The Goal Of Education And The Goals Of Public Education

Public education in America began in the early to mid-19th century with the simple goal of “uniting the American population by instilling common moral and political values” (Spring, 2012, p. 5). Our country was founded by men who designed the constitution so that it could be amended to accommodate changing political and social climates. They believed in the ideology of the American dream which “holds out a vision of both individual success and the collective good of all” (Hochschild & Scovronick, 2004, p. 1). It is with this same ideology that our public schools were

Our achievement ideology is based on the idea that the U.S. is full of opportunity and anyone can accomplish success in our society if they work hard enough. Many grow up thinking education is the ladder that will allow for this social mobility and all you have to do is be willing to work hard enough to earn it. But what about children who grow up thinking differently? Why do some strive for high paying careers while others refuse school and are seemingly ok with staying working class? MacLeod challenges the notion that America is the land of opportunity with research he conducted while in college. He uses the research of several reproduction theorists to show that schools not only are not great equalizers, as most think, but

In Kisautaq Lenona Okakok’s essay “Serving the Purpose of Education” she discusses the education dilemma in her borough of North Slope, Alaska, where many of the occupants are indigenous people of the Inupiat. Western education was thrust upon the Inupiat people of Alaska, changing the traditional way they taught their children. Okakok explains why and how The Board of Education for North Slope, Alaska took entire control of their education system after having Western education try to influence their way of teaching. The way the Inupiat teach is different from that of Western education, not only do they teach a different language (Inupiaq), they also need to teach a different curriculum that is better suited for the people of the North Slope compared to that of Western education. Okakok’s essay analyzes the way Western culture and teachings influenced her own culture, and how the Inupiat have taken control of their own education again while using considerable examples to defend her claims.

In chapter one, Joel Spring covers the topics of the history and political goals of public school. From the beginning of the public school education system politics seemed to have a hand inside public schools. Joel Spring mentions about the controversial goals of education. The main topic for this chapter seems to point towards the political approach to the goals of education. Now not all goals are bad but they do have an underlining that can spark a debate whether it is between the parents, students, teachers, or politicians. Goals such as subject matter, patriotism, should public schools override the objections of the parents over subject matter. A good quote from the book “American Education” is “Education goals are a product of what people believe schooling should do for the good of society.” With such a simple definition of what educational goals are ends up being much scrutinized. Everyone has an opinion sometimes they turn out to be great ideas and other times not.

In Chapter 1 of Spring, the author discusses the goals of public education and whether or not those goals have been met. The chapter is divided into sections. These sections include Political Goals of Schooling, Censorship & American Political Values, Courts & Political Values, and Political Values & State & National Curriculum Standards. Each section the author makes a claim about public education.

Horace Mann, an American politician and education reformer, helped establish the common school movement. It was this common school movement that revolutionized the teaching and structure of schools across America. After visiting nearly one thousand schools within 6 years, he found that the facilities were in poor condition, lacked many educational tools such as textbooks, and were built on inequality. It was Mann, who established the first normal school back in 1839 with the idea that these schools would provide education and equality to all boys and girls. “Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery. (p. 183),” said Mann. It was his belief that everyone was entitled to the same content in education. Oftentimes, wealthy children would stay in school longer than the poor children, who couldn’t afford to go at all. The “great equalizer” of education meant that education through common school would be available and equal for all, whether rich or poor. As historian, Kathryn Kish had pointed out, “ The equalizing capacity of the school was something that he very much believed in. The common school became for him the place where we all came together,

Education is considered a right in most first world countries and compulsory public education has been in effect in the United States for over a century. So, why do governments have trouble assigning a purpose to public education and experiencing student growth across the board? How can schools change their approach in order to ensure that their students are ready to create their own opportunities? Scholar and politician Winston Churchill notes in his autobiography, My Early Life, “But now I pity undergraduates, when I see what frivolous lives many of them lead in the midst of precious fleeting opportunity. After all, a man’s Life must be nailed to a cross of either Thought or Action. Without work there is no play.” (p. 113) From this it can be concluded that Churchill believes the purpose of education is to teach students how to be active in their community along with the importance of judgement and choice, in order to further the success of their country.

The Ultimate goal of Education system is one of the most frequently asked questions from all stakeholders and their answer mainly depends on their different prospective. David Labree (1997) in his article “Public Goods, Private Goods: The American Struggle Over Educational Goal” shows how the three main purposes, which interact and interfere sometimes, have shaped the American education goals, throughout out its practices and policies, democratic equality, social efficiency and Social mobility. On the same track, Nickols and Cuenca (2014) found in their work “Two Roadmaps, One Destination: The Economic Progress Paradigm in Teacher Education Accountability in Georgia and Missouri” That teacher preparation programs influence by what they called “the economic progress paradigm” (p. 457), which is the social efficiency that Labree (1997) had pointed out. Considering the fact that, which of the three schooling purposes is the most important, I believe the social mobility to be given number one priority, and to be considered among the other two that can benefit, both individuals and public.

Equality of Opportunity is the idea that all persons in a society are given equal opportunities to achieve educational and financial equality by having the chance to enter any occupation or social class. Schools play a paramount role in providing equality of opportunity as they are responsible for its implementation. Many issues exist for schools to provide equality of education due mostly to a family’s economic condition. Contributory factors such as a student’s cultural background, which test model is implemented at a given school, discrimination in the labor market that disrupts the achievement of equality of opportunity, all affect the school’s ability to implement equality of opportunity. Another important factor is the inequality between schools that contribute to the inequality of opportunity.

The purpose of education is to provide all children with the tools to reach their fullest potential. Realistically educational systems have failed (and have been set up this way) to exclude various groups based upon race, gender, orientation and social class. This is the history that education is trying to deal with, and overcome (Roland, 2009).

As Horace Mann worked in Massachusetts State Board Education, he thought if poor people receive the education as same as rich people, the society will be “balance”, which is the “revenge of poverty against the rich.”(110) His idea was just a hypothesis at that time because he actually didn’t know how the society would change in next 200 years. For example, nowadays, top 1% of US population control 35% of US wealth, and the 10% controls 73.2%, which means another 90% of US citizens only make 26.8%. Even though in America, all children are able to go to school because of program “No child left behind” in 2001, the wealth of the top 1% hasn’t dropped down for 13 years. Education gives people knowledge, but it doesn’t help them get richer, so education can’t “balance the society”. Students from different classes will go to different schools and receive different education, so how the society can be equalized if the education is not “balance”. According to the book Public School Administration by Ellwood Cubberley, dean of Stanford University, “Our schools are… factories in which the raw products (children) are to be shaped and fashioned… And it is the business of the school to build its pupils according to the specification laid down,” (148) which mean education is turning children into the “pupils,” so the society is able to

But to fix the problems and to serve the students we must first have a vision of what good education is (Ravitvch). What is a good education? A good education isn’t just learning and comprehending, a good education should also teach us how to work well with others, to use our common sense, to expand our range of friends and how we think. Now, what are the goals of a true education? The goals of a true education are learning how to work for yourself by yourself, to grow and adapt as a whole person, to build up your character, and to have a desire to learn more. If our schools were to meet the goals of a true education, it would leave us with a thirst for knowledge that leaves you restless at night, that only education can fulfill.

Mass public schooling has traditionally proclaimed among its goals the following: (1) to help each student gain personal fulfillment and (2) to help create good citizens. The two goals they claim here are for the betterment of the individual and the other for society that have an odd relation with one another. These two goals are what put schools at tough ends. The schools do not want to limit the students’ individuality but also want to encourage conformity to allow for students to mingle with other students. The issue that causes most tension in schools is the strict scheduling students must follow which by allowing the students to choose several electoral courses in their schedules levitates. Individualism is also encouraged in the school system with allowing the students the freedom to represent themselves through their own clothing. These points will be further and thoroughly discussed through the remaining of this essay.

The U.S. Educational system has historically divided into two objective groups. The first objective focuses on increasing opportunity. The second objective focuses on stabilizing an unequal society. The objective of increasing opportunity has mainly emphasized on practition more than discussions of schooling. Thomas Jefferson implemented a plan in 1779, it promised the laboring class more opportunity to attend higher education. The point of the plan was to rake out the brilliant from the poor class, and add them to the prospering upper class. The goal of the plan was to divide the youth

The first principle of IDEA is the principle that no one can be rejected of services regardless of the state they live in or the degree of their disability. This is a requirement for children ages 6-17.