The Institution of Education

My children’s school is closing. I was really disappointed to hear this news, since it is the only school in my city that actually really fits my kids. I just moved them to this school this year and it has come as a real shock to have it go away.

This got me thinking about education as an institution. And what I hope my children gain from their elementary education.

The reality is that we don’t really teach kids all that much stuff during the first six years they are in school. They learn how to read and write. They need to understand what they read and synthesize the information. Math is important for them to know as a concept and they need to be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide. They also need to have a basic understanding of science, geography, and history.

There is a lot of socialization that happens the first years at school and in many ways school is a way for children to learn how to function within an institutional setting. They learn to follow rules and basically stay within the box of whichever school system they are in.

With the closing of my children’s school I have been thinking about the institutions that I have to choose from and I don’t like my choices. I live in Texas, so the schools that have religion as their institutional basis are the main component of the options for private schools. We have no religious practice that fits within the existing structure and I feel that having my children educated in a system that is working on their own religious agenda is not acceptable to me. My children started in the public school system and they both ended their experience much worse off then they were in the beginning, so that is not really an option.

I am wondering what people think about the way their children are socialized as part of an educational institution. I think that most parents want our children to fit into society. In many ways the public school system is a way that parents can help their children to transitional easily through the system. With a grounding in the public school system children can understand the working of many college systems.

Once a parent chooses to take their children out of the public school system, or a religious school system, both of which work to help students understand the rules and structures of mainstream society parents are really left to their own designs, and that is freeing and scary at the same time.

I have had to realize that my children do not fit into the normal structures. It was difficult to come to that understanding, but now that I do it is my job as their parent to find the institution that best serves my children. I have learned that finding the ideal or perfect school for my kids is not a reasonable goal, but I need them to be academically challenged and emotionally supported, so they can get what they need out of the institution to which they belong.

I now see that what I want for my children is to see themselves as citizens of the world. I want them to feel comfortable with technology and I don’t want my daughter to decide that math and science are not cool for girls. I don’t really want them to be part of any institution. I want them to have a setting to explore where they can feel like they have a safe base from which to operate and teachers who will push their intellect.

I don’t know what I will get, however. Now that I know what I want I will have to sit patiently and see what happens. But I think that it is important to understand how the institution of education shapes the lives it touches.