1. Aims and Purposes
in Education
Alison Hardy

2. Some quotations
• “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can
use to change the world.” (Nelson Mandela)
• “Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting
of a fire.” (W.B. Yeats)
• “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you
were to live forever.” (Gandhi)
• “Education is not a preparation for life; education is life
itself.” (John Dewey)
• “The task of the modern educator is not to cut down
jungles, but to irrigate deserts.“ (C.S. Lewis)
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3. What is education?
Defining education 1
„education implies that something worthwhile
is being or has been intentionally
transmitted in a morally acceptable
manner‟
Peters (1966) in Matheson (2008) page 2.
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4. Intentionally and the „something‟
True or false?
•Education = What is being learnt is intentionally
learnt
•Not education = What is learnt unintentionally
does not count
•Knowledge is:
– Knowing how to do something (procedural knowledge)
– Knowing that certain things are true or exist (prepositional
knowledge)
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5. Transmission
• Passing from one to another: teacher to pupil?
• Has the pupil received what has been transmitted?
Do you agree with these statements? Where would you
stand on a continuum?
1. „I (your teacher) know something you don‟t. You will only
find it out by me telling you.‟ (implied in Peters‟ definition)
1. „I (your teacher) facilitate your learning and discovery, your
personal growth is central to your education‟ Friere (1972)
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6. Worthwhile or worthless knowledge?
• Who decides?
• Do I decide what I want or what I need to know?
• Who is „I‟? The individual or society?
„Our view, not only of the society we have now, but also of the society
we want to have, is critical in determining educationally worthwhile
knowledge and in determining what counts as knowledge at all.‟
Matheson (2008) p.5
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7. What is education for?
Draw a timeline of your educational experiences.
Include key points which have shaped your definition of formal
education.
Think about how your value of education has changed over your
timeline:
• Did you value education differently when you were aged 4, 14, ….?
• What did you think education was for at different points on your
timeline?
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8. Defining education 2
„It is unquestionably the function of education to
enable people, individual human beings, to
operate at their fullest potential, to equip them
with the tools and the sense of opportunity to use
their wits, skills and passions to the fullest.
The counterpart to this is that the function of
education is (also) to reproduce the culture that
supports it – not only reproduce it, but further its
economic, political and cultural ends.‟
Bruner, J. (1996). The Culture of Education. Harvard University Press
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9. Two fundamental questions
1) What do you think are some of the main
purposes (or aims) of education?
(Consider this question in its broadest sense, not just in
relation to schools or other „educational institutions‟)
2) More specifically, what are schools for? Why
do we send children to school?
(Concentrate on those things that are different to your
answers to Q1)
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10. A (former) government‟s view
To help pupils to:
• develop lively, enquiring minds, the ability to question and
argue rationally and to apply themselves to tasks and
physical skills;
• acquire knowledge and skills relevant to adult life and
employment in a fast changing world;
• use language and number effectively;
• have respect for religious and moral values, and tolerance of
other races, religions and ways of life;
• understand the world in which they live, and the
interdependence of individuals, groups and nations;
• appreciate human achievements and aspirations.
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11. „The fundamental purposes of education‟?
• To develop and maintain physical and mental health.
• To develop competency in the fundamental tools of learning (the 3 R's)
• To think critically and act responsibly.
• To develop and strengthen home and family life.
• To respect, understand, and live well with others.
• To develop moral and spiritual values.
• To understand and to cope with the physical world.
• To grow in appreciation of the arts and in desire and ability to express
oneself creatively through various media.
• To develop interest and skill in worthwhile leisure-time activities.
• To develop understanding of and respect for the cultural heritage.
• To develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and understanding
essential for earning a living.
• To develop consumer effectiveness.
• To appreciate the duties, responsibilities, and privileges of citizenship.
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12. ‘Some say that education should…
…promote the growth of understanding for its own sake.
Others that it should help each child to develop his
potentialities to the full. Some see „individuality‟ or „personal
autonomy‟ as of first importance. Some believe in all-round
development, in a balance between the arts and the
sciences; others put more emphasis on excellence within
specialisms. Others again, speak of the needs of society, of
ensuring a literate and numerate workforce, or an intelligent
participatory democracy. Some stress art and culture,
others moral character: the list of aims is endless.‟
White, J. (1982). The Aims of Education Restated. London: Routledge
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13. References
Bartlett, S. and Burton, D. (2010), Introduction to Education Studies
(2nd edition). London: Sage
Bruner, J. (1996). The Culture of Education. Harvard University Press
Matheson, D. (ed) (2008), An Introduction to the Study of Education.
London: Routledge
White, J. (1982). The Aims of Education Restated. London: Routledge
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14. Self Directed Study
Before:
• Bartlett, S., 2007, Introduction to Education Studies (2nd ed.).
London: Sage Publications. Chapter 2: The nature of education.
• Matheson, D., 2008, An introduction to the study of education (3rd
ed.). London: David Fulton. Chapter 1: What is education? Chapter
2: Ideology in education in the United Kingdom.
After:
• Bartlett ch. 4: A modern history of schooling.
• Matheson ch. 12: A brief history of state intervention in British
schooling
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