Sometimes it feels that its sole function is as a glorified baby-sitting service! Somewhere for parents to know their kids are safe, whilst they go to work, or indeed, anything else they feel like doing of a daytime.
Genuinely though, I think the purpose of SCHOOL is to equip youngsters with the knowledge to succeed in life, be it academically or socially.
But education is so much more than just school. I believe that we never stop learning just by living, and that some of us actively seek out new things to learn constantly. I learn every day. I learn from the children at school, I learn from the adults at school, I learn from my own child, my family, the TV, the computer. I learn from my Master's degree course.
I learn because I want to learn. I am hungry for knowledge, to KNOW. If I don't know something, I know how to find it out.
Maybe this leads us back to the purpose of education (albeit school education) - to learn the ability to KNOW how to find something out for oneself!
Yesterday, I recieved the book 'Purpos/ed' (pictured below). It's a crowd-sourced collection of short essays (500 words), written by people I admire in the world of education about their view of the purpose of education. People who are also hungry to learn, but also to teach. I am very much looking forward to reading it!
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