What is the purpose of education?
This is a huge, interesting and vital topic. I'm not worried about
the fact that we do educate in a structured way; I don't object
to the idea of school, as it need not be cut off from the rest of life.
Equally homeschooling, when done badly, can be very isolating for children.
I do worry about why we educate, though.
I left secondary education nine years ago and already the goals of
education were exam success, leading to financial success and confirmation
of social status. There wasn't much room for exploring the world for
pleasure. I know this is not typical of all schools, but it must be
so in many.
One feature of education that I do find interesting is the training
in scepticism. For example, examining newspapers to try and discern
where the paper fits on the political spectrum and then what agendas
such positioning might produce. Or in a maths class, being given some
figures for a case study and trying to use different types of statistical
analysis to 'prove' differing interpretations. I feel this is good training,
because it tries to inculcate a tendency to question what one's told,
what are the motives of the teller and whether the evidence they're
giving one is really water-tight. But then maybe we can go too far and
make the distrust so ingrained that we don't believe anything or anyone
and we become apathetic about the world and dissociated from it.
Hmmmm, still undecided on that one, it's probably a bit of both.
Alternatives in Education
John Caldwell Holt (1923 - 85) was an American
author and educator, one of the best known proponents of homeschooling,
and a pioneer in youth rights theory. Here are some quotations from
what he had to say.
[1] “ Education... now seems to me perhaps the most authoritarian
and dangerous of all the social inventions of mankind. It is the deepest
foundation of the modern slave state, in which most people feel themselves
to be nothing but producers, consumers, spectators, and 'fans,' driven
more and more, in all parts of their lives, by greed, envy, and fear.
My concern is not to improve 'education' but to do away with it, to
end the ugly and antihuman business of people-shaping and to allow and
help people to shape themselves. ”
[2] “ The most important thing any teacher has to learn, not
to be learned in any school of education I ever heard of, can be expressed
in seven words: Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is
the product of the activity of learners. ”
[3] “ It's not that I feel that school is a good idea gone wrong,
but a wrong idea from the word go. It's a nutty notion that we can have
a place where nothing but learning happens, cut off from the rest of
life. ”
[4] “ No one is more truly helpless, more completely a victim,
than he who can neither choose nor change nor escape his protectors.”
Official Quaker text
Below is some of the official material I have found from national
Quaker sites.
Overview
Each
of the uk's seven Quaker Schools is different, but they all share a
common approach to education based on Quaker beliefs. All members of
the schools' communities are equally valued, resulting in open, friendly
and courteous relationships between pupils and staff. Although the majority
of pupils and staff are not Quakers, the whole school community meets
together in a morning assembly or 'Morning Meeting'. This is a time
when all staff and pupils of whatever faith share a period of quiet
reflection - a rare opportunity in today's world.
But how will your child benefit?
So what's different?
A shrewd parent visiting a Quaker School once asked the Head: "We've
had a marvellous tour of your school; we've seen buildings, grounds
and facilities and purposeful youngsters enjoying their work; we are
entirely satisfied with your exam results and the quality of care you
give to your pupils.... but what makes a Quaker School different from
any other first rate independent school and why should I send my child
to one?"
A shared heritage - unique ethos
This page attempts to answer that question a little more fully. They
aim to show those elements - some less tangible than others - which
all the Quaker Schools in England and Ireland have in common and which
make them that little bit different from other good schools. The prospectus
of each school will proudly tell you of the features which make it special
and unique. No school is quite like any other. The Quaker Schools are
no exception, but the strands of a common heritage run through the fabric
of each one and have left a structure of values that we hope will leave
their mark on all the young people in our care.
Core beliefs
These values flow from one simple core belief: that religion should
start from personal experience, not from dogma or ceremony. As all individuals
have "that of God" within them, everyone has strong potential for good
and is worthy of dignity and respect. From this in turn comes much of
what is now valued in our schools: an expectation of the highest standards
of individual excellence; the quest for truth (many Quakers have become
distinguished in scientific and academic life as well as in business);
the toleration that refuses to see the truth as confined to one creed
or dogma; an openness to inspiration from whatever source it comes;
an insistence on the equal rights of all people.
Daily life
How do these values come out in the everyday life of a Quaker School?
This question is all the more interesting because of the relatively
small numbers (below 15%) of Quakers in the Schools, though many of
our parents and staff espouse Quaker values. Essentially, Quakerism
is a practical form of Christianity placing most emphasis on the manner
in which people lead their lives and treat each other. Because of the
sense of genuine enquiry, and the freedom from dogma, young people of
all religious beliefs or none can feel comfortable and united during
the silence of a Quaker Meeting. This meeting is an opportunity for
all to reflect quietly and gain a fresh perspective on daily life.
Friendly Openness
When you visit a Quaker School you will he struck by an atmosphere
of friendly welcome and a natural openness and informality amongst the
pupils. Discipline is firm, but not based on regimentation or the fear
of punishment. It comes rather from trust and the expectation of hard
work and sensible behaviour that leads to self-discipline. Such expectations
in turn can only be realistic in a community which emphasises mutual
respect, encouragement and participation. A child who is busily occupied
is likely to be a happy child. A happy child has little cause to misbehave.
A busy day
Such participation can only be achieved when there is a wide range
of activities to interest everyone. In all of our Schools there is an
academic rigour that stretches the very able and keeps those of more
modest ability at the peak of their potential. Beyond the curriculum,
however, for day pupils as well as boarders, there are programmes of
out-of-class pursuits which must rank amongst the most richly varied
of any group of independent schools. This is part of our objective to
provide a broad based education that goes beyond the merely scholastic
and develops the whole person.
Joining together
Art, drama, music and sport all have firm places in our Musicschools,
and everyone takes part for enjoyment as well as for the competition.
Membership of the group of Quaker schools has great practical benefits
too, as it allows our choirs and musicians to join together regularly
to perform important choral works which cannot be tackled alone. Other
joint activities such as athletics meetings, expeditions, conferences
for pupils as well as staff. These are typical of the cooperation that
gives our young people even more opportunity of broadening their experience.
Wider horizons
Our pupils are also encouraged to be outward looking and adventurous.
The strong Quaker concerns of internationalism, of active participation
in global as well as local issues, lead Duke of Edinburghwithin the
Schools to involvement with the community outside, environmental projects,
Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, trips and expeditions abroad and money-
raising for charity. Participation on this scale stimulates initiative
as well as a healthy concern for the needs of others. A School is only
as good as its staff, and the level of commitment demanded of a teacher
in a Quaker School ensures that "nine-to-fivers" do not apply! Turnover
of staff is generally low, although the demands on their time for activities,
tutorial care, careers guidance, individual help, are unusually high.
Without their dedication and energy the schools would be immeasurably
less enriching places in which to grow.
A way of living
In summary we can say that the Quaker emphasis in education lies in
participation and caring, which are natural offshoots of the Quaker
concern for peaceful cooperation. We work to prevent any bullying in
our schools and to develop young people who will reject conflict in
favour of cooperation. We do not try to impose the aims of the school
on our pupils, but to lead them to accept these principles for themselves,
encouraging them to share in the responsibility of running the school
and the pleasure of its success.
Bursary scheme
All the schools on this website participate in the Joint Bursaries
Scheme (JBS). The object of this scheme is to give financial assistance,
where needed, to help the children of Friends (members of the Religious
Society of Friends, or regular attenders) to attend a Quaker school.
The schools themselves provide between 85% and 90% of the cost of the
scheme. The remainder comes from donations and trusts, most of which
have been created specifically for the education of Quaker children.
The scheme is therefore independent of the funds of the Society.
For further information, contact individual schools (see below)
or write, phone or fax the Friends Schools Joint Council, Friends House,
Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ T: 020 7663 1000 F: 020 7663 1001
Ackworth School
Ackworth, Pontefract,
West Yorkshire WF7 7LT
T: 01977 611401 F: 01977 616225
W: www.ackworthschool.com
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Friends' School
Saffron Walden,
Essex CB11 3EB
T: 01799 525351 F: 01799 523808
W: www.friends.org.uk
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Leighton Park
School
Shinfield Road,
Reading RG2 7ED
T: 0118 987 9600 F: 0118 987 9625
W: www.leightonpark.com
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Sidcot School
Winscombe,
North Somerset BS25 1PD
T: 01934 843102 F: 01934 844181
W: www.sidcot.org.uk
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Click
here for links to Quaker schools worldwide
We are in awe of the accelerating development of scientific knowledge,
and mindful of both the benefits and the horrors this may bring. Let
us remember that the universe shown to us by the sciences is a divine
gift, and not turn away from our responsibility to consider the implications
of scientific and technical discoveries. [ Australian Quakers'
Advices & Queries (item 8) ]
Elizabeth
