The Role of Education

A civilization is a group of people cooperating together to enhance individual s

urvival and quality of life through community well being. The unique consensual
and imposed forms, rituals and symbols used by a community to give meaning and s
tructure to social interactions is that group's culture.
Through the operation of culture an individual is indoctrinated into specific mo
des of behavior and thought that reflect a coherent community worldview, philoso
phy and values. The directed and deliberate attempts at this are largely perform
ed by institutions that provide routine services necessary for the day-to-day fu
nctioning of the community and oversees the performance of rituals and tradition
s.
The existence of formal education institutions indicates a community has the mea
ns and desire to perpetuate a certain view. The content of the education provide
d by the schools indicates the priorities of the group operating it, reveals in
what terms it regards the world around it and the direction in which the communi
ty considers that its own development should go. Confusion in the schools then i
s the results of confusion in the culture.
The task of education and the role of culture then are not separable things. Bot
h serve the purpose of assimilating the individual into society as a functioning
and contributing member. This is accomplished through the guided development of
the individual in amassing diverse information and training in its application.
For educators to attempt to remove values and other cultural and sub cultural in
dicators from the curriculum results in a state sponsored nihilistic society. Ma
ny argue this results in the production of hedonistic sociopaths. At the same ti
me there are those who wish to use the schools as a tool for social change accor
ding to what they think is best. The role of the school in a cooperative multicu
ltural community concerning values then is to teach those that everyone can agre
e on such as truthfulness, honesty, hard work and family fidelity.
Such an education would have among its goals the following:

Recognize recurring patterns of human behavior and association.

Develop an understanding of the political, social and economic development of th
e world that provides a basis for political thought and activity.
Familiarize the student with the development and function of science and technol
ogy.
Identify how human behavior in recurring situations has led to change and innova
tion and the resulting social impact.
The students realize they are makers of themselves, develop self-responsibity an
d accountability.
Teach skills necessary for self directed study and learning.
Apply knowledge in adult situations.
Develop specialized and marketable knowledge and skills.