The purpose of education. Seems like a simple definition; however, as anyone who attended class today knows, it's not that easy. After hearing several people's explanations I couldn't help but try to come up with my own. The first thing that pops into my head when talking about education is learning of course. But for me personally I've always liked to think of school as "fun". The purpose of education should be finding the perfect balance between educating and enjoying. We all know school is not only a mental commitment but a social one; attending school can be looked at as a way to begin to acquire social skills while building the basis of your intelligence. In the first few years of schooling, it's an exciting and extremely beneficial process. Starting in pre-school we begin "learning"; things that now seem natural to us were once a big task. Events like counting to 50, writing your name, or learning to read are just a few of the examples as to what began all of our education careers. I know we talked about not needing to know the study of volcanoes or maybe some historical events but, we all need to know how to count, write, and read. Don't we? And the way that I'm sure all of us got there was taught through our first few years of schooling. Now maybe the "in-between" years aren't as based on knowledge we'll be using for the rest of our lives. However, throughout all of our schooling we're learning beneficial concepts that have tendencies to show up sometime in our future.
So, if you want to think about the purpose of education as a timeline here it is in my eyes:
The first few years of schooling are to "dip your toes in the water". Learning reading, writing, colors, and basic "foundation" skills. (Grades K-4)
Next, I would consider these years to be more based on self identity and social discoveries. We all know middle school can be the remembered as the most "dramatic". I believe that's due to the major part of social conflicts and learning how to deal with them. (Grades 5-8)
This area of schooling can be seen as the portion where we should begin to start discovering our next step. Usually in high school there are some "options". Although there are "required" courses it's the first time where everyone is taking different classes concerning different material. (Grades 9-12)
And finally in our last portion of schooling, education becomes another "box to check off" for some people. Personally, I think the college years are to gain your independence. Being able to live on your own is a task that not too many people can transition into very well. By completing college and receiving your degree it shows that you've passed through the entire education timeline. It's the final way you know you're ready to begin your career and use everything you've gained up to this point. (College)
Education is viewed differently for everyone; and it's purpose seems to be something that changes as time passes. The real question is what does it mean to you?
Your take on the purpose of education is very interesting. We all do have our own definition and interpretation of why we educate and what it is useful for. I, myself, highlighted on aspects of not only building intelligence and knowledge, but also building skills such as social interaction and responsibility. Looking at the purpose of education in “stages" as you have mentioned brings a new light to my own opinion on the purpose of education. At each “stage" of grades, we learn a new set of skills or gain new knowledge that are going to assist us in our next “stage" until we reach college, and it is then when we decide where we will let everything we learned take us. I do believe there can be an assortment of opinions on what the purpose of education is, and the true definition and purpose of it may just be a compilation of the thoughts of all past, present, and future educators.
ReplyDeleteI really liked what you said about the purpose of college education. Yes, we are all here to learn about our chosen field and to gain more knowledge in it so that we can check off that box that says we are qualified to do what we want to do in life. However, you brought up the point that learning is so much more than just what we learn in the classroom. It's learning how to live on our own- feed, clothe, monitor ourselves as we grow into mature and responsible adults. While I know that it is not essential for everyone to go to college to learn these skills, I think it is helpful for most people to have the experiences that college brings as a transition from your family life to your adult life.
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