Some purposes of educational institutions

As my first blog to this website I want to share some of my convictions about education: The first thing to ask as a teacher is, what purpose institutionalized education should serve:

1. In addition to family, or if there is a dysfunctional or no family, instead of it, education should serve the purpose of socialization. Official Education should provide an environment of peaceful interaction, of productive conflict resolution, of a community which is able to “provide for its members”. In a school young human beings could learn to live in and interact with a community, giving and taking, learning that only if the basic needs of all members are met, the community is “well”.

2. As humans are “social in nature”, schools could help students to develop their personality. It is easier to learn “who I am” in interaction with others. If there are sufficient emotional, social and intellectual “stimuli”, students find out what they like or dislike, what they want to develop or “unlearn”, what personality features serve themselves and others. For example, a more aggressive person could learn to be aggressive in sports and competitions and more at ease in discussions at the dinner table.

3. Schools could provide efficient access and foster the use of educational resources. Students could learn to use a classical or an online library to learn about certain topics, search for and participate in specialized online discussion forums, ask experts online to find answers to complicated questions, It is more a “tell me what you want to learn and I tell you where you can look for it” than a “ask me a question and I will answer it”.

4. Critical, creative and appreciative thought is essential for a democratic society. As every skill, there are some people who are “born with it”, who naturally apply critical thought processes to many situations. Others may rarely question what they read, hear or see. Skills can be developed and trained. That means that every student who participates in activities in a teaching/learning institution can gain consciousness about the human thought processes and how they can be improved to arrive at more reliable or “true” conclusions.

5. Schools should help students to analyze, understand and influence the society they live in. It is proven that democratic societies with a low poverty rate and a fairer income distribution have a lower crime rate, better services for the society and the inhabitants report a higher degree of general well-being. Learners could understand the role they play in the society to “make it a better one”.

Comments welcome.