Junior English: Introduction to Education: Module One

Before we begin our exploration of all things education, let's consider the purpose of education: Is it to create better citizens? Is it to keep order? Is it to prepare future workers?

Watch and listen to these students' perspectives on the purpose of education. Do you agree? disagree? Are there more purposes? Think deeply. 

You just watched a video of students' perspectives on the purpose of education. While listening to others' perspectives is important, it is also necessary to  reflect on your own thoughts regarding any topic. Writing serves as a critical step towards understanding our thoughts and feelings on topics.

Look at the image below and enter your thoughts on the purpose of education here. 

To gain further understanding of the purpose of education, let's take a look at how education looks in other parts of the world?  

1) Please watch the video to see images of classrooms around the world.  

2) After studying the images, do you think the purpose of schools is the same around the world? Answer this by clicking here. 

Now that we have thought about the purpose of education, we need to think about how education models are designed. What models have worked in the past? Why are some models no longer effective? What models may work in the future? 

Watch the video to get some perspective on this:

There are many challenges facing education in today's world. Watch the video below to hear what a diverse audience of people have to say about challenges facing education in today's world: 

You have watched two videos--one that explicitly addresses the model of education and one that explicitly presents challenges. With a partner, create a list of five of the biggest challenges that get in the way of education by clicking on the image below:

Now that you have considered the purpose of education from a number of perspectives, we need to carry this information forward into the next module: How do we learn? We will also continue to investigate other perspectives utilizing school interviews and outside research. The journey has just begun....