The Purpose of an Education

When you go to the golf driving range, you order a bucket of golf balls and practice hitting them. You probably concentrate on the clubs you don’t hit particularly well. If asked the purpose of this activity most people would probably say that it was to improve their golf game, or learn how to better use a particular club.

When you go to the health club you probably work out on the weight machines, or walk/run on the treadmill. You might ride a stationary bike or attend an aerobics class. If asked why you were there, you probably wouldn’t say it was to learn how to use the weight machines. You do not go to the health club to learn to walk or run more efficiently. You go to the health club to condition your body, build up stamina, or possibly lose weight.

Which of these analogies is most similar to school? Why do student go to school?

Some would argue that you attend school to learn to perform particular tasks or acquire a specific skill. Balance a chemical reaction, solve a 2nd degree algebraic equation, identify the parts of speech in a sentence, or outline the branches of government. People of this camp have “state goals and objectives” that schools are required to test on at specified times, to demonstrate that the students have learned the prescribed skills. These are the golf range people.

On the other hand, some people would argue that the purpose of school is to teach you how to learn. These people would argue that it is not so important what specific things you are taught, but, rather, that you practice learning many things. This is to help you develop the ability to learn again under new conditions and circumstances. This camp does not like standardized tests of “state objectives”, but rather evaluate the product of an education after graduation. Their real test is life after school. They are the health club people.

Which one am I you ask? I guess I lean more toward the “health club” people. Except for some basic skills, I don’t think it matters what subjects a student takes as long as schooling teaches him or her to learn in new situations. You can’t learn how to learn until you have acquired these basic skills. The acquisition of these skills is not, of itself, evidence of an education.

I do feel strongly that students should be required to take courses in every subject area, but the content of those courses is not important for most. Those few who will be studying particular fields in university will need special treatment. Someone who aspires to become a physician needs more than a general course in Chemistry and Biology when in high school. A future engineer will need extensive training in Mathematics and Physics before attending university. The idea that everyone should be trained as if they were going to be a scientist or an engineer is wasteful of school resources and generally impossible, even if there would be unlimited funding. Some would label my proposal as elitist, but it is just practical. I would not limit inclusion in special programs to an elite class, but rather to students in any class who show a special interest or aptitude for that subject.

To illustrate how silly the alternate argument is, let me offer this example. Why is it that all students should be trained as scientists? We don’t train all students to be opera singers. Are opera singers and other performers less valuable to society than scientists? Go ahead, I would love to hear your non-elitist argument for that position! Everyone should receive training in both science and music, but everyone does not need to be trained as a scientist and/or opera singer. Every student should be allowed the opportunity to study whatever field interests them, and their success in that field should be dependent on their individual abilities and talents. I might want desperately to be an Olympic sprinter, but no expenditure of money or effort will ever make me one.

A former teacher–more than 40 years ago in fact–had a poster in her classroom. To this day it had, in my opinion, the most eloquent and honest advice for students: “Bloom Where You’re Planted”