Schooling and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Schooling and Society - Essay Example Thus, the curriculum in education was extremely utilitarian-valuable and useful (Chitty 2004). However, the young generation of the 21st century were not blinded by the management of the government and Beare (2001, p.6) described them as the most ruthless critics of the present management of the world and and the least likely to be estranged. The young generation witnessed the need for a lot of change in the schools' goals and aims, impositions from interests, school operation, and the kind of students to produce. However, it was observed that the schools that are looking for the economically productive, the achievements of individual students, the values of schools, the tangible and intangible outcomes of schooling, the impact of schools on the labour market, and the responsibility for societal well-being have lessen in time. In the beginning of the 21st century, accountability, which is the reliability that comes with the control, power and responsibility to perform something, became the most necessary in most educational systems (Heim 1996). This essay aims to give an overview of the changing educational systems due to the demands of good performance from the working society. As strengths and weaknesses are discussed, the question lies if accountability truly meets the demands that professional performance should improved in their outcomes. Accountability became an international issue during the bloom of the 21st century (Anderson 2005). A lot of European school systems such as those of England and France make use of examinations in measuring student's entre to the next educational level. Anderson (2005, p.3) noted that accountability systems represent already established communal values and aspirations. Educational opportunity has been replaced by equal attainment which is concerned with equal access and treatment to education. But the question is what should be expected of children to learn in exchange for the formal education they obtained. Anderson (2005, p.4) noted that this is based on values, aspirations, expectations and goals society wants their citizens to achieve. Research has shown (Ylimaki et al. 2007) that school's ability to perform successfully to improve student achievement is being hindered by poverty. However, Ylimaki (2007, p.362) mentioned that schools in the USA, England and Australia are accountable for the success of all children, ignoring the social contexts the children are in. All politicians try to raise the educational standards of schools in order to help the mass education (Chitty 2004). However, providing education in the lower classes could be damaging to their morals and happiness and may teach them how to despise their present status in life. Thus, education was seen in utilitarian terms in which purposes of educational standards is mainly to prepare children for the working life. It is a social function of schooling that suggests a promotion of a form of education that is already opened to modern ideas and ready to challenge past conventions which tackle issues of equity and social justice. Schools aim to aid in helpin g to build a strictly extensive society where cultural, racial, and religious forms of diversity are observed. This is relevant for accountability in education involves the different social classes within