Schools and their Role
Schools have played an important role in ensuring that learners or children have learned the necessary skills and knowledge to live a productive life in the future. As a result, many people have come up with various meanings of schools and the role they play in transforming an individual into a valuable member of society (Blacker 97).
The Limitations of Compulsory School Attendance
Some people see education as a tool for transforming boys into men and girls into respectable ladies in the society, while others see it as a tool for preparing students for appropriate positions in their families and workplaces in the future. Nevertheless, the argument of abolishing mandatory school attendance auger well with the current life status. Although the school is an environment that prepares the learners to tackle their duties at a future date efficiently may be in their adulthood period, it has failed to address several vital factors suitable in an individual's post-school life (Payne).
The Influence of the School System
According to Holt in his book ‘How Children Fail' he underlines the factors that underscore the need to ensure the abolishment of compulsory schooling among the children. The school represents a somewhat rigid system that prohibits a learner from developing a free mind that enables him or her to make his or her personal choices. Instead, the school system makes an individual dependent on the teacher as well as other instructors in the school environment (Government of UK). For instance, Holt underlines the manner upon which the teachers deploy on their teaching activities to foster learning into the learners. "If we don't make you read, you won't and if you do not do exactly the way we want you, you won't." as a result, the learner realizes that learning is a passive process a fact that jeopardizes his active role both within and outside the classroom.
Following Instructions and Self-esteem
The school postulates the role of the teacher as an instructor as well as a guardian to the children. Hence, the learners look up to the teachers as their sole decision makers with them being left to follow the stipulated instructions. Although following the teachings of the teachers can play a significant role in ensuring that an individual is successful in his endeavors, the act of continuously obeying and relying on the decisions made by others (Blacker 101). The continuous following of decisions made by others instill a feeling of worthlessness and incapable of making his or her judgments but rather an astute follower of the opinion of others. As a result, the practice has grave implications such as lowering the esteem of the learners.
The Limitation of Curiosity
The school set up that make the learners undertake passive roles limit their curiosity as underlined by holt. "Your experience, your concerns, your needs, your curiosity, what you know, what you want to know, what you wonder about, what you hope for, what you fear, what you like and dislike, what you fear, what you are good at or not so good at- all this is not of the slightest importance. It counts for nothing." As a result, the child learns the art of not asking questions even in situations when he or she is pressed by an issue the fact that he or she is likely to carry along with him or her even in old age (Payne).
The Real World and Employment
According to holt, the learners do not engage in asking the teachers question regarding the issues that disturb their mental state as they are uncertain of the teachers' ability to satisfy their curiosities. Hence, they opt for hiding their interests the fact that broods shame as time come to pass. The learners need to have a real taste of the real world which is not offered in a school setting. The school teaches the learners that the theoretical aspect of life which is practically different from the actual status of the real world as far as post-school life is concerned (Government of UK). As outlined by Holt, the role undertaken by a practicing attorney who makes it his initiative to visit the school at certain times to give the learners an insight of what the real world entails as far as job professions are concerned. Majority of the schools fail to provide the learners with an authentic taste of what the world outside the college involves. Also, the number of jobs available for the ever-growing public is relatively minimal to satisfy their needs. As a result, overemphasizing the role of education in ensuring the learners get employed after a successful completion of their respective educational courses is somewhat vague or inconsistent with the current trends in the employment field.
The Prison-like Environment and Unsuitable Curriculum
The school environment confines the learners to a given specified time when they have to interact with the real world as outlined by the specific schedules adopted by the schools. As a result, the school environment robs the learners of the opportune time to engage in adequate physical exercise as well as time for bonding with their friends in activities such as games. On the contrary, the school environment makes the learners believe that reading is the most appropriate action at the expense of their playing time. Similarly, the curriculum embraced in the school setups are unfavorable as they take little or no consideration into the activities of that the learners should engage in apart from the standard reading that takes place in the classrooms (Government of UK). For instance, the curriculum adopted has failed to take into account the need to participate the learners in activities that enable them to select adequate professions concerning their educational capabilities. Moreover, the curriculum does not give room to the learners to identify their mistakes as well as correcting them. Besides, the school set up has made the learners to be lazier as well as confining them to a classroom set up as they look up to the teacher to undertake the majority of the tasks.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the school is essential at ensuring the learners are enlightened over academic matters. Nevertheless, compulsory education should be abolished or amended to provide the learners' interests, and goals are taken into consideration. The current education system instills fear among the children as it lowers their self-esteem making them unable to express themselves as the learning takes a passive form adequately. Moreover, the learning environment has confined the learners to a prison-like environment that limits the student's too few control activities. The lack of adequate employment opportunities for the growing population has rendered the school curriculum to be inadequate. As a result, the curriculum should ensure the learners acquire diverse ways of guaranteeing the learners are well equipped to cope with the changing trends in the market.
Works Cited
Blacker, David J. “Compulsory Education Cycles Down.” Philosophical Perspectives on Compulsory Education (2014): 95-109. Document.
Government of UK. “Evidence on Physical Education and Sports in School.” 18 April 2013. Government of UK. Document. 4 December 2017.
Payne, Daniel. “Abolish Compulsory Education.” 4 February 2014. The Federalist. Document. 4 December 2017.
