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Purpose of School
Students were most likely to see the purpose of education in pragmatic, general-
ized terms. They believe the diploma is necessary for a job or that doing well in
school will ensure admission to college. It was common to hear students say that
‘‘If you want a job, you need an education’’ or ‘‘You got to have a high school
diploma to get jobs,’’ but rare to hear any degree of detail about what they
thought they were learning that might prepare them for any particular type of
work. Similarly, those headed for college described broad outcomes and purposes:
‘‘Education, prep for college, social things . . . . life skills, education.’’
Others saw school as a place to build life skills or to become more broadly edu-
cated. A 14-year-old African-American female at Uptown described a good edu-
cation as ‘‘You learn to be responsible, to handle your money well, be well orga-
nized and well rounded. ‘‘A high school student in West City, the child of immi-
grants, spoke of the opportunity to ‘‘prepare ourselves for the future. Not really
to prepare so that we can have a job in the future, but to develop your mind
and to have better choices.’’ His younger sister, a middle school student, de-
scribed preparation for ‘‘a better tomorrow, a better future.’’ Another male stu-
dent at Springdale spoke of more general skill development:
I am not learning a whole lot on one subject. Because I know I’m not going
into math, I am not going into any sciences, not going into English, being an
English teacher or having anything to do with that. I am getting more respon-
sibility, teamwork, just little fundamental skills, working with people.
Such students often do not see a direct connection between coursework and their
occupational goals. Even students hoping to enter the legal field described their
English classes as useless in ‘‘real life.’’ Students spoke infrequently of any dis-
cipline—specific purposes or outcomes, except in the area of mathematics,
though they often criticized their actual preparation. One student, who had been
accepted into a prestigious university in her region, said that she thought the high
school diploma ‘‘ought to mean something’’ and that
You should have what you need as an adult. I know how to take the integral
of this and that, but last summer I got a checking account, and I had no idea
how to balance it. We need a lot more practical stuff. My parents don’t
remember what they had in high school. My dad has to relearn it to help me.
(Twelfth-grade female, East City)
In a group interview with high school students at Springdale, one male student
commented that he had ‘‘learned enough to get by in math. I have learned
enough to do my taxes and that is enough.’’ Another in the group responded that
‘‘Ask me if I could graph trig functions for you now (and I could do it). But ask
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me next year, and I will not have a clue. We learn it, we remember it for a while,
and then it is gone.’’
Not all students look ahead when thinking about the purposes of schooling. At
the most basic level, there were students we interviewed who see school as an
alternative to crime, unemployment, and a life on the streets:
If there wasn’t any school, like in the summer, then all kids do is just hang
around the streets. Then when somebody asks them to hold this and they start
selling drugs and things like that. School is keeping you out of trouble. (Eighth-
grade male, Metropolitan)
Another student at the same school remarked:
You don’t necessarily got to go to school to learn. There are lots of people
who don’t go to school and are just as smart as me. (But) at my
age . . . . can’t get a job or nothing, so might as well go to school. (Eighth-
grade female, Metropolitan)
Teachers are aware of the purposes of schooling from a vantage point different
from that of students. A common concern of those we interviewed is that schools
attempt to fill many purposes, only one of which is academic. As one high school
counselor noted:
The schools today, I think, try to fill more needs than they have ever tried
to fill before. You’re trying to fill social needs—educate the kids on all the
social things—alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, conflict resolution, multicultural
diversity. You are teaching so many things that used to be taught in the home.
All this along with the expectation that you’re going to educate them too.
(Counselor, Hamilton)
Another teacher made similar comments:
We as teachers are forced to be educators, parents, also counselors—I mean
absolutely everything. With my own children, their teachers do not have to
take them aside and say ‘Y’know you really shouldn’t be . . . . and ‘‘Where
have you been?’’ You know, dealing with social problems that belong at home.
And I find that you have to do that. They expect from the time that you bring
them in school here at 9:30 a.m. until they leave at 2:30 p.m., you will teach
them manners, you will teach them respect, you will also teach them how to
be responsible people, and to follow up on something. (Science teacher, Met-
ropolitan)
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