August 26…Labaree’s Competing Purposes of Schools
Are there any major purposes of schooling left out by Labaree? What do you make of his conclusion (Is there any hope to push back against the predominant notion of education as a private good?)?
Nov. 18...Working on Questions for Interviews
Below is a list of some of the big ideas we have wrestled with over the course of the semester. Keep in mind that our goal is to find out how practicing educators are thinking about some of this stuff. Post a suggested interview question based on one of the big ideas . Note: try to ask a question that will put the interviewee at ease and make it more likely that they will open up (example: instead of asking "How do you deal with ethical dilemmas?", you could ask, "Can you describe a time when, as a teacher, you weren't; sure what the right thing to do was? How did you decide how to proceed?" · How to instill diversity within curriculum · How public schooling has changed over the years. · Multiculturalism · Progressive v. traditional teaching/schooling ·...
Labaree's views on the purpose of schools and education, to me at least, seem to be quite cynical. I think a major purpose of education that Labaree left out is the opportunity to expand one's mind and to gain knowledge and insight that one otherwise could not. Maybe my own view is naive in it's own right, but I believe that education is more powerful than Labaree made it seem. Education gives the power of empathy and critical thinking to all those who wish to receive it, the importance of which are impossible to quantify, yet are wholly necessary to human development. Education is not, or at least should not be a good, be it public or private; it should be worth more than any good could possibly be. However, I think there certainly is hope of changing the notion of education being a private good and I think the first step towards that change is recognizing the true power and potential education has in promoting a brighter future.
ReplyDeleteThis was Lindsey...
DeleteLabaree makes some logical points, however, I agree with another comment posted in the blog that discusses his cynical view. I don’t completely agree with the statement that “education is deficient at carrying out any of its goals effectively,” because I personally believe that education is the reason why we’re able to continue advancing as a society. A major purpose of school that wasn’t mentioned in the summary would be the socialization aspect that one can gain through the interaction of peers in school. Children need to learn communication and social skills to be able to interact adaptively and effectively with others. Reading social cues, learning how to empathize, and many other social skills are important abilities that children are able to pick up in the classroom. I believe that there is hope to push back against the notion of education as a private good, but educators and parents need to be aware of this ideology in order to combat it.
ReplyDeleteLabaree did a good job narrowing down the American education system to three main goals, however I don't think the purposes for education end with his three points. Labaree's views focused more about the student becoming a working, capable adult, and while I do think that is important, I also believe there are other important reasons to receive a proper education. I agree with what Keiana said about school being a place to socialize and gaining communication skills. Labaree also left out the importance of having a daily routine. There have been numerous studies regarding the benefits to your mind and body of having a daily routine, such as waking up around the same time every morning, and going to bed around the same time every night is just one example of keeping your mind healthy. I do believe that there is hope to push back against the notion of education as a private good, but it would require hard work and mindfullness from educators as well as students.
ReplyDeleteThis is Hannah!
DeleteLabree did a wonderful job discussing the current education system in this country into 3 points. However, I do believe there more into this than just those specific what he narrowed down. He is claiming that education is great for socializing, being able to move yourself up to the ladder of social mobility. Those are wonderful points however, I believe education contains something we call in sociology the hidden curriculum. It is not only to help us learn how to socialize, but also teaches us things about our world such as manners, morals and how to make friends. It’s not only about job areas. School doesn’t only teach us math, but also how to be forgiving and kind.
ReplyDeleteI think laborer is did a good job discussing the education in our country in 3 points, but the feel like there are defiently more than three ponits. I also agree that his thining was very cynical. He wanted the main purpose of education to be about being able to find work once you are done, that is not always the case. Another important reason is to get a good and proper education. Education is a very powerful thing and it help society grow everyday and expands the minds of the younger generations to provide a better future. One also learn how to socialize and communication skills to help them get a job and succeed in life.
ReplyDeleteI think that Laboree has written a well-thought out and respectable article, and describes the American education system into 3 major points pretty well. However, I think that the power and the impact of the American Education system is somewhat downplayed. While finding work and preparing for the 'real world' is very important, I think that we can take away so much more from our schooling that that.I have to branch off of what Mustafa said, that there is a "hidden curriculum" and school isn't just ABC'S and 123's in a sense. As students, even from the time of Kindergarten, we have learned not only academics but social skills, empathy, understanding, respect, proper communication tactics, learning how to build groups and friendships, among many other lifelong skills. I love what Alexis mentioned above; that "education is a very powerful thing and helps society grow everyday'. Education is so much more than preparing the work force and benefiting society economically. We as individuals and humans learn so much that is valuable that isn't "academic".
ReplyDelete- Tirzah
I think that Labaree had good arguments and ideas on his 3 main points that we could benefit from to an extent. However, I agree his views become very cynical and that there is a 'hidden curriculum' like Mustafa and Tirzah stated. I think education helps children grow as individuals and as decision makers aside from teaching mathematics, science, history, and english. We should not be teaching students how to become laborers but instead show them the characteristics they have and can develop (good communicators. organizational skills, perseverance, respectfulness, etc.) that would help their careers in the long run.
ReplyDelete-Sierra
DeleteI believe there are purposes of education left out by Labaree, one of which being the ability to better understand oneself. Through education we are able to learn about: our personal interests, beliefs, values, dislikes, limitations, and personalities. Obviously there are other ways in which we can learn more about ourselves but in our society, education is a gateway for attaining knowledge about the world which in return hopefully gives us knowledge about ourselves. When we better understand ourselves as social beings we can also learn about/from others. Education provides a platform to learn about ourselves and others through social interactions. As a former preschool teacher, I saw first hand the importance of children learning through social interactions. With this age group we focus a great deal on positive, healthy social interactions which they carry with them throughout their lives.
ReplyDeleteI think there is hope to push back against the notion of education as a private good but it would be extremely challenging to create the change. If we could "level the playing field" within socioeconomic status', we could potentially decrease inequalities within social mobility. The issue is that children with lower socioeconomic status have less opportunities and poorer school systems. They begin at a disadvantage compared to their peers therefore it is difficult to attain credentials through social mobility or even gain knowledge. We would need to restructure our education system in a way that promotes democratic equality as well as the interests and abilities of the child.
I believe Labaree's the three points were pretty valid. Not meaning that the goal of education is limited to those three objectives but Labaree's three points did a good job summing it up shortly. Going off some of the above statements, I would actually say that the hidden curriculum would be the 3 points that were discussed in the article. The reason I say that is because when you look at the school system prospectively, teachers aren't directly teaching student how to be a good civilian in a democracy, nor do they teach them how to be a trained worker that could transfer job to job without further training. Instead, teachers and the school system provides structure, like said above, having a daily routine is actually a healthy habit and serves benefits to the individual, which ultimately could serve benefits to the society. In addition, teachers directly teach core skills that are needed and expected of individuals once they are out in society. For example, teaching students how to carry out a conversation professionally and respectively, responsibility, reliability, healthy social setting, collaborative work skills and they also provide students with skills of critical thinking/analyzing and a foundation of knowledge that enhances their abilities to comfortably live in our society. With all that being provided to students through the schooling system, conclusively the ends lead back to the three points the Labaree elaborated on. I do believe that there is hope to push back against the notion that education is a private good because in the end, to push forward, it takes a society not an individual.
ReplyDeleteE. Patron
DeleteCarrington:
ReplyDeleteLabaree's focus of education was less about individualism and how students can benefit from attending school in order to form relationships. Instead, his ideals were based on education as way for students to develop skills to become workers. However, I believe that education is not only to be prepared for the workforce, but to expand one's horizon of knowledge and creativity. One of the focal points of Labaree's conclusion was comparing how school have similarities to the a work environment in regards to promotion to the next grade and status of job. I think that there is hope to change views of education as a private good, only accessible to those who can afford it. To the realization that access to education should not be limited based on one's environment and/or circumstances.
Kurt here: z/fkmjzdlfgmjzdfl/gjzdfl/adf/lnk
ReplyDeleteLabree gave three interesting points about the education system. I see how all three goals coexist in education and how they could each determine how our society functions as a whole dependent upon which one of these three ideas is more prominent. The education system definitely prepares students for the outside world and how to be a productive member of society but also does so much. Education teaches students ways to show empathy, feel apart of a community, develop a sense of belonging, give love, show respect, how to deal with emotions, and so many other important ideas that shape people. The education system literally helps develop a student into a complex person who learns social skills, communication skills and how to self sustain a happy life. Education is so much more than economic benefits.
ReplyDeleteSandy:
ReplyDeleteI believe that the three points Labree mentioned are all reasonable and all play a huge part in the educational system. But they are not the only purposes for education. The education system teaches students important social and emotional skills that will also help them get and keep a job later on. Skills including self-control, decision making skills, social awareness, and so many more. You could be the smartest person, but if you don’t know how to get along with people then that knowledge won’t do you any good. While I think that the economy benefits are important, children learning the necessary skills that make them individuals is way more important.
I think Labree's three points about education are valid and reasonable but I believe that there are more than those three points. Labree says that education is more preparing the students for the work force but I think education is much more than that. For many children, school is where they learn a lot of social interaction. They learn about core values like being honest, responsible, and being respectful. Children also learn how to make decisions, learn communication skills, show off their creativity. I think we should show children that education is more than just going out into the work force, but it's a mix of that and teaching them how to be good citizens in the world.
ReplyDeleteBefore doing this reading, I would have never thought to classify the purpose of education in such a way. When looking throughout history, it is easy to see what purpose of education was pushed and when it was pushed. Though Labaree is well written and well thought out, I think there is a little bit more to the picture. With him not being an educator, I can understand how he missed information. To me, education has always been about making connections to people and the world around you; to find a place that you fit. Education gives people the opportunity to look at themselves without rose-colored glasses. While I take a more optimistic view than Labaree, I understand why Labaree has classified education in such a way.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure if there’s hope for education not to be a private good. I can see where push back is happening, but I haven’t seen it go anywhere. Too many people are satisfied with the way things are. Education should be accessible to all. Yet there are kids in poor families getting far inferior education than kids who are wealthy. These children have no say in where they go to school, and a lot of their lives will be determined by the quality of the education they get. It isn’t fair, yet many people fail to realize it.
Labaree argues that the main goals for American education is equality which will contribute to the public good, social efficiency which contributes to the public good, and to facilitate social mobility. I personally think that although American education originated with these main purposes, the value of higher education and public schools has evolved. I would agree that education is not only a way for children to learn academics, but also emotional regulation, social, leadership, and conflict resolution in settings that will be applicable in the work force. I would also argue that although Labaree argues that education aims to train and prepare children for the workforce, it does not address the practical skills that are required in certain trades. However, I think that general education is important in regards to holding teachers accountable and ensuring that all students have access to the same material regardless of experiences.
ReplyDeleteKate Sulek
DeleteLabree's three points of education were solely focused on how the institutional aspect of education plays a role on the individual receiving and experiencing the education. He focuses in on the external purposes, such as the mobility, economic, and equality aspects of education. It almost seems like he leaves out the whole social purpose of education. What I mean by social is how education serves as a purpose in each individual internally as well as externally in regards to social situations. There is a huge social purpose for education. Without the educational setting, humans would not be as efficient, intelligent, and self aware as majority of the population is today. We learn a lot from an educational setting and the knowledge we obtain from the educational background isn't from the curriculum we are lectured and taught on. We learn things from our classmates everyday which then shapes individuals into the student they are striving to me. The purposes that Labree has developed are logical to a sense and can definitely be applied to the educational system we have today, but I believe they aren't as valuable as the human purpose is to the educational society. As far as the enforcement and reassurance of these purposes listed, I believe that we should focus more on the social purpose of education and how we can improve in the internal aspect of education. Internal meaning how education effects each individual socially.
ReplyDeleteLabree focuses mainly on how educational systems should be focused on promoting and applying equality, efficiency and mobility. He proposes that these three are necessary in an american education system to promote a better American economic system. Democratic equality focuses on the individual in school. He states that educating the individual will produce a better citizen. This in turn promotes a better society. In American history, and well into today, there is a struggle between the classes, between races, and between ethnicities. Labree's aim and focus is to provide a uniform education in american schoolings in order to promote a general sense of unity. In that there is no difference between the educated american citizen. Also, Education is required for better social efficeincy. Schools should provide the tools that are necessary for society in that time. He also focuses on how the individual can better himself or have himself be better off. Something that I can say he probably left out is maybe the focus on values. The different values that schooling and education can provide that dont neccesarily have to do with the workforce. Basically the outcomes of education besides the workforce and the good of society. More so the psychological effects of the person themselves.
ReplyDeleteLabaree discusses three important goals for education in the U.S. These three goals encompass the idea that education should be able to provide its students with the appropriate resources and learning that propels them to become model citizens and prosper. In addition to this, Labaree proposes that education should also involve certain teaching that aids students in acquiring soft and hard skills that could be potentially be transferred to various jobs. Lastly, Labaree also points out that education serves as a private good and provides individuals with the opportunity to better themselves financially. Nonetheless, Labaree fails to mention that quality education is highly contingent upon effective teaching methods and curriculum set forth by teachers and leaders within the school systems. If instructors utilize effective teaching methods that allow students to engage in meaningful learning and promote useful techniques such as critical thinking skills, then students are likely to be high in self-efficacy and develop an internal locus of control and be motivated to perform better.
ReplyDeleteMary Kate Harrison - I believe that Labaree has more of an institutionalized or factory-like view of public schooling. Labaree defines education as being driven by three factors that aim to produce good citizens. I do not disagree with these three points, but I also do not believe it stops there. A major aspect of being a functioning citizen in society to me, is freedom of thought and choice. Public education allows children expand their knowledge through multiple subjects while also inducing them into social situations that allow them to grow. This happens every day in an educational setting and I think this allows for students to develop their own conscious and code of ethics. This is a very strong supporter to my next point, that is I fully believe there is hope to push against the notion of education being a private good. However, generations of youthful free thinkers and change makers are still in school. For a system that is so institutionalized now by demographics that have been making the final decisions on private goods for so long, the only thing I truly think is necessary is time. There have already been many campaigns to reconstruct public education and I think the students currently experiencing it now, will be the best vehicles for change in the future.
ReplyDeleteEmma:
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Labaree's 3 main points for what education is in America. I believe that school is meant to prepare students for the workforce and real world. However, I also believe that school helps a child's development. They learn skills that they apply not only in the workforce, but it the real world as well. What's considered a good education now might not be the same as the past as well. There are so many things you can do after school and I think that schools should prepare those students as well
Sophia:
ReplyDeleteLabaree covers the major purposes of schooling well, for the most part I think they are accurate. To a degree I would say that parental pressure is a purpose of schooling on the part of the student, however that pressure is based on the parents want for their child to have social mobility. In other words there is an argument to be made that parental pressure could be included in social mobility as a reason for education. His conclusion that students today are distinguished by grades and the courses are to general is spot on in my experience. Our entire society is based on this idea that the only goal in life is to have the highest paying job. When I tell people I want to be a teacher the most common reaction is something along the lines of "You're signing up for a life of poverty." it no longer matters in our society if you love what you're doing it matters how much you get paid to do that. the vast majority of those high paying jobs are obtained by having good grades and going to good schools. Which means that the pressure to get the grades and go to the good schools begins earlier and earlier every year because parents want their kids to do better than they did which at present means be smarter. The issue of our mobility oriented education system can't be fixed by the educator but rather the society as a whole, because if a teacher stopped placing the importance on grades parents would move their kids and schools wouldn't want the teacher. In my opinion we are beginning to see the shift away from this mobility system with the rise in art programs and less standardized tests, but we have a long way to go until mobility isn't our goal.
Michelle Miguel: Labaree explains three main concepts in the education system in the USA. These three main concepts deliberate the education well. However, I do believe there is more to public schooling, this is where children begin to acquire social skills, leadership, enrich character, and how to express their emotions. Although, public education proposes equal opportunity for everyone, I don't think that is fully true. There are many children who are not receiving equal education due to their socioeconomic or location of housing. It's really a domino effect, because then [good] teachers reframe from teaching in locations where there is lack of resource or poorer areas which then affects the children from having a better education.
ReplyDeleteLabaree says that education is ran by three main factors. Although I do believe these factors are important, I don't think they are the only purposes of education. I believe education is also about emotional regulation, social, leadership, and conflict resolution and not only academics, as many people have mentioned already.
ReplyDeleteMadison Bray:
ReplyDeleteI think that Labaree did a good job when looking at education in this country, however there are things about those points that can't be just overlooked when looking at schooling and education, such as schools actions or inactions. I don't think that Labaree gives the schools enough credit, not the school systems or the boards of schools but the individual schools themselves. Individual schools, teachers, and administration may not necessarily be awkward with the balance between what we think society is and what we hope that society will be. I think that there wasn't enough put into the idea that school and going to school can help to develop students in ways that aren't just intellectually based but also socially, diverse thinking, and just overall widening the horizons of students that take them outside their little social bubbles that they had grown up with.
Labaree did a good job of expressing some very different ideas, though I do feel that he has a very cynical outlook on schooling.
ReplyDeleteHis three potential goals of public schooling are very interesting to think about, though "shaping society," or "teaching students what they need so that they have social mobility" are much nicer to think about than "bending children into what society requires" is.
He does mention many of the good things that schools do, but he tends to overshadow that with a much bleaker perspective. Additionally, he doesn't seem to do much justice to the parts of schooling that can't necessarily be quantified of measured. You can keep track of where graduated students go, for example, but can you really measure their social skills? You can't really put a value on "cooperation," but cooperation is definitely something students learn in schools. Students learn how to resolve disagreements, how to be a leader, how to be a group participant, how to understand and cope with their emotions, and many other things inside a school.
Labaree's detached, clinical outlook doesn't seem to really do justice to the emotional side of schools. These intrinsically humanistic values don't culminate in a degree or a certificate or a set of grades for a school to publish; however, if students never learned these things, there is no doubt the world would be a vastly different place, and it would be a change for the worse. We are lucky to have public schools. In many cases, they are where children are taught how to be good people.
This is Zoha by the way, sorry about that! I thought my name was in the post
DeleteLabaree made great points, he organized the goals and purposes of education and as each goal is moving up into its own right , its possible to pursue many goals as you can. The goal of democratic equality is from the idea that education is the bedrock of the democracy and our schools have the community members, and citizens guarantee the existence for our nation.
ReplyDelete-Nadia
I do agree with Labree’s three points, however I do not think that education ends at those three points. When a student is learning at school, it should go beyond the subject matter. When a student completes their education they should have a feeling of accomplishment, a better understanding of themselves, and be feel as if they are that much closer to becoming their own person. Preparation for the work force is very important. In the eyes of a future special educator, I am aware that some of my future students will be focusing on preparation for work as opposed to standardized testing, but it’s not about just making money. These students are working on being as independent as they possibly can, they are working on proving to themselves that they are capable of doing something by themselves and for themselves. A feeling of independence is far beyond getting a driver’s license or being able to annotate a chapter. It is not just learning definitions and preparing for one job for the rest of their lives. It’s learning that the limits someone thinks they have are not where they think they are. That every person is apart of way more than just a test score or a statistic.
ReplyDeleteI think Labaree did a good job at covering the main of goals of what education should be. I think it is very important to think about how education benefits everyone as a society, but I also think an important part of education is how it benefits the student individually, which is something Labraree didn't really touch on too much. It is definitely important to think about how education affects the entire community, but in order for it to help society, it must first help the student individually.
ReplyDeleteIn Labaree's conclusion, I think he makes very good points about how contradicting the educational system is. I don't really see any change happening in regards to education being a private good. The people that are in charge are satisfied with the ropes of how things work, so there doesn't seem to be much hope in that area.