Morgan Pellerin Personal Professional Statement

What is the purpose of school? Are they for educating students? If they are then what are they supposed to be educating students about? These are questions policy makers and educators are asking themselves as they attempt to steer the purpose and direction of the nation’s schools. As an educator of social studies I see three main purposes of schooling. Firstly, schools should foster the development of social skills and cultural understanding. Secondly, schools should provide the means for students to learn and understand the academic disciplines offered in the school. Beyond that however, schools should do so in such a way that academics are made relevant to the student’s world, so that lasting connections are made and remembered once a student exits the school’s doors. Lastly, schools should provide students an understanding of their surrounding community and where it fits in the larger scale of the world. By fostering these three purposes, schools will provide students with lasting understanding of their immediate surroundings and how they fit into the larger world.

Unless they live on a deserted island, most people encounter other people during their day-to-day activities. Thus, it is important that schools teach proper ways of social interaction that are acceptable in society. Beyond that, many people also have daily encounters with people of different beliefs, cultural backgrounds, or ethnicities. Thus, it is imperative that schools work to teach cultural pluralism. By acknowledging and learning about different ethnicities, cultures, and beliefs that may be abound in the community, nation, or world, students will gain a stronger sense of empathy and understanding. A familiar purpose of school is to foster learning. However, the type of learning and how the learning is conducted is also important to the purpose of schooling. Simply covering material and having tests will not help students remember what a teacher taught them five or ten years from now. Rather, when teachers are teaching about their discipline, it is imperative that they make real world connections to the material. If students can see what they are learning as something that actually exists, or something that has real world implications, they will probably remember it and make their own meaning out of it. Thus, while fostering learning is important in schools, the type of learning how the learning is conducted are essential to making the learning have meaning and purpose.

Through making real world connections, teachers can begin to cover the last major purpose of schooling—for students to understand their community and where it fits in the larger world. Challenging students to examine their community, whether it is their town, county, or nation can have a lasting impact on how they see the world. Examining how their town has developed, or the impact that pollution in nearby streams and rivers have impacted the local fish population, or the true history of where their nation fits into the larger scheme of the world can all lead to a lasting understanding of themselves and their community and ultimately gives what they are learning a sense of purpose.

What should students be learning about? By focusing on the development of social skills and cultural pluralism, making learning relevant through real world connections, and understanding where their community fits into the larger context of the world can ultimately give schooling a purpose. By doing these things, educators can give their students a reason for coming to class, a reason for being engaged, and in the end have a lasting impact on their education.