The Purpose of Education

“Winston Churchill…once remarked that his education was interrupted by his schooling” (Osborne, 2008, p. 22). I believe at its foundation, the purpose of education is to promote critical thinking and to help students develop a better understanding of the world. However, schools to this day, often provide more emphasis on workplace and social skills than they do on critical thinking and understanding. As a result, education for many of us takes place outside of school; almost all of our personal experiences (positive or negative) have had more of an impact than anything we learnt/did in school. This is not to say that education is nonexistent in schools, far from it (I myself had an amazing experience in my grade 12 chemistry class), only that it’s few and far between, and what many students learn is too often different from what the teacher had intended to teach them. Osborne states “It was not only Churchill’s education that was interrupted by his schooling; the whole process of what should be education can be too easily obstructed by the organizational and institutional imperatives of school” (Osborne, 2008, p.35).

Different Forms of Education: What is the “Education System”

The phrase “education system” has been open to interpretation since the inception of schooling.

An individual’s interpretation will often depend on their own personal learning experiences. While Osborne argues schooling is not the only form of education students receive, Sir Ken Robinson, English author and International advisor on Education, states the “education system” for each student is the school they go to, the classroom they’re in, and the teacher they work with (CEA, 2012). I believe the phrase “education system” describes the places (i.e. home/community we grew up in), people (i.e. family, friends, role models), and events (i.e. first driving lesson) that have been, continue to be, and will be a part of our lives. Hence, schooling is only one piece of the pie that is the “education system.” As a matter of fact, more and more students come to school already with some sort of an education.

The Current “School System”

I have found the “education system” that is in schools ad implemented by educators generally lacks the creativity and innovation required, for example, to promote critical thinking. The “school system” as it currently stands, in terms of the primary focus of evaluation and assessment being examinations, prevents and derails any potential for critical growth and understanding. For example, I have found myself to be going through the motions in too many of my classes (especially high school). That is, I come to class, take notes, go home and memorize them (for tests), and come back the next day to do it all over again. Like many of my classmates, I was extrinsically motivated; that is, superficially motivated to acquire new knowledge. B.F. Skinner, an American behaviorist, proposed children learn primarily in behaviours (i.e. taking notes and memorizing them), that lead to pleasant consequences (i.e. getting good grades) (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2013, p.496). As a student teacher this is something I want to change as much as the “school system” will allow me. If I can get students to be more intrinsically motivated, that is “eager to learn classroom material, willingly tackle assigned tasks, and use effective learning strategies” (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2013, p.496), I would help promote the development of critical thinking and understanding.

Educators: Why We Teach

The question of why we teach keeps coming up in many of my classes. At first I thought the answer was obvious, we teach because we want to educate. But what does that mean, to educate? Is a student more skilled in the sciences more educated than a person skilled in the arts? The answer is a resounding no; I want to teach not only because I want my students to learn the wonders of science but because I want to help change the world for the better. I want to help my students become critical thinkers by learning how to be active listeners, creative, engaged and passionate about their interests and beliefs. Unfortunately, this is lacking among many school educators. I remember my grade 11 chemistry teacher focused an entire hour of class giving a lecture on naming functional groups in organic chemistry, while we the students vigorously took notes. Is that educating? While the teacher’s intentions were for us to learn how to name the groups, the class was learning how to take notes. Or as Osborne put it, the class “was learning even more than [they] realized, since [they were] learning to perform a task in which they saw little point and did not enjoy, and to do so competently and without overt complaint.” These are excellent skills that any employer would love to see but are clearly far removed from the teachers goal.

Developing Philosophies of Education and Schooling

It’s important we, as educators, realize it’s our beliefs, that is, our personal philosophies that influence our actions, our teaching. As I continue on my journey to becoming a teacher I have begun to develop a set of philosophies for education and schooling. Undoubtedly, these philosophies will continue to develop throughout my career:

1. The primary pursuit of education should not be to memorize everything in order to attain the highest grades but to develop a critical understanding of the material, to attain higher order thinking skills (through inquiry) and to engage in meaningful group discussions.

2. The main focus of schooling should be on getting students emotionally engaged/invested in their learning; this is when they learn best. We need to embrace creativity not shy away from it.

3. The primary focus of educators should be on understanding and maintaining individuality. That is, we have a responsibility to get to know our students, their strengths and weaknesses (i.e. learning strategies, rate of learning). The classroom is a diverse place; students from different backgrounds and cultures come in, each with different experiences and skills.

Reference

Osborne, K. (2008). Education and schooling: A relationship that can never be taken for granted. In D. Coulter & J.R. Wiens (Eds), why do we educate? Renewing the conversation (vol. 1, pp. 2141). Boston: Blackwell. (Chapter 2) Available at: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ubc/docDetail.action?docID=10297982&lpg=21