What do you think should be the purposes
of primary education?
Hi everyone,
hope you’ve all been well.
My first blog
post will be talking about the purpose of education and what should be the main
priorities within education. I will be talking about the pedagogical views,
using various sources of information and will also be talking about my views on
the purpose of education.
First things
first…. WHAT IS PEDAGOGY?
The English
oxford dictionary suggests that pedagogy ‘’is the method and practise of
teaching especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept’’
(Stevenson,2010). There are many different views that people have on pedagogy,
but Donaldson gives off a slightly different view of what pedagogy is compared
to what has been put into the Oxford dictionary.
Donaldson
suggests ‘’pedagogy is more than teaching narrow sense of methods within the
primary classroom. Donaldson states ‘’It can be considered as a selection of
methods in the light of the purposes of the curriculum and the needs and the
developmental stage of children’’(Donalsdson,2015,p.63).
Both views are
different in the sense that Stevenson suggests that it’s just about the method
and practise of teaching, where Donaldson states that it is more than just the
method and practice even though they both mention an important role within
pedagogy.
In order of
importance, the next 3 phrases are what I think should be the main purposes of
a child’s education.
1.
Education is the development of autonomous and
creative thinkers.
2.
Education is the development of skills, knowledge, and
self-discipline.
3.
Education is the process of cultural transmission.
I managed to
find a reliable source from the government where Nick Gibb addresses the
education purposes. It is suggested that ‘’Education is the engine of our
economy, and it’s an essential preparation for adult life’’(GOV,2015) Nick also
believes that ‘’education is also about the practical business of ensuring that
young people receive the preparation they need to secure a good job and a
fulfilling career’’(GOV,2015). Personally, I agree with the statement that has
been made. If a child is in education for 18 years and leaves not knowing
anything to do with the way the world works outside of education, it would be a
big struggle for them to learn it all by themselves. I also believe that
education helps a child to be a creative
"Education
is really aimed at helping students get to the point where they can learn
on their own’’(Chomsky,2013).
What do you guys think of this quote? Do you think it’s right?
People believe that the general purpose of education is to transfer
knowledge and prepare young people for when they leave and enter the real
world.
The link above shows a 20-minute
video of Noam Chomsky talking about what he thinks is ‘The Purpose of
Education. He talks about a numerous amount of different reason of what
education is and how they produce new things to bring into the world of
education.
He mentions ‘’from childhood young people have to be placed into a
frame work in which they will follow orders except existing frameworks and will
follow orders and this is quite explicit’’ and this is all because of
indoctrination.
It is believed that the ‘Conflict theory) sees the purpose of education
as maintaining inequality and preserving the power of those who dominate
society (Cliff Notes, 2016).
In the Donaldson report he states 4 key purposes that all children must
be. These four purposes are:
1.Ambitious, capable learners who are ready to learn throughout their
lives.7
2.Enterprising, creative contributors who are ready to play a full part
in life and work.
3.Ethical, informed citizens who are ready to be citizens of Wales and
the world.
4.Healthy, confident individuals who are ready to lead fulfilling lives
as valued members of society.
As you can see, all the above link to the outside
world, so life after education. It is implying that the purpose of education is
to get children ready for the real world and for them to be independent and for
them to earn a living (Donaldson, 2015).
I came across a quote written by (Aronson,2008)
which defines his idea of the purpose of education.
“We put our children
through their paces in school not so that they will learn something, or master
something, or meet any standards. No. We give them tools so that they can
experience the joy, the passion, of creating’’
I find this quote very interesting to read as
(Aronson) mentioning that a child doesn’t go to school just for them to learn,
they go to school so they can experience new things and learn about the passion
of education and also learn how to be creative when in the education
environment.
I believe that education should be for the
enjoyment and excitement of a child even though there is an element of it that
does help them to learn about the real world and how it has an big impact on
their loves once they are out of education.
I managed to talk to a current primary school teacher
on what they think the purpose of education is and his reply to my question was
‘’The purpose of education is to provide individuals with opportunities that
enable them to reach their own full potential, becoming capable adults that can
learn adapt and thrive in a range of contexts and situations’’ (Morgan, 2017)
Each teacher I had asked all had different opinions
on what they thought the purpose of education is for a child.
I hope you have all enjoyed reading my blog on this specific
topic and I hope it has got you all thinking what the purpose of education is. Feel
free to leave any comments down below, and I should talk to you all soon bloggers.
Chomsky, N (2013) available at: http://www.openculture.com/2012/11/noam_chomsky_spells_out_the_purpose_of_education.html
accessed on: 8th November 2017
Daily Riff (2015) Available at: (201http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/noam-chomsky-the-purpose-of-education-869.php
accessed:14th November 2017
Donaldson, G
(2015) ‘Successful Futures – Report on
the Curriculum and Assessment Arrangements in Wales’ Available at: http://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/media/uwtsd-website/content-assets/documents/wcee/successful-futures.pdf
[Accessed: 8thth November 2017].
Good
Reads (No Date) Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/51409.Marc_Aronson accessed:12th November 2017
Josh Morgan (Morgan, 2017) Current Primary School
Teacher
Hello Louisa, I believe to a certain extent with the quote “Education is really aimed at helping students get to the point where they can learn on their own” (Chompsky, 2013) since teacher’s need to provide children with the skills to learn autonomously which Donaldson (2015, p.30) has highlighted in his curriculum review when he stated that children should “have the skills and knowledge to manage everyday life as independently as they can”. However, I believe that learning independently is not always the most effective way of learning and collaborative learning is often more effective therefore, we should ensure children also have the skills to work as a team successfully. Although it is still essential children can learn on their own since every child has their own goal and outcomes they want to achieve, however I do not believe this is the main purpose of education (Thorpe, 2002).
ReplyDeleteReferences
Donaldson, G. (2015) Successful futures: Independent Review of Curriculum and Assessment Arrangements in Wales, London: Crown.
Thorpe, M. (2002) ‘From independent learning to collaborative learning’, Lea, M. & Nicoll, K. (ed.) Distributed Learning: Social and Cultural Approaches to Practice, Oxon: Routledge, pp.131-134.