42 Purpose
WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF SCHOOL ANYWAY?
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BY: Jennifer Scarce |
LEARNING TARGETS Reader will recognize the social effects of school on a child’s life.
Reader will recognize the intellectual effects of school on a child’s life.
Reader will know when the first school came into existence.
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WHAT IS SCHOOL? 1. an institution where instruction is given, esp. to persons under college age: The children are at school. 2. an institution for instruction in a particular skill or field. 3. a college or university. 4. a regular course of meetings of a teacher or teachers and students for instruction; program of instruction: summer school. 5. a session of such a course: no school today; to be kept after school. 6. the activity or process of learning under instruction, esp. at a school for the young: As a child, I never liked school. 7. one’s formal education: They plan to be married when he finishes school. 8. a building housing a school. 9. the body of students, or students and teachers, belonging to an educational institution: The entire school rose when the principal entered the auditorium. 10. a building, room, etc., in a university, set apart for the use of one of the faculties or for some particular purpose: the school of agriculture(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/School).
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BACKGROUND The first public school came into existence in the mid-nineteenth century. Its founders called it the “common” school. Common schools were funded by local property taxes, charged no tuition, open to all white children, governed by local school committees, and subject to a modest amount of state regulation(Tyack,2001). Students often went to the common school from ages six to fourteen, although this could vary widely. The duration of the school year was often dictated by the agricultural needs of particular communities, with children being off when they would be needed on the family farm(Katz, 1987). Typically, with a small amount of state oversight, each district was controlled by an elected local school board. Traditionally a county school superintendent or regional director was elected to supervise day-to-day activities of several common school districts. Since common schools were locally controlled, and the United States was very rural in the nineteenth century, most common schools were small one-room schools(Kaestle, 1983). Common schools had a single teacher (usually female) and all the students were taught together, regardless of age. Common schools typically taught reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography, and math. Evaluation of students was very varied (from 0-100 grading to no grades at all), but an end-of-the-year recital was a common way that parents were informed about what their children were learning(Cremin,1980).
THE INTELLECTUAL IMPACT OF SCHOOL What’s the purpose of school anyway? This is a question that every child asks at some point in their adolescent years. After all, what is appealing to a child about going to bed early, getti