better if you, the poster, had said what you think school is meant for and then asked for our opinions. The commentors are doing all the work here.
Common sense is as rare as genius. ~Emerson
That was the point esuffern. Didn't you catch that already? It was to spark discussion by the questions they asked.
Then this question belongs in a forum.
Common sense is as rare as genius. ~Emerson
There has been multiple of these and not all of them have been stuck in a forum. Leave it alone.
No need to get short with me.
Common sense is as rare as genius. ~Emerson
I wasn't. If you were talking to me, I would of said it in a indifferent kinda way. I also would of put exclamation marks if I was being short.
I am sorry this post caused such a disagreement. I am relatively new to this blog, so I am just figuring out everything, and did not realize that there was a forum to post questions to.
However, before I stated what I thought the purpose of school was I wanted to get different opinions because sometimes you get a different version after you muddy the water.
Anyhow, I believe that school should be to spread a love of learning to all students. For me learning is so exciting especially at the college level. In high school I was bored with school. I was homeschooled for all of high school, so my excitement and what I waited for was mail, email and meals.
Anyway, in my education class at college, it directly answers that problem about school being boring and pointless. An article written by George Wood examines schools that keep their students interested and learning the stuff they need to know. They do this by changing how they educate. Instead of having a bunch of objectives and stuff that has to be learned, they have a project and in order to complete the project they learn the concepts needed. For example, the Foxfire magazine is edited and written by students, and in order to finish that project, they learn how to write a descriptive paragraph and what to insert into an introduction. It makes a lot more sense to learn the stuff when you have a practical application. If more schools did that, maybe school would not be so boring.
What you just wrote in this comment would have been great to hear in your original post. The reason behind my first comment, which I should have actually said was that posts are meant to be at least 100 words long. If a post has fewer than 100 words, it won't count towards the scholarship competition. That's just something you should be aware if you are competing. The article by George Wood you mentioned sounds interesting, I would love it if you could provide some more information on where I could learn more about his methods.
Common sense is as rare as genius. ~Emerson
The article by George Wood is called Schools that Work. The article may be a book, but I am not certain. For our class, the professor chooses a section of books or full articles for us to read, and I never actually get to see the full source. I am sorry that I do not have more information about it.
Actually, this is great. Thanks.
Common sense is as rare as genius. ~Emerson