Purpose of Education
What is the purpose of education? Is education about preparing students for a specific career or is it about teaching students lifelong values, discipline, and the ability to explore new ideas and to think independently? There have been several goals of education over the years. Some included preparing children for citizenship, to prepare for the skilled workforce, to teach literacy, to help students become critical thinkers and to help students compete in a global marketplace. I believe that for the 21st century , the purpose of education is to prepare children to compete in the global environment.
According to Daniel Pink, an author of A Whole New Mind, he states that as a society, we went from the “ Knowledge Age” and are now in a “ Conceptual Age” where our problems no longer have a single answer. Success in the knowledge age was mainly determined by a “SAT” score- a series of tests that require logic and analysis to identify a single correct answer. This does not meet the needs of the conceptual age-which requires creativity, innovation and design skills. Mr. Pink states that today, a successful member of society must be valued for their unique contributions and their ability to think creatively, take initiative and incorporate a global perspective into their decisions. I agree, that education is a form of learning in which knowledge, skills, and habits have changed from one generation to the next. To be successful in todays society one must be “different” or “unique” and incorporate a global perspective in their decisions. One must learn the basics of education and school to advance within society.
For years the main purpose of education has been to transfer knowledge and prepare students to ...
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...n to hear more frequently that the function of education is to give children a desire to learn and to teach them how to use their minds and where to go to acquire facts when they are curious. As the great majority of our children are being educated in public schools, it is all important that the standards of citizenship should be of the best. Whether we send our children to private school or public school. Is education preparing students for a specific career or is it about teaching students lifelong values, discipline, and the ability to explore new ideas and to think independently? For the 21st century the purpose of education is to prepare children to compete in the global environment with the skills to think critically with innovation and design.
Works Cited
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Throughout many years, education has played an important role in improving our minds and society. However, what many people tend to forget is that our education is not at the best it can be. Education is defined as receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university. Many people today questions whether or not our education depends on the people teaching it or if it’s the student’s responsibility to want to learn. "To what extent do our schools serve the goals of a true education?" Education helps people learn new things, but it can be changed. Although education helps students learn and plan for the future, it can be improved to help benefit students ahead of time.
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Education is in itself a concept, which has changed over the millennia, can mean different things and has had differing purposes according to time and culture. Education may take place anywhere, is not constrained by bricks and mortar, delivery mechanisms or legislative requirements. Carr (2003. p19) even states, “education does not necessarily involve teaching”. Education, by one definition, is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life (education, n.d.).
Education cannot be defined as having only one purpose. The purpose of education is to provide academic instruction as well as develop well-rounded students so that they can take with them into the world what they have learned. Oftentimes, educational learning can be established through personal experiences that one is presented with. However, sometimes, educational learning can be established through training and conditioning. Either way, education can be used for the rest of one’s life.
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The reasons we educate our children have changed over time. However, some of the core values remain the same. One of the most important purposes of schooling is the transmission of a culture from one generation to the next. It is important to pass on our culture, values, and beliefs to our children so we continue to have a cohesive population. Schooling offers opportunity to our children by teaching them valuable skills that allow them to be self-sufficient and lead successful lives. Schooling also serves to decrease the social ills those without an education suffer from. A final purpose of education is to create people who are active in civic life.
Education is generally seen as a formal process of instruction, based on a theory of teaching, to impart formal knowledge to one or more students (Cogburn, n.d.). Henceforth, individuals seek to acquire some form of schooling from pre-school through secondary school while others may go on to tertiary to better him or her in some way. A definition of education according to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is that education is “a process of teaching, training and learning, especially in schools or colleges, to improve knowledge and develop skills.” Where education in the common parlance has become a process of adding layers of one’s store of knowledge, the true aim of education is to call forth that which is essential to the individual (White, 2006). Furthermore, and according to Coombs and Ahmed 1974, education is a continuing process, spanning the years from earliest infancy through adulthood and necessarily involving a great variety of methods and sources. Education also involves inculcating in students distinct bits of knowledge; therefore education is an additive process (White, 2006). It adds to an individual as well as it adds to a country through the individuals who are and would have been or are being educated. According to a study conducted by Olaniyan and Okemakinde 2008, education creates improved citizens and helps to upgrade the general standard of living in a society. Furthermore, education plays a key role in the ability of a developing country to absorb modern technology and to develop the capacity for self-sustaining growth and development (Todaro and Smith, 2012).
Education is a vital part of society. It serves the beneficial purpose of educating our children and getting them ready to be productive adults in today's society. But, the social institution of education is not without its problems. Continual efforts to modify and improve the system need to be made, if we are to reap the highest benefits that education has to offer to our children and our society as a whole.
Education plays a vital role in shaping tomorrows’ leaders. Not only can we become a better nation by acquiring the skills necessary to be productive members of a civilized society. Increase knowledge to actively achieve and meet challenges that can produce changes in which are productive for attaining business innovations, political and economic objectives.
One of the most clearly seen and common aim of schooling is to develop individuals ‘who have skills an...