Historic Roles of Schooling

 Population Control
 Training for Work
 Managing the unruly masses
 Teaching citizenship

Social roles of Education

 Pass a way of life (culture) on to next generation
 Develop productive skills for benefit of society
 Socialize appropriate behaviour; develop norms and values
 Develop citizenship skills & engagement & national identity
o National identity is changing
o Same sex marriage is changing how we perceive people

Schooling & Norms/Values

• Schools aren’t just technical/neutral sites of learning the 3 R’s! Also impart and
reflect values
 Schools socialize us – teach us how to behave in our society
o Learning manners and appropriate behaviour Stop bullying
o Work together
 Gaining sense of time
 Obeying authority, doing what we’re told
 Listening to others
 Doing your best, working hard
 Competing against others

Schooling & Citizenship

• Learn about rituals, history, symbols
• Developing an “Australian” identity
• Developing an Australian collective
• Learning about roles and duties of government & citizens
• Becoming politically empowered & engaged
• Accepting society’s political values
• Needs critical thinking
 • Listen, reflect, research, look at different perspectives, evaluate

Reflects our culture/the larger society

 Schools reflect our culture and are intricately and mutually connected with the
larger society
 Schools teach a “hidden curriculum” – the things that get taught implicitly
 Most countries have similar curricula
 But often have different “priorities”, aims
o “English curriculum won’t prioritize understanding of Aboriginal culture
because it’s not relevant to them”

Education & Life Chances

According to research, the more years of education we have, the more we are:
• Healthy
o Know more about health, what to do to be healthy, resources to be
healthy, access to medical care, knowledge to find out what’s available
• Wealthy & esteemed (status)
• Politically engaged
o If undereducated, don’t realize they have an influence and how they
have an influence
o Those who don’t have power don’t have their say
• Engaged with community
• Tolerant, open-minded, progressive, critical, reflective
o High level on Bloom’s Taxonomy

Social Status and Schooling

• Education is main vehicle for social mobility (moving up the social ladder)
• But our social status/class also shapes our educational opportunities and
outcomes
• Education can help us move up the ladder, but can also keep us in our place

Roles of Schools (Reimer)

• Daycare
• Indoctrinate next generation
• Selection into careers/workforce
• Educate students
Purposes of Schooling (Politics and School Education in Australia)
• Democratic equality
• Social efficiency
• Social mobility