Question # 2-
The unstated purpose of school that Inglis talks
about in the essay is the truth, but a very altered and twisted truth.
The first unstated function of school he talks is the "adjustive or
adaptive" function. He states that schools teach kids to react neutrally
to what authority figures do and in turn destroying judgment. I guess i
can see how he came to that conclusion, but his next statement is completely absurd.
He says that schools teach boring and foolish things to test if the kids are
obedient enough to not question what they are learning. I don’t think i
have taken a class that teaches foolish and things. My least favorite
class was art but that does not mean it was foolish.
The next one he calls the "integrating
function." By this he means that students are made to look alike
because people who can be categories are more predictable and manipulatable.
I thought they did that because being similar helps a kid transition into
society better. But even if the reason he is talking about is true, who
cares? A labor force is necessary in ever society; also they have unions
now.
This unstated purpose is the most realistic one. It’s
called "diagnostic and directive." He means that they keep your
permanent record and determine your role in society through those
records. I think that is a big reason school exists. What you achieve
through school usually indicates your role. If you are not successful in
school, you to other means for money, such as businesses, etc. A student
in my graduating class was not doing well academically, so the school told him
to go to a trade school.
The fourth one goes back to being absurd.
"Differentiating function," as he calls it, means that schools only
allow you to advance as far as society needs you to advance? I put a
question mark because 1, how do you know what is one step ahead or behind and
two, they don’t have the budget to monitor students with that kind of enthusiasm.
They put you in a class and give tests, you score determines what step your
taking. In my school they put us in a class, taught us the same marital
and allowed the test to determine where we place.
"Selective function" means exactly what
it sounds like. He says that the smart students are taught to look down
on that student receive low grades. This one made me laugh. In my
school, the students with the low grades were the attractive and athletic students.
They were not looked down upon, although some of them should have been.
They were the one who participated in plays, music performances, etc. If
school was a movie, the ones with the good grades would be considered background
characters.
The final one is called the "propaedeutic
function." This guy is a little too crazy for me. With this
unstated purpose, he is suggesting that a small group of students are trained
by the school to be future leaders; they are trained in the art of keeping the
common folk in control and dumb. Where would something like this take place?
I haven’t herd of a school that does this.
I can understand what he is trying to say, but he is exaggerating
way too much.
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