What is the purpose of education?
According to the U.S Department of Education, the purpose of education is: “to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access”.
Simply put, education enables children to acquire knowledge and skills that will help them to become successful members of society, and grow into good and accomplished individuals. In order to materialize this idea, it is necessary to build good relationships between students, teachers, and parents. Thanks to the influence of their environment, students get the opportunity to develop their full potential, talents, and achieve their life goals.
This applies to every level of education, from elementary through high school, to college and university education. Regardless of the level of education and whether we are talking about private or public schools, the goals are the same. What differs is the methods of work, and the complexity of challenges students and teachers are faced with.
Education is the key to success
Adequate education helps a young person to become a full member of society. Knowledge provides the basis for a successful career, high social status, decent life, and the opportunity to achieve one’s ambitions. Reaching such a high level requires a lot of effort and desire to overcome the first obstacle. An educated individual is aware that they must learn and develop throughout their life so as to be able to recognize and seize numerous opportunities presented before them.
This is not an easy task, which is why children should understand the importance of education from an early age. Parents can be very helpful in this process, but the greatest responsibility still rests on teachers. They have the most experience when it comes to conveying knowledge, which is particularly important in early childhood development. Early childhood is a period when one starts to develop individual talents and acquire work habits.
The conclusion that can be derived from the above is that one of the purposes of education is to teach students how to think and apply the acquired knowledge in a creative and productive way. This is how they will prepare themselves for all the challenges that await them, because knowledge is the key to success.
Knowledge is the foundation of a successful career
There are many definitions and opinions about the role of education, but what they all share is the importance of acquiring concrete knowledge and skills. Thus, some experts believe that the most important goal of job training is to make one into a useful member of society, while others insist on achieving personal ambitions and potential.
Regardless of how one views the purpose of learning, the fact is that without specialized knowledge, it is impossible to achieve success in life. Such knowledge is acquired in school, and expanded through higher education, as well as personal development outside the regular education system.
Quality education enables the development of skills (problem solving, adaptability, working under pressure, etc.) that increase one’s chances of finding a better job, career advancement, and gaining various benefits, such as:
High social status
High social status is obtained by achieving exceptional results in one’s chosen profession. Prestigious diplomas and professional development enable people with higher education to take influential positions in society. As a rule, these are professions with great responsibility (judges, doctors, lawyers, politicians, etc.).
Although it is not the ultimate goal of education, high socioeconomic status is closely related to career success. This is especially visible in the example of individuals of outstanding talent who left a significant mark on society (e.g. artists and scientists).
Decent life
What interests every student when they need to choose their course of study is what kind of opportunities that education will bring. The purpose of education, among other things, is to have a decent life, which entails:
- Financial independence
- Travel
- Enough free time for family and personal hobbies
- Sense of professional fulfillment
- Health security
Opportunity to achieve one’s ambitions
Everyone has ambitions, but only those who invest a lot of effort in their personal development can expect to see the realization of their plans. Education is the shortest and most secure path toward that goal, because it provides a systematic approach to acquiring the necessary knowledge of a particular area. It should be noted that education does not only mean sitting in the classroom, but also the acquisition of various skills, such as social skills.
Success and the realization of one’s life plans will come only with the acquisition and continuous development of skills that are learned for years, and necessary in a professional environment.
Acquiring positive skills and habits
The purpose of education is adopting good habits that will not only help one in school, but also represent the key to a positive approach in all areas of life. This implies:
- Coping with stress– school life is a turning point in a child’s life, when they encounter serious responsibilities and stressful situations for the first time. This is why teachers and other education experts develop plans on how to educate students, helping them to tackle their responsibilities in the right way (creative workshops, lectures, exercises, interviews with the school counsellor and psychologist).
- Mastering learning techniques – one of the most important purposes of education is helping students learn how to learn. Throughout the course of their education, students need to master lessons, solve tests, and generally acquire information that is not often interesting. Mastering learning techniques is one of the methods for students to adopt positive habits that will have a great impact on their future career.
- Teamwork – mutual cooperation is an important life lesson that will not only help students solve school assignments, but will prove to be invaluable for many challenges in life. Man is a social animal, and a community can only function if there is mutual cooperation between its members. School often puts students in situations where they can only reach results through teamwork. As a result, students develop people skills and understand how to combine their talent with the talent of others so as to achieve the common goal. It is a skill that is necessary both in professional career, and one’s private life.
- Critical thinking – this term denotes a form of learning where things are not taken for granted. Students are encouraged to analyze each solution and piece of information first, linking it to known information, and taking a research approach to each task. This way, students are encouraged to utilize their creativity and logical reasoning, instead of simply executing commands without asking themselves if that is, indeed, the best solution.
Recognizing student preferences and developing their talent
When they start school, children have no idea what they want to do, or what special talents they possess. Education has a very important role to help students identify and develop their talents through learning opportunities and specialized programs. Every individual has unique skills, and whether they will succeed in developing them or not, depends on their ambition, but also on the school curriculum.
In order to give everyone equal opportunities, schools organize numerous talent development programs, encouraging students to try out different school clubs and test their talents. Hobbies and spending time with other students in school clubs often proves decisive in shaping one’s interests and ambitions. Thus, successful school athletes often become professionals, while art lovers become actors or musicians.
Socialization and development of communication skills
One of the main purposes of education is socialization and the development of social skills. It is a process where children learn to communicate with others, and understand the needs of others. Children develop these skills from an early age, and additional training in school allows them to perfect the skills such as negotiation and collaborative problem solving, as well as to spend time with peers, learning to express their attitudes while showing respect for the opinion of others.
As the school context commonly implies large groups of students, schools have a great responsibility to be mediators of sorts, defining the rules and presenting ways of communicating so as to guide children toward examples of positive behavior. This way, children gain the confidence to become part of their community and acquire valuable skills that will prove extremely useful later in life. If a good foundation is laid, children will be able to overcome all challenges, which will be reflected in their success in school, as well as defining life goals.
Students become better persons
In order to fully understand the world, one needs to possess certain knowledge. Education enables children to acquire academic achievements they will need to interpret life situations, develop critical thinking, and make the best possible decisions. Education helps people to better understand social relationships, needs, and behavior of other people. This is achieved not only by learning about certain phenomena in society, but also through specific activities, such as volunteer work in one’s community.
Schools play a very important role in that sense, because it encourages students to change the world for the better together. When empathy is combined with education, it creates accomplished young people with the knowledge that allows them to achieve a successful life. Of course, the main requirement is building a relationship of trust between students and teachers.
What is the main purpose of education?
The main purpose of education is to provide the opportunity for acquiring knowledge and skills that will enable people to develop their full potential, and become successful members of society. School does not just involve letters and numbers, but also teachers and the entire education system where students are taught critical thinking, honesty, and humanitarianism. These are invaluable lessons that stay with a person throughout their life.
Moreover, the role of education includes preparing students for the challenges of the 21st century, learning strategies and techniques, and adequate preparation for the jobs of the future. Thanks to good education, students will be prepared for all the challenges that await in their professional and private life.
