Position Statement
Education and schooling are sometimes used interchangeably but may not necessarily have the same meaning. The position of the researcher is that education is the process of gaining new knowledge, enlightened experience, values, habits, skills, and beliefs to enable the survival of an individual in a given society. Nicholson (2016) simply defines education as “an enlightening experience” (p. 34). One can be educated through the formal context of going to school to gain new insights through informal institutions or personal life experiences. It means that one must not necessarily go to school to be educated. On the other hand, Allen and Goddard (2017) define schooling is as “education received at school” (p. 85). As shown in this definition, schooling refers to education that one gains through formal programs offered in institutions of learning from pre-kindergarten to institutions of higher education.
The position of the researcher is that the primary purpose of schooling, based on the position of the researcher, is to have a standardized approach of passing a set of skills and knowledge to a group of people so that they can perform specific tasks in society. Doctors and engineers need schooling to enable them to understand the standard practice in these fields to avoid critical mistakes that may have devastating consequences. These people cannot afford to make mistakes because people may lose their lives. Schooling makes it possible for them to learn systematic procedures that they have to follow to realize success. In this essay, the researcher will discuss these two concepts from philosophical, ideological, theoretical, and historical points of view.
Philosophical Arguments
When trying to define what education is, different philosophers have explained different concepts based on their personal beliefs and experiences. In this section, it is important to focus on educational philosophies that support the personal philosophy stated above. These definitions can be classified broadly into four categories, which include perennials, essentialism, progressivism, and reconstructionism. Perennials argue that education is the process through which learners acquire an understanding of Western civilization (Chand, 2017). This philosophy has faced massive criticism from scholars because of its emphasis on Western civilization (Allen & Goddard, 2017). It creates the perception that any knowledge gained outside of the context of Western civilization cannot be considered education. However, those who support this argument explain that modern-day education all over the world is based on Western civilization. The language and pattern of teaching may be different, but the basic concepts are focused on civilization championed by western nations.
Essentialism holds that education is based on a common core of knowledge that can only be transmitted to learners in a disciplined and systematic way (Nicholson, 2016). It holds that education goes beyond imparting intellectual standards on students. Through education, learners should also acquire morals that society considers acceptable. Although it has some similarities with perennials, the main difference is that essentialism holds the belief that core curriculum may change, and they should not necessarily be based on the Western culture. Education should help students to become responsible members of their society. As such, the primary focus of educators should not be to equip learners with concepts based on Western civilization but on issues that affect their society. Learners can only be considered educated if they have the willingness and capacity to address local problems.
Progressivism holds the view that education is an active learning process where students take active roles through experience and experimentation (Allen & Goddard, 2017). The philosophy is against the idea that learners should be restricted to the specific content of education passed down to them based on a specific rigid curriculum or as the educators may desire. Instead, it should be a proactive process where learners are expected to have experience and do conduct experiments. The product of education is to have individuals who are thinkers and problem solvers instead of having people who have to be directed even on the simplest of the tasks. In this context, books and learning materials are considered tools other than sources of authority (Chand, 2017). They should help an individual to solve a given problem independently based on the prevailing conditions instead of strictly defining how to address the issue.
Social reconstructionism is a philosophy that holds the argument that education focuses on addressing social questions with the goal of creating a better, just, and democratic global society (Rankin, 2018). It goes beyond the concept of empowering individuals learners and embraces the idea of creating a better world. An educated individual should be capable of identifying social problems and defining solutions that society considers acceptable. The above philosophies support the position of the researcher that education should entail gaining new knowledge and experience.
Philosophers have also defined the purpose of schooling in different ways based on varying contexts. Great philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, and Niccolò Machiavelli have all expressed what they believe should be the purpose of schooling. It is important to note that the technological, social, political, and economic changes that have been witnessed since some of these great philosophers defined the purpose of education make it necessary to focus on recent philosophers such as John Dewey and George Counts. John Dewey argued that “the primary purpose of education and schooling is not so much to prepare students to live a useful life but to teach them how to live pragmatically and immediately in their current environment” (Nicholson, 2016, p. 88). This philosopher believes that the purpose of education is to equip the learner will skills that would make them pragmatic and capable of responding to forces in the immediate environment.
George Counts believes that “the purpose of school is less about preparing individuals to live independently and more about preparing individuals to live as members of a society” (Rankin, 2018, p. 41). Through schooling, one learns how to live harmoniously with others and to work together as a team to address common challenges. It explains why schooling emphasizes the need to bring together different learners in a classroom setting. Besides the curriculum taught to them, students learn how to express themselves, respect their colleagues and teachers, and work in teams towards a common goal. They are taught to be responsible members of society who know how to enjoy their rights and freedoms without infringing upon that of others. Chand (2017) argues that in almost every workplace environment, teamwork is necessary. As such, learners should know how to engage their colleagues with the aim of solving common challenges as a team. The philosophies are in line with the position of the researcher that the purpose of schooling is to have a standardized approach of teaching that helps learners to discover and pursue their different interests.
Ideological Arguments
In this section, the researcher will focus on ideological concepts that support the position of the researcher, as stated in the first section of this report. From an ideological perspective, education can be defined using the concepts of nationalism, ethnonationalism, liberalism, or Marxism. The concept of nationalism in this context holds that education is a learning process that promotes a national spirit (Allen & Goddard, 2017). It means that one would be considered educated if they understand national challenges and focus on finding ways of addressing them. As such, patriotism is one of the most important factors that define education in this context.
Ethno-nationalism, on the other hand, maintains that education is a tool that should empower people to be loyal to a given racial or ethnic group (Rankin, 2018). Instead of focusing on the need for an individual to be patriotic to their nation as defined in nationalism, ethnonationalism holds that an individual should remain loyal and protective of their race or ethnic background. It means that Americans should not pledge their loyalty to the United States if they feel the national instruments unfairly target members of their race irrespective of their location on earth. This approach of defining education has been criticized as being divisive and detrimental to national growth. However, its proponents argue that it is unrealistic for an educated person to support the same government that is frustrating members of their race.
Liberalism as an ideology holds that education should liberate learners. Through education, one should understand the due process of the law and lead a life free from the shackles of ignorance (Ahmad, 2017). The liberty will make an individual understand their roles and responsibilities and the relationship that should exist between citizens and their government. The concept also holds that learners should understand the concept of equity and that every citizen is entitled to enjoy the opportunities that the country has to offer. Therefore, one’s success should be defined by one’s commitment, intelligence, and sometimes luck, instead of race, gender, or political affiliations. Marxism refers to ideological principles propagated in the 19th century by Karl Marx (Rankin, 2018). The ideology views education as a process through which children are empowered to face life as equal contenders despite the possible socio-economic differences (Allen & Goddard, 2017). Through education, the child of a peasant will be capable of tapping into opportunities within the country in the same way as a child from a rich family. These ideologies emphasize the need for an educational process to enhance the survival skills of a learner, as indicated in the purpose statement.
According to Rankin (2018), the purpose of schooling can be defined from an ideological perspective in different ways. Ahmad (2017) argued that schools exist primarily to serve a practical credentialing function in society. Learning is often based on addressing specific societal issues. In the United States, there has been an attempt to redefine the common core state standards (CCSS) to ensure that learners are equipped to deal with various challenges from a practical perspective. Although schooling sometimes involves imparting theoretical concepts in the mind of a learner, the intended goal can only be realized if the learner can implement the concepts in a practical concept. Allen and Goddard (2017) argue that the desire by educationists to focus more on competency-based learning programs is informed by the fact that the traditional schooling system emphasized more on improving learner’s literacy than their practical skills.
According to Chand (2017), “the role of schooling was to equip individuals with the skills necessary to participate in the social life of their community and to change the nature of the social order as needed or desired” (p. 74). In this context, schooling is defined as the process of equipping learners with skills needed for them to engage in social activities within the community. The process makes learners become agents of change in the community instead of being part of the forces that resist change. Rankin (2018) explains that resisting change can be detrimental to the success of an organization or a community. Many people are often opposed to change because of the fear of lacking the capacity to operate successfully under the new system. Schooling should equip an individual with relevant skills that would enable them to work under different settings and to understand when it is necessary to change from one system to another. These arguments support the purpose of schooling defined in the position statement.
Theoretical Arguments
Scholars have used theoretical concepts to define education and the purpose of schooling. In this section of the report, the researcher will look at some of the educational theories that support the purpose statement stated in the previous section. Behaviorism holds that the concept of education refers to the modification of the behavior of an individual as a way of making them fit in a given social setting (Allen & Goddard, 2017). Education should make people learn to embrace a given behavior that society considers acceptable. The process may sometimes require the use of reinforcements as a way of modifying one’s behavior. As such, it is acceptable for educationists to use reward when one exhibits acceptable behavior and punishment as a way of discouraging irresponsible or antisocial practices. As Nicholson (2016) puts it, it may be necessary for educators to use any means possible and permissible to promote responsible behavior.
Constructivism defines education as a process of empowering people to be responsible for defining their understanding of the world based on their experience and the immediate environment. It discourages the idea of making learners have a similar point of view to a given issue. For instance, water is a source of life, but it can also be a source of natural disasters (Ahmad, 2017). Insisting that people view water as a source of life without taking into consideration other factors may be an irresponsible approach to education. Broadening the mind of the learner makes it possible for them to know how to address the issue of water in their immediate environment. For those in deserts, they should learn how to sink boreholes or find other means of making the resource available. On the other hand, those in areas prone to floods should find ways of harvesting this resource while at the same time protecting people and other valuables from its destructive force. These two theories demonstrate that values and beliefs are as critical as skills and determination, and as such, education should focus on these factors, just as stated in the purpose statement.
The theoretical concept of humanism holds that one of the cardinal purposes of education is to guide learners towards self-actualization. Many people fail to achieve their full potential in life because they do not understand their true calling and capabilities in life. An individual talented in football may be forced to pursue a career in medicine because they have impressive academic performance, while another who has an interest in pursuing a career in law is convinced to settle on acting because of the perceived dismal academic performance. Such an individual can never reach self-actualization because of the constant feeling that they are not in their desired career.
Schooling should make it possible for an individual to understand not only the personal capabilities but also interests and desires in life (Chand, 2017). The schooling system should be designed in a way that makes educators aware of the fact that a school brings together people with different skills, interests, and capabilities, and therefore, they should not be forced into a universal path towards a given career. Instead, these institutions should help learners to identify careers they can pursue perfectly based on the identified abilities. The argument supports the definition of the purpose of schooling, as stated in the purpose statement.
Historical Arguments
In this final section of the report, it is necessary to look at the explanation of how the philosophy of education, as stated in the position statement, is rooted in the history of education in the United States. The United States Department of Education has historically been focused on aligning the education system with the needs of society. As stated in the position stated above, the educationists in this country understand the fact that education should be a process that empowers learners to survive in the community despite changes that are always witnessed because of technology and other forces. In 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) as a way of ensuring that the education system in the country would ensure that every child is empowered despite the socio-economic background. It was meant to address the problem where the education system in the country worked in favor of the rich at the expense of the poor. In 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law Race to the Top (RTT) to help standardize the education system in the country based on the emerging issues. The government realized that it was necessary to align the education system with the changing socio-economic and political forces.
The common core state standards (CCSS) introduced in 2010 was a historical milestone in an effort to ensure that the educational system in the country upholds values and principles cherished in the society besides importing skills and experience that learners would need in the workplace environment. Weaknesses that existed in the previous system had to be addressed through this new system. According to Rankin (2018), “From a historical perspective, the purpose of schooling has been tied to social and economic needs” (p. 67). Just like in the position statement, the history of education in the United States has always focused on economically empowering learners. It has always been designed in a way that enables the student to become successful entrepreneurs or to pursue different careers. Ahmad (2017) explains that schooling should make an individual become economically responsible to self and to society.
References
Ahmad, I. (2017). Citizenship education in the United States: A historical perspective. New York, NY: Routledge.
Allen, A., & Goddard, R. (2017). Education and philosophy: An introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Chand, B. (2017). Advance philosophy of education. New York, NY: Notion Press.
Nicholson, D.W. (2016). Philosophy of education in action: An inquiry-based approach. New York, NY: Routledge.
Rankin, J.L. (2018). A people’s history of computing in the United States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.