What is the Purpose of Formal Education?

What is the Purpose of Formal Education?

February 9, 2010

By: Online MBA

There are historically three main reasons to attend school. This applies from the oldest of trades to grade school to the ivory tower itself.

  • Personal Development
  • Professional Training
  • Credentialing

Classical learning was aimed at the development of the person. As is most general scholarship and liberal arts. The idea being that we could lift ourselves to a higher state of character and general value as a citizen by gaining a broad education and then delving deeply into a particular field.

Trade schools, engineering schools, and, presumably, business schools, on the other hand, are intended to confer a set of skills to the student that they can then go apply in the marketplace.

Fields such as journalism, education, or psychology can straddle these lines as there are career paths that require training, but a large portion of the curriculum is often academic, historical, and theoretical. Similarly, many graduates in these fields go on to do something unrelated as their profession.

And then there’s the motivation of going to school chiefly to earn the credential with any other benefits being incidental. This is common with masters-level degrees in industries that offer a predictable pay raise to employees who have them (this is very common in public education, for example).

Being Honest and Self-Aware About Your Motivation for Education

It’s important to be real with yourself about why you are in school or thinking about going to school and, subsequently, to be consistent in your actions.

If your course of study is aimed at getting a job…
What else are you doing to get a job?

If it’s about the pursuit of knowledge, awareness, and personal development…
Are you making the most of it? Maybe you should study abroad or volunteer or learn a new hobby while you’re at it. And in your classes, are you measuring success by what you’re absorbing or just by your grades and progress on paper?

And if you really just want the credential…
Is getting that raise or improving your resume really worth the time, money, and effort it will take to get there? If it doesn’t necessarily make sense on paper, maybe that’s not really your motivation. How much of it is ego? Or boredom? Maybe what you’re really after is personal or professional development after all.

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