On the Purpose of Schooling: Inviting in or Locking Out?

• In Event: 60.079 - Diversity, Poverty, and Inclusion: Meeting the Educational Needs of Students With Disabilities

Abstract

One of the most compelling challenges facing educators in our global world is identifying and developing strategies to meet the purpose of school- in this presentation, we will bring a critical lens to this conversation, as we identify a historical view of schools designed to track and sort but propose a view of schooling as to include and empower. Philosophers have long argued the purpose of school, and sociologists such as deMarrais and LeCompte (1995) have looked at school structures and identified four major purposes of schooling, including:
• intellectual purposes such as the development of mathematical and reading skills;
• political purposes such as the assimilation of immigrants;
• economic purposes such as job preparation; and
• social purposes such as the development of social and moral responsibility.
It is our contention that towards whatever purpose an educational system is designed, sociocultural, historical, and political notions ensure that only some of a countries population will be invited in- sometimes those exclusions are based on gender, or religion, or class status, but is almost all cases, children with differing abilities are excluded. In this presentation, we will examine a variety of international educational systems with an eye towards identifying the stated and enacted purposes of schooling, with a particular eye to how those purposes are utilized to invite some in, while excluding others. We will pay particular attention to assumptions and definitions about ability, and how those assumptions intersect with other variables (such as race, class, or gender) to create categories of marginalization.
We argue that we have a global interest in creating equitable access to educational opportunity, but know that “ by 2020, two-thirds of the world's population and three-quarters of the global workforce will be comprised of disenfranchised and underprivileged populations (Infoage, 2013)” lending a sense of urgency to our work to develop clear frameworks for thinking about the purpose of schooling.

Author

• Shelley Zion, University of Colorado - Denver