K Bechtel

In researching the purposes of education I discovered this PowerPoint Presentation which describes four purposes for education in America. 

1. Education for Intellectual Attainment:  This purpose can be categorized as using schools to develop, exercise, or stimulate the minds of the students.
2. Education for Citizenship:  Schools exist to benefit society in that they help create citizens that can function in the American democracy, thus sustaining the American economic and political systems.
3. Education for Vocational Preparation:  This purpose of school is to train students to be ready to enter the workforce or prepared to enter college.  Either way, students are prepared to be productive workers.
4. Education for Individual Development:  This belief stems from the idea that education serves as one’s vehicle for success.  Schools recognize the uniqueness of each student and directs each student to their potential physically, emotionally, and intellectually.

This same presentation went on to discuss The Seven Principles of Education designed to set forth goals beyond just preparing students for college. 

1. Health:  The health of our country can be greatly impacted by presenting health issues to students in schools, such as health classes, nutrition, drug/alcohol/tobacco education, sex education, and physical education classes.
2. Command of Fundamental Processes:  This is the old 3 Rs in education insuring students know how to read, write, and do basic math by the time they leave school.
3. Worthy Home Membership:  This is teaching students both male and female how to create a healthy, stable home as adults through courses such as home economics.
4. Workforce Ready:  Students are prepared to enter the workforce upon graduating from high school.
5. Citizenship:  Our democracy is dependent on an educated citizenry and the school is the place where students are taught how to be responsible citizens.
6. Worthy Use of Leisure Time:  Schools teach students what constitutes a healthy lifestyle including healthy leisure activities.
7. Ethical Character:  Schools teach students what is right and wrong based on the values and beliefs of our culture, which is still up for debate.

The presentation goes on to list several issues of concern today for educators in thinking about what is important for students to know and be able to do.  It suggested the following abilities that students today should gain from education.

1. How to acquire, analyze and use information
2. Concept development: concentrating on the big ideas rather than memorizing details
3. Problem solving using real life situations
4. Promoting inquiry based learning and the idea of constructivism
5. Social Concerns:  Social issues are often dealt with in schools.  For example, when obesity rates are on the rise we see an increase in nutrition and physical fitness activities at school and changes in the school lunch program.

In another PowerPoint Presentation, the same four major purposes of education are listed. 

So education serves society in that it does produce citizens that can think, work, contribute to society, and preserve our culture.  It serves as the vehicle for success in that it teaches students how to solve problems, how to work with others, what is acceptable behavior, and how to manage many things at one time.