A reading of R.S. Peters on education and schooling : assumptions, conflicts and tensions

Abstract

Most often, people do not make a distinction between the notions of education and schooling and assume they are synonymous. While it seems that there is a relationship between the two, it is a very complex one and at times contradictory. Some go to the extent of saying that they are in fact antagonistic to each other. Does going to school and attending lessons automatically imply that one is becoming educated? What are the conflicts between the aims of schooling? Schooling is characterised by high-end examinations and grades, in contrast with the aims of education that promote the reform of an individual in an autonomous being. Is the success of teaching actually attributed to how an individual develops and becomes a better self, or simply to how a student fares in a two-hour examination? In this study on various philosophical texts, I will go through these issues and explore which of these two terms we are actually promoting in the formal schooling process. Analytical ideas from R. S. Peters will help me to distinguish concepts that seem overlapping while re-thinking the function of schools altogether. This dissertation is a tool that prompts us to reflect on our role as professional practitioners. If we do not question and reflect on our own teaching, our profession may become mediocre and take away all of our students' potentialities instead of promoting them. The aim of this dissertation is an invitation to such reflection.