ABSTRACT

Publicschoolinghasitsor1g1nsinthesixteenthcentury, thoughitwasnotuntilthelatenineteenthcenturythatit wasintroducedona.widescale.Sincethenithasrapidly expandedtobecomethemajor'industry'oftechnologically advancedsocieties.Schoolsdisplayconsiderablevarietyof purposeandformat,anditisdifficult,ifnotimpossible, toprovideanygeneralcharacterisationwhichwillencompass everythinggoingunderthatname.Evenifwerestrict ourselvestowhatwefamiliarlyknowasschools(primaryand secondaryschooling),wearestillconfrontedwithawiC',e varietyofaccounts.Perhapsweneedtodistinguish accountswhichcharacteriseschoolsbyreferencetowhatthe writerbelievestheyoughttobefromaccountswhichattempt tocharacterisethemintermsofwhattheyareandaccounts whichendeavourtoindicatewhattheyminimallymustbe. MichaelOakeshottbelongsmostcomfortablyinthefirst groupinrepresenting'School'as'aseriousandorderly initiationintoanintellectual,imaginative,moralend emotionalinheritance',anundertakingwhichrequires 'effort'and'detachmentfromtheimmediate,localworldof thelearner'.Itis'"monastic"inrespectofbeingapl8.ce apartwhereexcellencesmaybeheardbecausethedinof worldlylaxitiesandpartialitiesissilencedor abated'. 1EverettReimerbelongstothesecondgroup,in cold-bloodedlycharacterisingschoolsas'institutionswhich requirefull-timeattendanceofspecificage-groupsin teacher-supervisedclassroomsforthestudyofgraded curricula'. 2However,Reimer'saccountmakesnomentionof anyspecificpurposesoreffectsofschooling,surely mattersofconsiderable,importanceinunderstanding contemporaryschoolingandtheparticularconstellationof featuresthatReimerhaschosentoincludeinhisaccount. Minimalistsusuallysettleforanaccountofschoolingin whichitisseenvaguelyasaninstitutionalisedarrangement directedtosupervisedlearning.Suchaccountstendnotto beveryhelpfulinunderstandingthephenomenonasitis

found. Our purpose in this chapter is to comment on schoo1ing

Schooling and education

Talk of 'the institutionalisation of education' suggests that the point, even if not aJways the effect, of schooling is to provide an education for children, and that indeed is a part of popular sentiment, or, as I would prefer, mythology. It is only in the most attenuated sense that schools are organised for education. However, the illusion is an important one, for, in the face of a succession of 'crises' in schooling, it diverts attention from the fundamental structures, relations and processes of schooling onto matters of detail, as though these were alone responsible for inadequacies in the system. The illusion is supported by the ambiguity which pervarles our language of education. The idea that education has something to do with 'preparation for life' is interpreted aB preparation for a steady, remunerative job - preferably 'with prospects' - for males, and still, for the most part, as developnent of skills and attitudes which will make one a desirable and successful wife and mother, in the case of femaJ_es. In other words, education is interpreted in a way which leaves unquestioned the prevailing personal and social relations.