PURPOSES/AIMS OF

EDUCATION

While many purposes of

education exist, and many people

General Purposes:

1.
Education for Intellectual Attainment:
the belief that schools should
concentrate on
activities, exercises,
and courses of study
that develop
ones mind or intellectual
ability. This
belief is based upon the assumption that

2.
Education for Citizenship: the idea
that schools serve the larger society by
producing students who can function in
the American democracy . This purpose
recognizes that an educated citizen
is
essential to maintaining the
American
economic and political
system.

3.
Education for Vocational Preparation:
this is the belief that schools should
produce students who can go into the
work force
and become productive. It
is the
recognition that a practical
aspect of schooling must be satisfied. In
an educational system attempting to
educate all citizens, it is recognized that
not all
graduates can go to college and
trained
workers are needed after high
school.

4.
Education for Individual
Development: this is the belief that
education develops the potential of each
person. Each person
is unique and
education uplifts the
individual
intellectually, physically, and
emotionally. Education is seen as the
vehicle for personal development and
success in life.

THE SEVEN CARDINAL

PRINCIPLES OF
EDUCATION

In 1918 the National Education Associations

Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary
Education identified seven specific goals for the
public schools. These goals have influenced
education throughout the 20th century and still have
great influence today. The seven cardinal principles
were designed to articulate the goals for the
comprehensive high school at a time when the high
schools and the public school system in America grew
during the period after World War I. The seven
cardinal principles recognized that schooling had a
larger purpose than just preparing students for
colleges and universities. Listed below are the seven
principles.

1.
Health: the recognition that as
public
education grew and
compulsory school attendance laws
were passed in all the
states, the
health of the population could be
impacted by paying attention to health
issues in schools. Courses in health,
nutrition, and physical education were
instituted. Modern courses include the
study of such social issues as AIDS, sex
education, and alcohol/drug education.

2.
Command of Fundamental
Processes:
this is the old reading,
writing, arithmetic
approach to
education, the belief that
educated
people must have a firm command of
reading, mathematics, and writing
ability. We
hear a lot of talk
today about the
basics in
education and the need to
make sure
that all children can read when they
leave public schools.

3.
Worthy Home Membership: the
belief
that schools should prepare
students to
establish a healthy, stable
home. Here is where courses in home
economics
started, with an emphasis
on preparing young women to cook and
maintain a
house. Today, both young
men and women take courses in this
area.

4.
Vocational Preparation: the belief,
explained above, that schools should
produce workers for the growing
economy.

5.
Citizenship: the belief, explained
above,
that democracy depends on an
educated citizenry , and schools, as the
institution
charged with the
responsibility for
education everybody,
is in a unique role to maintain the
Republic.

6.
Worthy Use of Leisure Time: as the
work
week began to shorten, it was
recognized
that Americans would have
more leisure time. This principle
supports the notion that schools should
prepare young people
for a healthy life
style, including physical activity and
participation in healthy leisure
activities.

7.
Ethical Character: the belief that
schools should address issues of right
or wrong
and moral concerns.
Recently, a
national debate has arisen
over the teaching of religion in schools
and the proper role that schools should
play in
moral/ethical education.

MODERN AIMS OF
EDUCATION

While the seven cardinal principles of

education continue to influence what we
teach in schools, a few other aims of
education are beginning to influence
education in America, particularly
regarding how we teach in schools.
Your work in the schools of tomorrow will
certainly engage you in these areas.

1.
Learning to Use Information: educators
recognize that students cannot be expected to
learn everything about a subject. In fact,
information is growing at a rate far faster than at
any time in human history. So, learning to
use information becomes as important as
learning
certain basic information.
Acquiring, analyzing,
and reporting information
become important
skills. Applying ones
knowledge becomes as
important as
learning certain information about a
subject.
Of course, the computer becomes an
ever

2.
Concept Development: since we
cannot
possible learn all that is known
about a subject, and information is
increasing ever
faster, then, learning
the important ideas becomes more
important. The modern emphasis on
learning content is to
concentrate on
the big ideas and not
allow student to
become mired in
minutiae.

3.
Problem Solving: along with the
emphasis on big ideas is the belief that
students need to apply their
understanding of
information to real
life problems. The problem solving
approach draws heavily on the scientific
method, where
information is
generated, analyzed, and
applied to a
question of importance.

4.

Constructivism: this approach gets

students involved in using
information,
even constructing
information that is applied to their
understanding of concepts
and
generalization. Students do more than
memorize facts. They construct
meaning from the information acquired or
given.

5.
Inquiry: a method of instruction
where
students collect, analyze, and
apply
their
understanding to
problems or
issues. Inquiry is the
basis for all
science and relies
heavily on using data
rather than
suppositions or opinions.

6.
Social Concerns: Americans tend to
look to their schools to solve issues that
plague
society. When auto accidents
kill thousands each year and inflate
insurance
rates, then schools
institute driver education courses. When
Americans are concerned about manners,
then schools launch programs that
address proper
social behavior. The
list of issues that
schools are required
to address seems to
grow.

SCHOOL ORGANIZATION

Schools that education young people fall

into two general categories: Private or Public
Schools. Recently states have allowed parents
to educate their children in a home school
setting. In Kentucky the public schools are
referred to legally as the common schools. Our
discussion pertains to the organization of
public(common) schools only.

Public schools in America are

primarily funded at the local and state
levels. Since no mention of education is
made specifically in the United States
Constitution, then the states under the
reserve powers have taken on the
responsibility to fund and run public
schools. The power to run public schools at
the local level is vested in a Board of
Education, duly elected from the
community, and given broad authority to
govern the schools in its district.

The chief administrator in a local

school district is the superintendent, who is
appointed by the Board of Education. The
superintendent is allowed to hire other
administrators, including supervisors, office
staff, and the principals of the local schools,
which are all approved by the Board.

In Kentucky, each school, unless it fulfills a few

special characteristics, is required to have a School
Council that is given some significant powers to
operate a local school. The School Council operates
under a plan approved by the Board of Education that
is in line with Kentucky law. School Councils are
composed of teachers, parents and administrators,
under a ratio of three teachers, two parents, and one
principal. The composition of the council can be
changed as long as this ratio is maintained. School
councils in Kentucky have considerable power and
have jurisdiction over such areas as discipline policies,
curriculum, staffing, and scheduling, to name a few.
Each council develops a policy on how to administer
the powers allowed under the law.

While we tend to view schools and their

characteristics as monolithic, in fact, schools vary widely,
even in the same school district. Some schools are large,
others small, and their clients vary, from middle class, to
lower classes, in terms of family income. Some schools
have a high degree of parental involvement, while others
struggle to get input from parents. Other schools are
located in areas where property values are high and the
public allows a high degree of monetary support for the
schools, resulting in a disparity among schools regarding
the money available to support education. Recently, as a
result of research, educators realize that significant
educational change usually occurs at the school level as a
result of the educators in a particular school building with