1 The purpose of education
Looking at what works in education and what may need to change in the future will involve thinking about the goals of education. You have already been introduced to some ideas on this through the Changing Education Paradigms video in Week 1.
In the next activity you will consider quotes that show how different people view various purposes of education. Some contributors are contemporary and some do not necessarily reflect current values. These quotes illustrate the diverse ways people talk about education and they are intended to stimulate your thinking about the purpose of education. Although the quotes are not labelled here, the full attributions can be found at the end of this week.
Activity 1 What do you see as the purpose of education?
Allow approximately 30 minutes
Read the following nine quotes which relate to possible purposes of education. As you read, start to prioritise the statements by moving them up or down the list based on how much you agree with them, or how important you feel they are. Continue to arrange the quotes until you have placed them in an order you are satisfied with.
You will be asked to refer back to your arrangement later on this week. Click the ‘save’ button to save your work so that you can return to this activity later. Alternatively, you could take a screenshot of your arrangement (see our Taking screenshots guide for advice on how to do this).
OpenLearn - Looking globally: the future of education
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