Skip to main content

`SCHOOL`

What is the purpose of school? On this page, you will find reviews of empirical research, literature on educational philosophy,  case law, state constitutions, and surveys of business/industry that relate to this question.

Dr. Damian Bebell of Boston College and Dr. Steven Stemler of Wesleyan University have developed a model for thinking about school purpose that they call the MIA Model.



In short, this model states that schools should be in charge of defining for themselves what they believe their core purpose to be. Next, the curricular and extracurricular offerings should align with the school mission. Finally, assessments of success should be congruent with the unique mission of the school.

Although schools serve a wide variety of purposes, decades of research has shown that the most commonly mentioned purposes of  K-12 schooling in the United States tend to focus on three core elements:

Civic development
Emotional development
Cognitive development
These are certainly not the only elements that schools mention as core purposes, but they are the most frequently cited. Within the “Competencies” tab of this website, you will find the following information for each of the competencies listed:

Example Mission Statements that focus on the competency
Keywords used to indicate the competency
Organizations that are focused on developing the competency in students
Psychometrically sound measures for assessing the competency
These resources may be especially useful for those tasked with  revising their school mission statement and those grappling with how to demonstrate, via assessment, whether the school is succeeding in achieving its educational mission.





https://wesleyan.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_40KpaawGBmFBRzv

Blog
Creativity
Purpose of School Survey
Find out your own beliefs about the purpose of school by taking our brief, 5 minute survey

Historical Purposes of Schooling
Professor Steven Stemler of Wesleyan University briefly discusses how the primary purposes of schooling have shifted over time.
Featured School Leader
James Steckart, Head of the THINK Global School, discusses the Mission Deconstruction Activity and explains how it can be a powerful tool for educators.
Quotations

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The “I” and “My” by George Herbert Mead: A Reflective Essay by: Lourenzo Manimtim

            The “I” and “Me” and the Generalized others, of George Herbert Mead, focuses on the effects of the significant others in the development of our perception of the self. In contrast to the study of Charles Cooley, where he believed that the other people are the ones that play a significant role on how we view our selves. Mead instead focused on the significant others, the significant people that may influence to our perception of the self and how those people thoughts of us changes across the lifespan. The special people which Mead refers are the closest people to us, most especially our family, relatives, peers and even your loved one. Mead’s theory highlights the effect of the significant others, their influence in our life to what they expect us to become. In this theory of the social self, we will understand the views, thoughts and expectations of society had of us and how it affects the development of our self. “I” is the individual...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE FILIPINO DEMOCRACY | By: Lourenzo Manimtim

  THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE FILIPINO DEMOCRACY   By: Lourenzo Manimtim The state of the nation depends on states of citizens, and a nation is governed by leaders and the leaders are elected by the citizens. It is not a very big surprise to see usual the political situation of the Philippines, shown in the media are the rampant cases of corruption, incompetence of leaders, violence, and greed.   Most politicians operate by their own interests, primarily the traditional politicians, the large and corrupt big political families that rule the power and government in our country. And many of these families are fat dynasties, with their greed of power and wealth they leech and drain the country of its resources. But aside from the fat dynasties, there also other ordinary politicians that use their power for their own interests. But amidst the current situation we cannot take for granted that there are also good politicians that loyally serves and loves their country and the socie...
Post a Comment
Read more

The State of Rights and Democracy in the Strongman’s War on Drugs

  The State of Rights and Democracy in the Strongman’s War on Drugs A Reflection Paper by Lourenzo Manimtim               “If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, holdup men, and do-nothings, you better get out because I'll kill you.” (Human Rights Watch, Conde, 2017)             On May 9, 2016, the former president said those words beginning the herald of the campaign against illegal drugs— The “War on Drugs”. Not too long since words were spoken death and misery have spiked in the country in the first six (6) months of his presidency— the administration has led to an unprecedented number of killings (Rapper, 2016). Many people were killed, and many were slain in this bloody and brutal war. Reminiscence of this wretched memory still lingers in the minds of the people. The rampant cases and detrimental brea...
Post a Comment
Read more