ABSTRACT
Where can we look for an official statement of aims? There is a taken-forgrantedness about aims and purposes. Statutory pronouncements and administrative edicts are not eloquent about a rationale for the provisions they make. In this lack of clarification lies a great deal of difficulty, for significant differences of view surround the fundamental purposes of education. Drafters of legislation avoid the kind of value-laden preamble that would rouse obstructive debate and opposition, so, on the whole, we look in vain to official documents for clarification of aims and purposes.
