This is Education. by Darryl

This is Education. by Darryl - April 2015 Scholarship Essay

The Encyclopedia Britannica states that the purpose of education is to “serve the needs of the individual and …. [to] serve the needs of society.” Although this view of education is obviously addressing education in a more general sense, my view of the purpose of K-12 education is the same. The purpose of K-12 education is namely, to develop the individual, making him somebody of whom he can be proud, and then secondly, to create somebody who is a benefit to society.

Most importantly, K-12 education is a way of taking a young, ignorant child and changing him into an educated, knowledgeable individual of whom he, himself, can be proud. In kindergarten, many children are unable to read. Some, in fact, are not even able to count higher than to ten. However, by the time those same persons reach 12th grade, the large majority of them have become well-developed, educated people, knowledgeable in most necessary areas, and ready to succeed as individuals. Producing a well-developed person who can feel good about what s/he knows and what s/he can do is probably the most important purpose of K-12 education. This is so, even if it only has to do with making sure that the individual can read a safety sign or that the person understands why freedom is so important to our nation. Some of the simplest things, such as knowing what H20 means, or that Luxemburg, although small, really is a country, are important pieces of information. Although at some level these may seem insignificant, they are all part of creating a well-developed, confident person. It is simply not enough to teach a person to read and how to do basic arithmetic. In order to create a well-rounded, well-developed, educated individual, K-12 education is absolutely necessary.

Secondly, the purpose of K-12 education is to produce an individual who is not only developed as a person, but also somebody who can be of benefit to society. Our society works off the premise that everybody does his/her respected job and actually does it successfully. In order to be able to do that, the individual has to already have a level of education that will provide the necessary background education to succeed in that job. Of course, there is information that will be learned on the job, but if an individual is unable to read, there is no way that he can follow the written instructions for the job. If the individual does not know how to do basic math, there is no way he can adequately work a register or handle money. Simply put, although society can teach the individual certain things in the process, there is a large educational background that needs to be set in place before everything else can be learned. The purpose of K-12 education is to establish that background, allowing the individual to be not only functional, but also a success and a benefit to society.

Although one could arguable go on for pages concerning the purpose of K-12 education, the shorter definition is really quite simple. My opinion, basically stated, is that the purpose of K-12 education is to produce well-rounded, developed individuals, with a solid educational background that will be a benefit to society. And it is my desire, that in a little less than a year, I will be one of the precious few to administer that purpose.