What’S The Purpose Of Education

What’s the Purpose of Education?

Does anybody know the answer?

A Dichotomy

John Holt

“Basically that the human animal is a learning animal; we like to learn; we need to learn; we are good at it; we don't need to be shown how or made to do it. What kills the processes are the people interfering with it or trying to regulate it or control it.”

Effective schools research

The five factors identified were:(a) strong leadership of the principal(b) emphasis on mastery of basic skills(c) a clean, orderly and secure school environment(d) high teacher expectations of pupil performance(e) frequent monitoring of students to assess their

progressEdmonds (1979)

In other words…

Jefferson’s legacy--education as the foundation of democracy

• Creative and rational thought is democracy’s cornerstone

• All citizens need basic literacy, the talented need far more

• The common good must be balanced with individual liberty

• Racial differences require social and political distinction

Horace Mann’s legacy--the common school as “great equalizer”

• Common curriculum in a common place• Knowledge and habits of citizenship, as well as

the basic literacy• The “creator of wealth undreamed of”--

eliminate poverty and crime• Shape the destiny of a wise, productive

country.

Ever increasing 20th-century expectations

• 1900-- cultural preservation--Americanizing immigrants

• 1910--workforce preparation--staffing the factories• 1950--national security--beating the Russians in

space• 1960--the “great society”--eliminating poverty and

segregation• 1980--economic competitiveness--beating the

Japanese; first in the world in math and science• 2000--“Leave No Child Behind”--creating a more

literate domestic workforce in a global economy where unskilled work can be “outsourced”

What’s your Experience?

Like this? Or like this?

Marxist Theories of Education

• In a Capitalist society, there is always a “conflict of interest” between Capital (the owners of the means of production) and Labor (people who sell their labor in exchange for money).

• Education is a mechanism for socializing children with ideas that legitimize the nature of society “as it is,” i.e., with fundamental inequalities of wealth, income, power, and status.


• Political and ideological institutions in society are dominated by the Capitalist class.

• This domination is exploited to propagate both a particular ideology (or belief system) and to try to maintain a particular set of political and economic relationships.


• From a Marxist perspective, children not only have to be trained for their future adult roles, they have to be trained to accept ideas like:– Different academic capabilities– Individual competition– Inevitable inequality– Differential reward systems

(Bowles & Gintis, 1976)

• “We shall suggest that major aspects of the structure of schooling can be understood in terms of the systematic needs for producing reserve armies of skilled labor.”


• “Through these institutional relationships, the educational system tailors the self-concepts, aspirations, and social class identifications of individuals to the requirements of the social division of labor.”


• “The perpetuation of class structure requires that the hierarchical division of labor be reproduced in the consciousness of its participants. The education system is one of several reproduction mechanisms through which dominant elites seek to achieve this objective.”


• The “Correspondence Principle” – School practices and relations mirror those in

capitalist workplaces• organization of work and power--managers and

workers• lack of control by the “worker”• extrinsic rewards • competition among individuals, specialization of

subjects, fragmented nature of work• legitmation of inequality


• Reproduction occurs both between & within schools– Between school differences that reflect different

values and expectations of working and middle class communities, as well as by teachers and administrators

– Tracking differences within schools

Every three years,OECD PISA study

assesses how15-year-old students

in 57 countries have acquired

someknowledge and skills

essential forfull participation

in society

Mean scores in some countries.

398

463

492

514

522

555

OECD PISA 2006table 2.2c

Mean scores for boys and girls.

394402

453472

484500

510517

513531

542568


Equality between boys and girls?

394402

453472

484500

510517

513531

542568 girls


have

equal

opportunity

at school

in all these countries

Difference between students.

249555

315607

330654

337682

337682

411686


Top 5%Bottom 5%

Equality between students?

249555

315607

330654

337682

337682

411686


Top 5%Bottom 5% equal opportunity

Gap between schools.

47%

27%

23%

19%

48%

6%

OECD PISA 2006table 4.1a

top studentsat top schools only

100%

top studentsat all schools equally 0%

Equality between schools?

equal opportunity at local free public school

OECD PISA 2006table 4.1a

47%

27%

23%

19%

48%

6%

top studentsat top schools only

100%

top studentsat all schools equally 0%

Has the Dream been Fulfilled?

• Public school is the pot that boils everyone into Americans.

• But does it produce citizens?• Does it support democratic institutions?• Does it succeed in achieving basic competence

for academic goals such as reading and writing?

• What other costs are associated with public education?

Mass Production

• What happens when you scale education up to the size necessary to maintain a modern workforce in an industrial society?

The Message

• The message that most children receive by going through compulsory education is that their time is worthless.

Peers or Parents?

• Harris: The Nurture Assumption–Peers more important than parents–Parental influence overrated–Socialization by neighborhood peers– Individuality comes from genes

Stereotype Threat

• The consequences of self-relevant stereotype activation for academic performance

• “Fear of being reduced to the stereotype” can lead to underperformance– Most likely to affect those highly identified

– Situational threat

“The present definition stresses that for a negative stereotype to be threatening it must be self-relevant. Then, the situational contingency it establishes – the possibility of conforming to the stereotype or of being treated and judged in terms of it becomes self-threatening” (Steele, 1997)

Claude Steele

Steele & Aronson (1995)

• African-American and European-American Stanford Students

• Make racial stereotype of intelligence salient– Diagnostic of ability

– Nondiagnostic (control)

• Examine test performance on a challenging verbal test.

Steele & Aronson (1995, Study 2)

Steele & Aronson (1995)

• African-American and European-American Stanford Students

• Make racial stereotype of intelligence salient– Indicate Race

– No race question

• Examine test performance on a challenging verbal test.

Steele & Aronson (1995, Study 4)

Spencer et al. (1999)

• Male and Female participants• Eliminate stereotype threat about women and

math (already in the air…)– No mention of gender– Tell that there gender differences on the test

(reduces the possibility that performance will be attributed to gender)

• Examine test performance on a challenging math test.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

No-Gender-Differences Control

Score corrected for guessing

MenWomen

Spencer et al. (1999, Study 3)

Questions

• How to mitigate negative peer influences?• How to expose children to difference during

the critical period for forming racial attitudes?• Is same-sex education justified?• What about home schooling?

How many children are homeschooled?

From Homeschooling in the United States: 2003 by Daniel Princiotta and Stacey Bielick

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/homeschool/

78% of homeschoolers use the library as a primary source of learning materials.

Why Families Homeschool

From Homeschooling in the United States: 2003 by Daniel Princiotta and Stacey Bielick

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/homeschool/

The Homeschooling Year• Follow the school calendar• Homeschool year-round• Create a calendar based on family needs

– religious considerations– medical needs– travel or special projects– Business

• Some follow no calendar at all

Daily Homeschooling Schedules• Schoolwork in the morning/outings in the

afternoon• Chores in the morning/schoolwork in the

late morning and early afternoon• Schoolwork in the evenings or at night• Some do no organized “seat work”

What is Unschooling?• Term coined by educator John Holt • The beginning of the contemporary

homeschooling movement• Child-led learning• “Real world” activities• “Radical Unschoolers”

A Sample Unschooling Day• 8:00am – Wake up.• 8:00-8:45am – Eat breakfast/get dressed/etc.• 8:45-9:30am – Read• 9:30-11:30am – Go to volunteer job at local animal shelter • Noon – Lunch• 12:30-2:00pm – Play outside• 2:00-3:00pm – Work on article for area homeschooling group

newsletter • 3:00-3:30pm – Play math computer game• 3:30-5:00pm – Play with neighborhood children• 5:00-6:00pm – Make dinner for the family, eat—dinner

discussion centered around current events

Conservative Protestant Homeschoolers

• Brought to conservative Protestants by educators Raymond and Dorothy Moore

• Popularized by “Focus on the Family” radio show

• Highly organized and vocal segment of the homeschooling population

Other Homeschooling Philosophies• Other religions (Catholics, Pagans, Jews,

Muslims)• Children with special needs• Classical • Military• Artist• Eclectic

Homeschoolers and the Law• Education governed by state• Homeschooling currently legal in all

50 states, but the laws vary widely