Essay Sample on Education: Leading Out to Enhance Society

Introduction

The term education has its origin from the word e-ducere, which denotes "to lead out." It can be defined as the interactive procedure via which an individual develops the cognitive competencies to think, examine, solve problems, incorporate new information with previous experiences, and achieved knowledge. Its main role is to establish a society of individuals with the ability to live together and morally and critically think to enhance the current situation in the present environment. It also aims to equip every person with the competencies they require to be productive and prosperous in modern society and attain their lives' goals. Therefore, since the aim of education is twofold in such a manner that it intends to serve people and society at the same time, there exist various theoretical, ideological, and philosophical claims that tend to both support and challenge my views about it. Thus, in this essay, I will display some of such claims that are against and in favor of my views to create a comprehensive argument concerning what is education and its purpose. In general, this paper will show my position about education, as well as its purposes, do not originate from historical occurrences, models, ideology, or philosophy, but rather, it is a mixture of the most efficient practices and lessons derived from various fields. Although practically and in a real scenario, it is hard to establish such a combination and in most cases needs refurbishing and adjusting, some believe that trying to develop a quality system of education should initially start with a grand vision

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Philosophical Arguments

Most philosophers have dealt with the concepts surrounding education, stating their philosophical claims to form a strong standpoint on education. Though such claims vary greatly from each other and my position, there is a mutual stance that all observe education as important for both the society and the individual. For example, there are various moral senses tied to the main purpose of education. This denotes that knowledge ought to be utilized for both the improvement and good of society. To ensure that knowledge is effectively applied to the improvement of society, education must develop people with the capacity to succeed in systems of society, collaborate, and co-exist with other people since this is present world individuals are living. Besides, the pragmatist philosophies inclined towards the democratic group work best to back this claim. They articulate that teachers should include social experience in their teaching guidelines to allow students to recognize how to work in cooperation and contribute positively to society (Neuber, 2019). Pragmatism also varies from realism in terms of believing that reality is continually changing. It, however, overlaps with realism in backing my theory in its claims that the field of research, as well as skills gained via these surveys, ought not to exists in isolation, and they should be useful in reality and relations with other individuals (Neuber, 2019). For example, problem-solving competencies should be transferrable, while disciplines should be grouped. Schunk (2012) supports that skills, knowledge, and texts cannot exist in a vacuum in the brains of learners. Nevertheless, he states that the true definition of education stipulates that students should use their skills and knowledge to handle various situations via experimental studies. Therefore, this tends to prepare students not only for future careers but also for their daily living.

However, one of the philosophical claims that may back my view is that of existentialism. With respect to education, existentialism maintains that freedom and choice of a student are the key factors of concentration (Hicks, 2013). It also holds that education should concentrate on the individual. Besides, its supporters trust that in people's absence, the external world has no denotation (Hicks, 2013). Thus, they do not stress on morality and science since reality lies within humans. These views, however, are contrary to my stance on education as the procedure through which learners develop key competencies, that permits them to be both democratic and productive society's member. With respect to this stance, the school may not be all about individuals or choice; rather, it should encompass learning concerning working with people and relating to the personal environment. People cannot survive in space or isolation, and the only way to derive education is through individual thinking. Thus, the existentialist claim towards education starkly differs from my argument.

Ideological Arguments

Numerous ideologies additionally apply their views in the description and the purpose of education. Besides, this is an interesting position of the discussion as conservative, liberal ideologies offer differing views on the education structure, particularly concerning the duty of the government, and the manner education fits in the humanity. As aforementioned, I hold that education is an interactive learning procedure essential for acquiring knowledge and critical thinking skills, which should exist for the improvement of society and its member's productivity. Thus, I trust that quality education offered to all people should align with the liberal claims that states that all individuals should be given equal rights. Every society needs to progress to the optimum to provide all individuals with the same chances of being productive. Although to attain such results, I believe the government has a responsibility to permit quality schools to succeed and develop. In some instances, liberal claims that it is of maximum significance that the government shut down or fixes failing schools while high performing learning institutions are duplicated and exemplified. This, however, is not the occurrence in case the government interferes with the schools. At this point, I differ from the liberal standpoint that depends on the actions of the government to enhance the public school system as the sole solution for challenges faced in education. Diane Ravitch, a liberalist, furthermore demonstrates this conclusion when she defined education as a vital right and significant public service that is similar to the provision of public services such as libraries, parks, fire protection, and police (Finn Jr & Ravitch, 2007).

In line with my stance on education and its purpose, I am certain that the system of education is more complicated compared to public services, for instance, the library or park. It necessitates deeper intelligence with the approaches of offering every individual with the quality school. Thus, conservatives and some neo-liberalist ideology back my position because they favor a competitive school system with skilled teachers and that produce good results. These results are attained via tightening control over both teaching and curriculum. Although Conservatives believe in education privatization (Conservative vs. Liberal Beliefs, 2010). This provides parents and guardians which alternatives, where they can choose between public and private schools to enroll their children in institutions that they desire and this, may cause the incompetent school to cease existing. Besides, this being in line with the conservatives' value of capitalism as well as the free market, I do hold that there is an opportunity for the same trend in education. Neo-liberalist on the other hand, believe in the concept of marketing education because they hold that with it, it is state's responsibility to develop the right marketplace by offering institutions, laws, and conditions essential for its functioning. Thus, the results produced by the school should be analyzed concerning performance indicators put in place. Therefore, both the neo-liberal and conservative education's vision stipulates that the school performance, as compared to other institutions, should be competitive, and learners should gain the knowledge and skills they require to ensure they are productive in society, which desires for development.

Theoretical Arguments

Various theoretical claims exist about education, particularly how learning is best attained and its relationship with society. My stance concerning education, as aforementioned, is that it should lead to the growth of both knowledge and skills in students to ensure they are productive in society and take part in the development of humanity. Therefore, to attain this, various views relate to theories of practice in education. One of them includes believe that learners should be vigorously involved in their learning, and their determination is the most significant factor in their success. Consequently, this is backed by the essentialist theory that holds that most interests and practically almost permanent ones develop from the determination to learn, which are not at the outset appealing or interesting in themselves (BAGLEY, 2000). Thus, I trust it is the role of teaches to establish an interest in learning to ensure that learners place maximum determination and gain talents and skills, which will enable them to grow an interest in one or more fields accurately.

However, the view that learners should be vigorously involved in their learning conflicts with the progressive theory that stipulates that interest in a certain content matter is what inspires learning and motivation (Labaree, 2006). Whereas this may be correct, I do not trust progressive theory can be a strong model in education practice since for learners to develop the required learning competencies ranging from performing scientific research to solving mathematics problems and analyzing texts, students have to be motivated to place more determination into all disciplines. This is the key reason why my stance stresses placing maximum determination into each aspect of the school day, which installs the desire for learning. As a tutor, stressing maximum determination is transferrable across every component of the curriculum and may inspire teachers to constantly develop and apply critical thinking skills irrespective of the difficulty of the activities or learner's degree of interest in any discipline (Lackeus, Lundqvist & Middleton, 2016). Once such skills are established, students have the freedom to learn, explore, and discover more about any subject they have interests, but the absence of determination leads to the inability of learners to master the common core knowledge and think critically, then one can conclude that education has failed the student.

Although my stance on education in practice is backed by essentialism, concerning teaching techniques, I do not entirely agree with either essentialist or progressive theories. This is because I believe that there should be stands that ensure students gain critical thinking skills. However, I do not hold that the only approach to attain this stand is via essentialist teaching tactics of discipline, memorization, and repetition. I also do not agree with the progressive attitude that learners and teachers should be dual developers of the curriculum. Rather, I hold that teachers should have a crystal vision of standards their learners should master. In turn, they should develop and provide a lesson, which combines discussion, inquiry, exploration, and engagement as well as an assessment of the skill and independent application. Therefore, this is reflected in my stance on the definition of education as the interactive procedure of learning (Thompson, 2017).

Historical Underpinnings

The history and the definite occurrences that have happened in the US education systems additionally affected my stance on education. For example, the reforms in education reflect my views concerning the learning process as an interactive procedure. In a TED interview, Sir Ken Robinson focused on the in...