The Purpose of Education
Posted: February 22nd, 2011 | Author: ZoeRoss | Filed under: Education, Teaching, Technology | Tags: #500 words, #purposed, Education, Teaching, WordPress | 33 Comments »
A Two-Way Street
Yesterday, I visited a group of 8 and 9 year old children taught by Peter Rafferty at Green Park School. I came home and deleted all I had written in several days of planning this blog post.
The way in which the children conducted themselves and the work they shared left me astounded. Several pupils discussed and explained their work and one boy took to the interactive whiteboard for 15 minutes to give a relaxed and proficient demonstration of how he customises his WordPress blog, adds his own widgets and edits the html code.
Only this weekend I had been discussing with other teachers whether WordPress was a suitable blogging tool for children of this age, and several teachers held the view that WordPress was too complicated. The pupils I met yesterday demonstrated with great aplomb that this is not the case. They made me view things differently and see previously unknown possibilities. That is, for me, the purpose of education.
Opening Minds
I was lucky to be brought up in a home where books were plentiful, school was supported and hard work expected (although as a teenager ‘lucky’ is not a word I would have used). However, my experiences as a teacher, particularly my time as head of year, have taught me that this is not the case for many children.
Someone* recently tweeted that during a reading survey, some children indicated that they had no books in their house. This is the reality for a large section of society for whom sensational and imbalanced red-top media, which serves merely to perpetuate stereotypes, is the only acceptable reading material.
For the young people, and indeed adults, for whom this is the case, education can and should help them to think more broadly about previously unknown topics, enabling them to see the possibilities of what they can achieve and encouraging them to fulfil their potential.
Education, for so many people, is their escape route; a way out of poverty, abuse or a lifetime of mediocre achievement and happiness. However, many young people do not have the confidence in either themselves or those adults around them to enable them to see this. It is very daunting for students who would like to break out of the mold that society and their upbringing has created around them. Education can ensure that they are given access to ways in which they can take alternative paths and help them to construct a roadmap to guide them through the minefield of life.
Giving young people, and adults, the confidence to think for themselves, challenge widely held opinions and present their ideas in a coherent and persuasive manner are all, in my view, key purposes of education.
Thus, supported, relaxed and collaborative learning environments in which children are encouraged to try new ideas and see different possibilities in their world, are essential components of any formalised education system. This was demonstrated deftly in the classroom I visited yesterday and I look forward to seeing them again to continue my own education.
*If it was you, please let me know and I’ll credit you!
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Couldn’t agree more! Reading and the subsequent exposure to new ideas is so key. Feel so strongly when I hear children tall about lack of books at home (usually, not always, hand-in-hand with lack of parental support) – so how do we re-engage the generation of now-parents that missed out themselves?
Well said Zoe! I agree “Supported, relaxed and collaborative learning environments” are the key. They make learning together fun and give everyone ownership and control of their learning. So easy to say, not always so easy to implement! It is lovely to have real examples of where it is achieved for inspiration.
Clearly engaging parents is such an important, yet difficult step. Getting them into schools in informal, non-threatening capacities is one strategy I have seen used successfully, and often schools in more challenging areas work very hard on this. Parents evenings are sometimes the only contact parents have with education and they often simply serve as reminders for a parents’ negative experiences of their own education. I remember being shocked as an NQT that a number of parents smelt of alcohol at parents’ evening! I really do think the media, rather than the government, have an important part to play, however, how this is addressed is another matter!
Thank you for your comment, Gill. I totally agree and yet, such an environment is hard to ‘create’. It takes a very skillful and trusting teacher to allow such an atmosphere to develop, in contrast to an over-keen focus on ‘knowledge’ and a very structured curriculum.
A very eloquently written and persuasive argument for education as empowering and life-changing. Thanks Zoe!
Great post Zoe,
If only more schools were like Peter’s, and more willing to provide those real-life, challenging experiences.
My guess is that those teachers that thought WordPress was too complicated were lacking in confidence to let the children learn things that they themselves didn’t understand?
I really think we need to get teachers, politicians and parents away from the mindset that teachers should only be teaching stuff they know about. Instead teachers should be asking questions, challenging, provoking, guiding and learning.
A very thought provoking post Zoe which I totally agree with. As a proud father I fully supper my son with his development and we read together on a regular basis a wise range of materials. He loves reading and is always looking to expand his knowledge and vocabulary. As a teacher supportive parents are a big help!
Thanks for the comment Mark. You are absolutely right in terms of teachers needing to be comfortable to ‘let go’ and let children get on with it – and yes, society needs to do this too! I love your last sentence – the true purpose of teaching!
Thanks for the comment, Chris. I really believe access to books, for people of all ages, is a necessity – another reason why it’s so sad that libraries are shutting, particularly those rural ones. I love what the people at this library did
http://goo.gl/NaNkA
Great post Zoe. I like the way you have based this on real experience, and shown how this experience caused you to scrap what you were writing about and develop your thinking.
This exemplifies for me what learning is about- experience and reflection, and the importance of those of us ‘responsible’ for education also seeing ourselves as learners.
You make good points on the difficulty of allowing young people to see the potential of education. For many to see its power they need to have their eyes opened to the possible lines of development their lives could take, and this requires sharing of experiences and wider narratives of others lives that could be outside of their own experiences.
This gives them choice of how they want to shape their own futures, based on the wide possibilities on offer to them- not just the ones their background presents to them. I think this is as true for the middle class ‘privileged’ child who may see their choices being limited to traditional professions as it is for the ‘disadvantaged’ child who sees little possibilities outside of their own estate.
You have given me much food for thought for my #5oowords . Thank you!
Thanks for the comment, Oliver and how right you are to expand the point to the middle classes too. It’s very hard for children, and indeed often adults too, to be different from the crowd. Education really needs to help them do that, should they wish to!
I agree that engaging parents is an important step, and that it can be difficult, particularly engaging fathers. It is something that some Early Years settings do very well and is an important focus of the EYFS, somehow once children start “school” some parents do not seem to expect the same relationship. Is it cultural, do you think? If parents themselves did not have a good experience of school they are likely to mistrust the whole system. I wonder how many parents get to see, and be astounded by, their children functioning and learning in the ways you witnessed at Green Park yesterday?
Very thought-provoking post, Zoe. Research going back decades has shown that education is, in the long term, the surest route out of poverty. If you have a good teacher, who can create a supportive ethos in which the chldren feel safe — which I think is very much implied by what you’ve said, because the children in that school clearly feel safe to express their opinions — you are onto a winner.
Thanks for the comment, Terry. I’ve worked in schools where such an ethos runs the entire way through and it is truly a joy to be part of such a community. Other schools do not have this as a core focus, which is a real shame and I truly think they are missing the point.
Yes, I think parents who have had a poor experience themselves are more likely to mistrust the system, although in some cases this can make them more passionate about ensuring their own children get a better education. What a great idea – to get parents in and their children, not the teachers, to do the demonstrating of their work, although of course blogs allow parents and children to discuss their work at home. That is why kidsmeet Blackpool is so very exciting – and I hope will be seen by as wide an audience as possible! http://goo.gl/NwMrJ
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Oliver Quinlan, Oliver Quinlan. Oliver Quinlan said: ZoeRoss » Blog Archive » The Purpose of Education http://ow.ly/1s46rf #purposed [...]
I really appreciated your post, Zoe.
It’s fascinating to see the different ways in which people have interpreted the question. I note that you’ve focussed on the ‘journey’ of education in your post, rather than any attempt to speculate at idealistic ‘outcomes’. I had initially interpreted the question in a more black and white way – i.e. what’s the endgame for education, our target or objective?
You’ve made me question that assumption.
A great post, Zoe – good points made eloquently! It’s always so good to hear how children so often exceed the expectations we have of them and can pick up tools that may, to us, seem beyond them.
And SO true about education being the way to change our circumstances. Coming from a family that always valued education, life-long learning and reading was so important in influencing my own attitudes to learning – whilst we may not be able to fill those gaps in the experiences of some of those we are teaching, we can help them build confidence and skills, so they have real choices in life.
Thanks very much for the reply Richard. The different perspectives on the purpose of education are very interesting and when I was writing the post I did change my focus! That in itself is learning though, isn’t it?!
Thank you for the comment, Jan. I totally agree about building confidence and giving students ‘real choices in life’ as you put it. Too many children are pigeonholed from a very young age and I do believe that the experiences they have through their schooling really do have the capacity to change that, particularly in terms of how they view their place in the world. It’s not always easy, but it is always worthwhile!
I’m new to the Puposed debate, but I really enjoyed your post Zoe. I found myself agreeing with much of what you said. I think developing thinking skills and the ability to challenge is so important. That is something children can take with them and apply to any area of their lives and many of them will need to. Education is most definitely the only escape route for many and I think what educators need to do is give them the courage and confidence to go down it.
Thank you so much for your comment Claire, particularly as you’re new to the debate
I totally agree that thinking skills are just so important for children; as are encouraging confidence and courage!
Great post Zoe.
It’s clear from your experiences that education is fundamental for so many young people and yet again highlights that there is a struggle for educators to balance creativity with the demands of a curriculum. More and more we see shining examples of educators who have dared to throw out the rule book for a while and allow their students to shine.
If only we could get every educator to do the same.
And I mean just that, every educator! Not just classroom teachers but parents too. Too often (the innovators) find themselves facing resistance, not from their own students, but from parents who either have a certain vision of what education is or perhaps don’t value it at all because they didn’t enjoy their time at school. When a teacher dares to be different the response is not: “Why?”, delivered with a tone of enthusiasm and curiosity. But: “Why?”, delivered with an air of accusation or worse indifference.
This is why I believe that the more of us who can dare to be creative in our classrooms, to embrace technology where it will actually improve the learning, and encourage others to worry a little less about targets from above but to worry about the hearts and minds sat in front of us, we can make education the shining beacon that it should be. Guiding and pulling in children from any home and saying to them here is a place where you will be listened to, valued and your individuality will be celebrated.
I agree, “opening minds” – building their confidence, leads to greater understanding, through challenging and thinking for themselves.
James, thank you so much for your fantastic comment. I couldn’t agree more! It’s such a shame that more teachers are not encouraged to be innovators – I suspect many of us have encountered resistance for trying to be creative and do things differently. I think your last sentence is particularly important!!
Thanks for your comment, Phil. Thinking skills are so important and in my experience they rarely just ‘happen’ without a conscious effort!
Yes wonderful post Zoe. The older I get the more I think it is about giving people the confidence to follow their passions and interests as far as they can and to enable a culture of further enablement around them. What else are we here for as educators – we should never never be closed off to new experiences and insights – serendipity is one of the greatest aspects of the job and the most human. I think we have to hold onto what learning is and not what others might like it to be or be perceived to be. To be brave and secure enough to take that step towards the light with what drives us and makes us curious about life and shareit with others…
Thank you so much for the post, Leon and yes, making people ‘curious about life’ as you so eloquently put it the purpose of education in one key phrase!
Dear Zoe, thanks for coming into our class to talk to us. I hope you enjoyed coming in. I also hope that you can come again. If you come again could you show us more computer skills. Thank you, hope to see you soon, bye from Lily in Y4.
Hi Lily
Great to hear from you! I really enjoyed coming in to see you all and very much look forward to seeing you all again (if Mr Rafferty lets me come!) I think of you all every time I hear Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ song!
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