19 Responses to “The Purpose of Education is…”

1. Alfonso Gonzalez
   February 3rd, 2012 @ 2:25 pm

   I almost missed the sublty of it! I get overwhelmed or bogged down or something like that over the how. so many ways, so many different types of learners. Oh my.

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2. Chad@classroots.org
   February 3rd, 2012 @ 3:33 pm

   David – every time I hear those words and/or participate in a hack jam, I feel that same thunder. Thank you for reflecting so eloquently on the experience and its impact.

   What kind of playful learning have you seen out there lately?

   While I would dig working with the SLA crew, I work for a Virginia charter school – the Community Public Charter School, in Albemarle County, that is extremely diggable in its own right. I will work on improving my introduction at the next hack jam ;)

   All the best,
   C

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3. Laura
   February 3rd, 2012 @ 3:49 pm

   Wish I’d been at that session–sounds fun. I’m not sure we’re even making software. Because, to use your analogy. Programmer = student = learner. Teacher = student = learner. Therefore Teacher = programmer. Is that last syllogism always true? Even if it is, it implies, I guess that they’re making software to used by others. If, however, teachers are not learners themselves, they might just be part of the program or just using the program. Which is kind of an ugly thought.

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   David Warlick reply on February 3rd, 2012:

   @Laura, Point well made, Laura. So what you’re saying is that we’re all part of one big piece of “bugie” software.

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   Elizabeth Sky-McIlvain reply on February 13th, 2012:

   @Laura, I wrote the same thing yesterday, but not nearly so concisely! “We” need to be more aware of our role as programmers in re those who will replace us, not just of our students.

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4. Carl Anderson
   February 3rd, 2012 @ 5:58 pm

   David,

   I think I forgot to send you a link to the mini-interview I did with you this summer at ISTE when I asked you what the purpose of school was. Here it is: http://youtu.be/mxeMF2QEZpg

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5. David Wees
   February 3rd, 2012 @ 7:19 pm

   I attended Chad and Meenoo’s Hackjam at ISTE last year and loved it. I used the Hackasaurus tool and checked out Bill Gates’ tweets and edited them, then took a screen-shot. See http://davidwees.com/content/hacking-bill-gates-what-i-wish-he-was-tweeting

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6. Event Notes « CoLearners
   February 5th, 2012 @ 2:21 pm

   [...] want to add another one here. I recently wrote a blog article where I claimed that our job is not merely to prepare our children for their future. It is to [...]

7. Maryann Molishus
   February 5th, 2012 @ 6:39 pm

   Not only should we prepare children to own their future, we should allow them to own their present. Don’t just train them, give them the Thimble and allow them to play – for real. (ps – I’m always the Scottie Dog.)

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8. Aaron
   February 6th, 2012 @ 4:19 am

   Who are the programmers then? Wall Street? Corporate Execs? The bureaucracy? Teachers? We can, if we wish, write our own program and we don’t have to be a programmer to do that. This is what we should be teaching our kids…

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9. Mary Pat
   February 12th, 2012 @ 6:20 pm

   David-

   I loved your thoughts on are we making programmers or are we making software? It actually reminded me of one of my favorite quotes : “You can give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime”. Your ideas are a modern version of this quote, I believe. I suppose we could add another dimension to the quote: “teach a man to analyze his catch, build the most effective boat and gear, and he feed the world”. The more tools we can give students, the more prepared they will be to determine their own future. Technology definitely plays a role in that future-we have to use it (as pointed out in your example) to teach students to think outside the box and problem solve, so children have choices and are prepared for their future. Students should be allowed to “play” and explore.

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10. Blog Post 2…The purpose of education… | marypatk
    February 12th, 2012 @ 6:57 pm

    [...] The Purpose of Education is… : 2¢ Worth [...]

11. Rob
    February 19th, 2012 @ 11:58 am

    Very, very interesting ideas, Dave. I think what you’ve nailed here is what the purpose of education ‘Should’ be, not what it necessarily ‘Is’. It’s all too easy for us to create ‘software’ through our education systems- it’s what they were geared toward after all- the factory systems. Thus, outdated as they are, we’re still producing far more’software’, than ‘programmers’. This is what we’re doing at the moment- helping people to move forward with their education without merely producing ‘software’- after all, if we all become software, after a generation…nothing will happen!

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12. Hacking the Math Curriculum | Gerald W. Aungst
    February 26th, 2012 @ 5:05 am

    [...] Although I hadn’t attended their ses­sion at Educon, I read a few Twit­ter and blog posts by oth­ers who did, after which I promptly began kick­ing myself for [...]

13. jasonalonzo
    February 27th, 2012 @ 3:36 pm

    What a great blog! Education should train students into practical aspects of life not just the traditional 4 corners of classroom. Technical training, retraining, tutoring (brampton tutoring) will help people prepare for post college life.

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14. Anita Sen
    March 17th, 2012 @ 6:37 pm

    “Education is backbone of the nation”

    I have also the same questions. Who are the programmers then? Wall Street? Corporate Execs? The bureaucracy? Teachers? We can, if we wish, write our own program and we don’t have to be a programmer to do that. This is what we should be teaching our kids…

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15. Jimmy Gause
    May 17th, 2012 @ 8:36 pm

    I feel that it is our right as citizens of the United States to educate our children. But it is also a responsibility for anyone in the community such as parents, teachers, law officers, and any other adult citizen. School is the stepping stone for our kids to be successful in our community. The more educated our students get will be one more person contributing to the success of our great country. Many educators will push their students to be successful through hard work. When a student grows into adulthood they will fall back on the teachings of teachers and parents. So when our students fall in the rough spot they will know to keep moving forward no matter the obstacle.

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16. Duane Swacker
    June 28th, 2012 @ 10:37 am

    What is the primary goal of public education? And where can it be found?
    To answer the second question first, in each state’s constitution in the article that authorizes public education. So in essence there are 50 different goals/purposes although I suspect that they are similar in nature to what Missouri’s constitution has to say: Article IX, subsection 1a: “A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, the general assembly shall establish and maintain free public schools for the gratuitous instruction of all persons in this state within ages not in excess of twenty-one years as prescribed by law.”
    I’ll let you decide what “A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people. . .” means. But I do not see anything about “preparing students to assume the responsibilities of citizenship”-whatever those “responsibilities” may be. We have assumed a purpose that may or may not be in concert with what the constitution says so I have concerns with these mission statements that go beyond the basic purpose as delineated in the constitution.
    Now the “prescribed by law” part can be a problem in that some laws made may be unconstitutional, e.g., segregated schools. And I believe that when we sort and separate students using grades and standardized tests to name a couple of nefarious practices, some of whom then receive rewards funded by the state-scholarships, special treatment, awards, etc. . . , or vice versa, are sanctioned, not getting scholarships, held back, not given a diploma but a certificate of attendance, etc. . . , then we, the public schools are discriminating against a certain class of student, those who through no fault of their own (in essence like skin color) don’t “live up to the standards”. And in doing so we are contravening the fundamental purpose of education and causing harm to some students

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17. Classroots.org - Making time for storytelling and play at EduCon 2.5
    January 13th, 2013 @ 1:08 pm

    [...] please do stop by to play! David Warlick offered his thoughts on last year’s experience here. And here’s David: David Warlick Hacking [...]

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