Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain

What schools are for and why

Why do we teach the subjects we teach? Why music? Why mathematics? Why foreign languages? In particular, why do we teach what we teach children in schools?
Professor John White is well-placed to address these questions. A leading philosopher of education and author of many books on philosophy and educational policy, he has for many years been concerned about the neglect of imaginative thinking about education. The academic curriculum tends to be taught as a matter of course, and few people are aware of its source in eighteenth century puritanical thinking. Education is intended to prepare children for adult life, but what kinds of adult lives do we want schools to prepare children for? What sort of society do we want to create for the future? What, in short, are schools for?
These are fundamental questions; they are also intensely practical. If, as White argues, a basic aim of education is to promote personal fulfilment, the curriculum should surely be designed accordingly. The courageous argument of this pamphlet is that hidden assumptions about the content of school curriculum must be exposed, and the consequences of this exposure followed through. We may be surprised by the results, but surprise is no reason to stifle an important and long overdue debate.

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