## Key Ideas > [!abstract] Core Concepts > > - **Four competing purposes**: Socialisation, reasoning, natural development, and social reformation each offer different educational goals > - **Inherent contradictions**: These purposes often conflict with each other, creating tensions in educational decision-making > - **Balance required**: Educators must navigate and balance competing purposes rather than choosing single approach ## Definition **Purpose of School-based Education**: The philosophical assumptions about what schools should achieve, which shape educators' perspectives and decisions about teaching approaches. ## Connected To [[Education as Natural Development]] | [[Education as Social Reformation]] | [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] | [[Non-Explicit Teaching]] --- ## Four educational purposes When educators debate teaching approaches, they reflect philosophical differences about schooling's purpose (Labaree, 1997). Four competing visions each offer different goals for education (Goodlad, 1979). **Socialisation** aims to help students acquire the beliefs, values, and norms of society to contribute to social cohesion and stability (Dewey, 1916). Schools maintain societal order by instilling shared values and norms (Spring, 2018). **Reasoning** seeks to provide students with knowledge to critically appraise the world and make informed decisions (Noddings, 2007). This purpose emphasises developing critical thinking skills and the ability to challenge and understand the world through an established body of knowledge (Dewey, 1916). **[[Education as Natural Development|Natural development]]** supports students in discovering their strengths and interests whilst nurturing their character and values. This purpose emphasises individual growth, allowing children to develop according to intrinsic motivations. **[[Education as Social Reformation|Social reformation]]** seeks to instil values into children to improve society and surpass current injustices (Westheimer & Kahne, 1998). Education becomes a tool for social change, addressing and rectifying societal inequalities (Reimer & McLean, 2009). ## Contradictions between purposes These four purposes differ and sometimes contradict each other, creating tensions in decision-making (Labaree, 1997; Noddings, 2007). Socialisation conflicts with social reformation when educators want students to conform to society whilst challenging existing norms. It conflicts with natural development when adopting society's norms runs counter to a child's natural development. Reasoning conflicts with natural development because reasoning requires learning an established knowledge canon, which can stifle natural development. It conflicts with socialisation because critical thought often leads to challenging societal norms. Social reformation conflicts with reasoning because, as one perspective states, "the role of activist is to turn grey issue into black and white issue". It conflicts with natural development when challenging society's norms runs counter to a child's natural development. ## Implications for practice These philosophical tensions manifest in classroom practice, explaining persistent educational debates. The philosophical differences explain why educators disagree about [[Explicit Teaching]] versus [[Non-Explicit Teaching]], structured curricula versus student choice, traditional knowledge versus progressive methods, and individual development versus social goals. The tensions create practical questions for schools. Should schools transmit cultural knowledge or transform society? Do we prioritise individual student interests or collective social needs? Is critical thinking compatible with social cohesion? Can natural development coexist with systematic knowledge acquisition? Educators must balance the four purposes rather than choosing a single approach. Educational debates often stem from these deeper philosophical differences about schooling's fundamental purpose. Teachers must acknowledge these tensions whilst making informed decisions about which purposes to emphasise in different contexts and with different students. ## References Dewey, J. (1916). *Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education*. Macmillan. Goodlad, J. I. (1979). What schools are for. Phi Delta Kappan/ERIC. Labaree, D. F. (1997). Public goods, private goods: The American struggle over educational goals. *American Educational Research Journal*, 34(1), 39-81. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312034001039 Noddings, N. (2007). *Philosophy of education* (2nd ed.). Westview Press. Reimer, K., & McLean, L. R. (2009). Conceptual clarity and connections: Global citizenship education and service-learning. In J. Zajda, H. Daun, & L. J. Saha (Eds.), *Nation-building, identity and citizenship education* (pp. 59-76). Springer. Spring, J. (2018). *American education* (18th ed.). Routledge. Westheimer, J., & Kahne, J. (1998). Education for action: Preparing youth for participatory democracy. In W. Ayers, J. A. Hunt, & T. Quinn (Eds.), *Teaching for social justice* (pp. 1-20). Teachers College Press.