What is the purpose of schools? Some would say the purpose of schools is to create a well trained workforce, others to prepare students to become democratic citizens. This essay will examine not only the current conditions of public schools, but also what their primary purpose should be.
After having read several articles on the inequalities of schools I would have to say, using Jean Anyon's terms, that the "affluent-professional" and "executive elite" truly benefit most from public schooling. In terms of social class, it's the talented tenth of society which is involved in discovery, hands on experimentation, and higher concept learning. These upper-crust schools are the ones which push intellectual reasoning, problem solving, and other cognitive skills in the curriculum (Anyon, 142). With help from the community and government these `executive elite' students are being prepared for upper class colleges, upper class careers, and will be able to adapt to the changes of their professional careers. With such excellent and thorough preparation its no wonder that these students do remarkably well on achievement tests, thus getting more federal school dollars which in turn helps them to maintain high achievement scores.
Two theories on how schools are organized as explained in Hurn's essay are the functional and conflict paradigms. The functional theory states that in a society that requires highly talented workers, schools have two very important tasks, to teach both specialized and cognitive skills. Merit based status, therefore, is the main cure for inequality in society. In terms of the level of schooling, higher education credentials are used to separate the unskilled from high status jobs. The functional theory also...
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...hool Knowledge." Exploring Socio- Cultural Themes in Education: Readings in Social Foundations (2nd edition). Ed. Joan H. Strouse. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice- Hall, 2001. 127-156.
Crittendon, Jack. "The Rise of Liberal Democracy." Democracy's Midwife: an education in deliberation. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2002.
Glickman, Carl D. "Revolution, Education, and the Practice of Democracy." The Educational Forum vol. 63 no. 1 (Fall 1998) 16-22.
Hurn, Christopher J. "Theories of Schooling and Society: The Functional and Conflict Paradigms." Exploring Socio-Cultural Themes in Education: Readings in Social Foundations (2nd edition). Ed. Joan H. Strouse. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice- Hall, 2001. 62-74.
Spring, Joel. "The Purposes of Public Schooling." American Education (9th edition). New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2000. 3-27.
The most powerful aspect of this essay is not the essay itself (as you will see) but, rather, the fact that it was written by an American college student.
When you look at the private schools they meet those goals. It all comes down to the haves and have not’s the people with the most money wins. In this case it is the private schools. The biggest gap between public and private schools is the budgets 14.6% of the public schools ...
The controversial topic about the function of school is discussed at many school board and PTA meetings throughout America. In Anita Garland’s opinion, schools are not functioning properly. Garland states her reasons as to why the purpose of school has to change in her article, “Lets Really Reform Our Schools”, where she starts off by saying, “Desperate illnesses require desperate remedies. And our schools are desperately ill.” She proceeds to list the remedies in order to transform our schools into a more healthy, successful environment. First, Garland claims that the students who are not interested in studying should not be allowed, better yet, never forced to attend school with kids who want to receive
lives in laboring, and learned when they reached adulthood. This was a method of placing people in positions. The present schooling structure of society still follows Jefferson’s plan. Education is seen as a means of enhancing wealth and morals. The objective of stabilizing an unequal society, worked on the discussions of schooling. It pointed out the factors of an unequal contest of social authority, and social just of education in the U.S. The biggest point laying out education path for children was depended on the socioeconomic backgrounds. The poor had a lower probability of attending elite institution as of the wealthy class. This conclusion was based on statistical evidence. The process of stabilizing an unequal society is much more difficult to achieve. Increasing opportunity is much more easier to attain, therefore opportunity has been practiced more.
Schools are the basic foundation of knowledge, which is imparted to children. They give a chance for children to gain knowledge in various fields such as humanity, literature, history, mathematics and science. By obtaining knowledge, they are in a better position to know the world around them. A school is a society where faith and other values are developed. Schools also play an important role in a democratic social set up. Students of today are the citizens of tomorrow. Schools are the backbone of a society, where children interact with other children and develop certain social skills. Education in schools opens doors to various opportunities that would not be possible if it had not been for the knowledge one gained at school. However, in the articles, “Idiot Nation” by Michael Moore and “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto, the authors express their concerns about the degrading quality of education. There are many problems the education system is facing today, and several of them are having negative effects on the quality of the education that the students are receiving which are highlighted aptly by the effective use of rhetorical strategies by Moore and Gatto.
Before entering into defense of the argument, it is important to communicate that the current situation is one which demands reform. It must be understood that the state of the public school system is not simply confined to the domain of education but is instead very much interrelated with the distribution of wealth. The current opportunity gap-which affords those who are middle and upper class greater access to higher quality education-is the cause of the inequality seen in the distribution of income. “Children born into the top fifth of the income distribution have about twice as much of a chance of becoming middle class or better in their adult years as those born into the bottom fifth (Isaacs, Sawhill, & Haskins, 2008)”.
Income inequality in the United States is directly correlated with education decline over the past 40 years. People with lower incomes tend to have less opportunities for a good education than those with higher incomes. American education, when compared to other nations, has dropped dramatically due largely to a rise in income inequality since the 1970s. Not only has economic inequality lead to academic decline and disparity, but academic disparity has also tended to lead to further economic inequality. Because of this, improving the American education system can effectively decrease the income gap. If done correctly, the usage of an alternative school model, specifically the private school model, rather than the usual public school model can reduce economic inequality.
Throughout the years, many aspects of the educational curriculum have been altered and modified as it relates to the material that is being taught within schools worldwide. Some of the changes are due to new laws that are being implemented and “raising the bar” for the education of the upcoming generations. But with all of the changes being made does it level the playing field or does it make it more competitive? Which brings up the questions, “How does social class effect the quality of education and does equal opportunity in education exist in America?” Social class affects the quality of one’s education through power, social status and equality within the educational system.
Public education has been separated into two structures—one for the neglected and another for the well-to-do (Forman, 2012). In essence, our educational system is still segregated.
Clearly each sociological perspective has something very different to say about how it views the social aspect of underperforming schools and the interaction they have with society as a whole. While functionalism focuses on certain positive aspects, and conflict theory argues our societies competitive tendencies, it is apparent that all three of the perspectives need to be addressed in order to gain a well-rounded educated opinion as to how any of societies’ many individual aspects fit into the massive complex web that defines our social structure.
“Teach the children, so it will not be necessary to teach the adults” is a famous quote by our former president Abraham Lincoln. In modern days, we are schooling instead of educating. This produces an uninformed society who is trained to spit out information instead retaining it. My hometown, Scranton, also known as “the Electric City”, has an abundance of ignorant citizens. It was a very toxic community to grow up in. This affected the youth in the community by not projecting their potential into their minds. To have a well-educated populace, we need to make sure we graduate well-rounded youth after grade school. I believe this can be achieved by following common-core guidelines, while also striking their creativity within the subjects so that they are retaining information, not only memorizing it. I will discuss my beliefs on the roles of the teacher, the children as learners, the curriculum, and the purpose of schools in society.
Many people in today’s society believe it’s wise to send their children to private schools. In making the decision on whether to put children in public or private schools, they look to four main factors: curriculum, class size, the graduation rate, and cost. When people have to pay for something, their first thought is, “Will I be getting what I’m paying for?” With a private school education, the amount you have to pay is usually well worth it. Public schools offer diversity. Here students can find people who are just like them and can associate better. Wherever you live, you have to send your child to the closest school. There’s no choice on what public school you can send your child to, whereas for private schools you can pick to send your child there. It’s not an easy choice for parents to decide, but many factors point toward a guarantee that a good education would be achieved, which is most important.
The inequality of education is a disparity among our children experience in their education compared to other children. The relations of educational success focus on grades, test scores, dropout rates, college entrance rates, and college completion percentages. Unfortunately, the inequalities of education are linked to the difference in socioeconomic status, racial, and geographic reasons. According, to Colclough (2005) “it is commonly presumed that formal schooling is one of several important contributors to the skills of an individual and to human capital. There’s not just only one factor parents, individuals and government officials have the abilities to contribute” (p.40). This perception of inequality of education does not only exist in the United States, but also all over the world. When associated with other nations the United States invests the most in education, however manages to obtain lower levels of student performance than many other countries. The children around the nation are not responsible for the injustice of inequality in education but sadly enough they are our victims. Although, the ones to blame would be our government they should be accountable for creating a vicious cycle that eventually trickles down to our public education. Our government highly contributes to our problem on the inequality of education because they are the ones in control of the Board of Education were they have the opportunity to analyze their trouble schools including their state test scores, their academic school standings, and school dropout rates. By knowing and having easy access to valuable information there shouldn’t be any an excuse on the behalf of the government or on the Board of Education for not trying to working together i...
Public school education system is important and should be taken very seriously. It is the starting foundation to each and every one of our lives. Our educators, lay down the pathway for education.. In today’s world, teachers play a big role in building America. They are the ones who encourage our children to excel into their greatest self. Without teachers, society would face a drastic downfall. There would not be many professions around. Doctors would be unable to save the lives of our friends and families. There would not be any police officers to protect and serve, nor there be a president to lead this country. The public school education system, as a whole, is something that has been over looked for some time. While other professions are progressing in life, the Public Education System, in general, is staying the same. Teaching is not an easy job. The hours are long, the demands are high, and the working conditions are often challenging .Given the conditions, in which, this profession is carried out, a better financial plan is needed to accommodate for the, unbalanced, priority.
The purpose of education is to teach the basics of knowledge and to challenge each individual to learn. The realization that I will have the power to make a difference in a child’s life is sometimes overwhelming. This remarkable fact gives me a stronger purpose – to be a positive role model for my students. Being an effective teacher is truly an awesome responsibility.