The Real Purpose of Education

The Real Purpose of Education "There are two educations:

the one that teaches how to make a living

and the one that teaches how to live"

(Anthony De Mello, The Heart of the Enlightened)

For many years there has been much debate as to the 'real' purpose of

education. With the introduction of the National Curriculum much

emphasis was placed on the academic success of schools with a school

being labelled 'good' or bad' depending on the academic attainment of

its pupils. However, the 1988 Education Reform Act laid out guidelines

across the whole school curriculum for the provision of SMSC stating

that schools should promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and

physical development of the pupils and prepare pupils for the

opportunities, responsibilities and experiences in adult life. This

shift in emphasis meant that schools now had greater responsibility

for the education of the child as a person and not primarily just an

academic student. Education should engage every pupil as a person.

This means that the quality of pastoral care has become increasingly

important.

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The aims and ethos of a school are particularly important when

examining

pastoral care and SMSC delivery in schools. OFTSTED inspection

evidence states

that the "analysis of the school's aims …….gives a preliminary view of

how the school seeks to promote pupil's spiritual, moral, social and

cultural development".

For example some ...

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...will now be used as timetabled slots for

citizenship and PSHE will either be pushed into the background or

taught through another subject. There is a strong possibility that if

it is the latter that it will be taught through English and greater

responsibility will be placed on the English teacher. Therefore

English teachers must be aware of current issues, include

controversial issues which are particularly prominent in the media,

and are able to select and teach texts accordingly which deal with

these aspects of SMSC.

In conclusion the new challenges and initiatives in SMSC offer a great

deal of opportunities in both professional and pastoral development

through the teaching of English, although it does mean that the

English teacher will have more responsibility than previously for this

aspect of the curriculum.