“Purposes of Schooling”
Research Paper
The purposes of schooling in America can be determined by examining what today’s schools are trying to accomplish, how they are trying to accomplish it, and how that differs from what, and how, they were trying to accomplish in past generations. According to Ornstein (2011, p. 413) the purposes, or goals, that education are trying to accomplish vary across different organizational levels, namely; the national level, the state level, the school district level, the individual school level, and even at each individual classroom level. Usually each level has a stated goal in mind for education, such as, at the national/federal level, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 states on the US Department of Education website, that it is, “An act to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind.” The different purposes and goals of education at each level are appropriate to what can be achieved at those levels. For instance, it would not be a goal at the school district level to try to increase the level of standardized test scores for the entire state. However, upon further research, the apparent trend is forming that all of the goals at the lower levels of education are all moving towards the greater purposes of schooling. The purposes of schooling in America are some of the following categories: socialize students to “take an active place in the specific society in which he or she lives” (Goodlad, 1997, p. 5), “provide training for the world of work” (Goodlad, `1997, p.5), and to “cultivate the intellect, or to encourage self-fulfillment” (Goodlad, 1997, p.11).
The main influences that can shape what educations purposes are, according to Ornstein (2011), how society changes and dictates what is needed from education, the advancement of students’ knowledge which allows for the expansion and development of curriculums, and...
