ABSTRACT
The purpose of schooling is a subject rarely mentioned either in individual schools or in the wider community. This is partly because it is taken for granted that schools have both an explicit social and an economic purpose. The place of schools in society is seen as obvious. The ‘broad and balanced’ statements behind the National Curriculum talk about the need for skills, for employability, for good citizenship and for keeping up with the economic competition of other countries. Whilst there are both philosophical and historical accounts that delve into the underlying purposes of school, education systems being relatively new phenomena, the purpose of schools is still generally taken for granted.
