Synthesis Theme 1: Conflicting Notions on the Purposes of Schooling

I do not believe that the purpose of education can be one thing or the other. If we are truly doing our job as educators then we have to produce citizens, human beings and workers. I also firmly don't believe there is anything wrong with pushing students to climb the so called "social ladder". We need to push students to strive for better paying jobs that require college education and beyond. We need to push them to want to go to college and get the education that can open more doors for them. There is not a future for those who don't go to college or at least get a trade school education in a specialty. I don't believe that one purpose is more important than the other, they are all equally important and for education to be successful it must serve more than one purpose. And while my statement below about single parent homes might have been a little stereotypical I was trying to make a point. Kids today due need character education at school, as they are not coming with it from home, whether it is a single parent home or two parents. That is the purpose of many programs like Character Counts and PBIS.  Schools must serve multiple purposes from feeding kids at least two meals a day to building character, to preparing workers and citizens.