Optimizing School Education: A Value Perspective

Author: Cliff Beck
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: This book is part of the "Influence Education Theory" translation series. Ordinary people and education experts pay great attention to schools. However, what the tasks of schools are and to what extent these tasks are completed, we often fail to grasp. The purpose of this book is twofold: first, to identify educational goals, and second, to suggest the forms and approaches needed to achieve these goals. The value perspective proposed in this book is both related to goals and means, fully elaborating the idea that the purpose of education is to enhance human happiness and making it convincing, guiding school education and meaningful exploration in new and genuinely valuable directions. The combination of theory and practice makes it easier for readers to understand and solve problems. This book is part of the "Influence Education Theory" translation series. Ordinary people and education experts pay great attention to schools. However, what the tasks of schools are and to what extent these tasks are completed, we often fail to grasp. The purpose of this book is twofold: first, to identify educational goals, and second, to suggest the forms and approaches needed to achieve these goals. The value perspective proposed in this book is both related to goals and means, fully elaborating the idea that the purpose of education is to enhance human happiness and making it convincing, guiding school education and meaningful exploration in new and genuinely valuable directions. The combination of theory and practice makes it easier for readers to understand and solve problems. In the chapter "Establishing Direction" of this book, the main focus is on the selection of primary goals, the issues of primary teaching methods, and the four main stakeholder groups: students, teachers, parents, and "society." In the second part, which discusses specific issues, the focus is on the problems of coercion and indoctrination, as well as issues related to religion, race, ethnicity, gender, and class. In the third part, which proposes new priorities for school curricula, only moral and value education, religious and spiritual education, political education, and global education are discussed. However, the purpose of education is to enhance human happiness, fully elaborating this central idea and making it convincing, guiding school education and meaningful exploration in new and genuinely valuable directions—this is my aspiration.