Misleading Assumptions
One may contemplate, “What is the chief purpose for going to school?” Everyone’s individual answers might be somewhat different but you many say one chief purpose of school is to instruct students or perhaps another purpose of education is to prepare students for the work force. However, someone else my say the main purpose of school is to prepare students to become responsible citizens. You may agree with a combination of all three of these misleading assumptions.
If the chief purpose of school is to instruct students, this conveys the message that the teacher just gives information to unknowing students hoping they will remember or recognize the material for the test. In this method, textbooks or other medium is used to instruct students, disregarding other modes of learning such as hands on activities. Education should be about getting a student to generate the information from within themselves rather than just feeding the students the information.
The second misleading assumption relies too heavily on economic values which undermines the purpose of schooling. The article gives a good explanation of this by saying “consider what would happen if the primary value or purpose of a publication were to become economic, rather than [to enrich the life of ideas]” (Gerwin and Mitchell). If education was just based on the skills required for student to succeed in the global marketplace, they would not experience the same love and desire for education which is necessary for students to reach their fullest potential.
The last misleading assumption states that education should be used to prepare students to become responsible citizens. This assumption forces certain values of a society on students to conform to what is considered the social norm which wasn’t the original intention of our founding fathers. Thomas Jefferson believed that education should be used to “strengthen the individual against the tyranny of social norms and conventions” (Gerwin and Mitchell). Education should only be pursued for intrinsic values rather than extrinsic rewards so that it doesn’t lose its cultural value.
Teachers need to be flexible when teaching students and make sure that their teaching is appropriate for the developmental age of the child. Preschool children need to learn through physical activity of both free and structured play. It is important for elementary school children to have their imaginations stimulated through storytelling and art projects. Lastly, high school students need to be challenged to think in abstract ways and be encouraged to participate and investigate.
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