Donal and I have been thinking about the purpose of Education. That’s the Big-E version. One of the difficulties is coming up with a kind of Unified Field Theory that melds the whole thing together. We appear to use the term to mean different things.
- It’s what we subject our young to from age 4 or 5 to age 16 or so
- It’s a process of acquiring skills, attitudes, and knowledge
- It’s an idealized state of directed learning
For the sake of the argument, let’s specify that the purpose of Education is providing the means for individuals to become - and remain - productive citizens.
It follows we need to define “productive citizen” and I would submit that the phrase means “any member of the social order who is able to provide for his/her own welfare, the welfare of his immediate household, and has sufficient resources left over to contribute a fair share to the public good.” That last bit is what differentiates “citizen” from “any old person who happens to be living here” because it provides the requisite affiliation with the tribe. It gives us the idea that being a member of the group provides benefit but also carries an obligation.
For me, this has some intuitive appeal. Members of my household — wife, kids, assorted hangers on — obtain a benefit from being part of the household and accrue an obligation. There’s work that needs to be accomplished in common. The laundry needs doing. The food must be prepared. Maintenance of the house and grounds is ongoing. Each of us contributes something to the common goal of keeping the household going. Likewise, as a resident of my town, I have an obligation to pay my taxes, keep my sidewalks clear, and obey the ordinances of the municipality. Extending that to a state and national level is a logicial — if not inevitable — step.
Given this idea of reciprocal obligation — the notion that by being a member of my household you can expect some benefit and some obligation — it follows that part of the obligation of the household is to provide the wherewithal for you to satisfy your part of the social contract. We all have to round up the dirty clothes so that one of us can do the laundry. The house needs tools and supplies in order for “productive citizens” to make their contributions to the common weal. Each of us needs to know how to do the things that need doing. My wife has spent years trying to teach me the proper way to vacuum a rug, for example. We are teaching our daughters how to do laundry and how to cook. When we bought a new appliance, we had to teach everybody how to use it. We cannot expect them to contribute if they lack the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to be productive.
And that is exactly what we expect our public Educational institutions to be doing for our citizenry. Education should provide the initial levels of knowledge required to take a place in the social order. Education also needs to provide for “knowledge maintenance” so that individuals have the tools they need to adapt to a changing world.
Since it behooves any social order to maintain a productive citizenry, does it also follow that Education is a Civil Right — as an obligation on the part of society to provide those who live in that society with the means to become productive and effective members?