Schools are a critical part of the social, political and economic life of a society. They educate kids from elementary through college, keep them safe, and help them develop into good citizens.
Choosing the right school for your child can be a daunting task. There are so many different types of schools out there that it can be confusing.
Education
Schools play an important role in the lives of children. They are a place where they receive education in the fields of language, history, social studies and mathematics.
They also help children develop friendships with others of their age and culture. This can be important in forming their own personal identity and learning to accept differences.
In addition, schools are a place where children are exposed to a variety of different ideas and beliefs. They may learn about different religions, cultures and languages as part of the educational experience.
However, it is important to keep in mind that schooling systems have aims that reflect culture, norms and power structures. These aims determine the kinds of people that are fostered and the kinds of society that they will become.
Socialization
One of the most important parts of education is socialization. It involves learning language skills, coping with emotions, and working within social norms.
In schools, socialization occurs through interaction with teachers and peers. Students learn a formal curriculum, informally called the “three R’s”: reading, writing, and arithmetic.
There are also many other aspects of socialization that occur throughout a student’s schooling experience. The teacher is the first authority figure that a child may have other than their parents.
In addition, students and teachers frequently experience a range of emotions in school, including anxiety regarding academic performance or test-taking, sadness stemming from difficult social interactions, and joy in response to earning good grades. These emotions affect both student and teacher performance in various ways, including by impacting student behavior and academic achievement (Pekrun & Linnenbrink-Garcia, 2014; Montgomery & Rupp, 2005).
Community
Community schools are public schools that emphasize family engagement, strong community partnerships and additional supports for students and families. They are designed to counter environmental factors that impede student achievement.
Research shows that community schools improve educational outcomes and help close opportunity gaps for students of color, English learners, and low-income students in high-poverty schools. The four key pillars of the community schools approach are: integrated student supports, expanded learning time and opportunities, family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership and practice.
These pillars build a school environment that is supportive of student learning and well-developed with strong teaching practices and a positive culture of expectations, trust and shared responsibility. They also address out-of-school barriers to student success that often stem from poverty and isolation.
Employability
Schools play a key role in helping students to gain employment. However, employability is a complex and multi-faceted concept that is influenced by various factors.
It is important for schools to have an understanding of this term in order to provide students with the right education and skills. They can then use their knowledge and abilities to find a job that suits them best.
Currently, there are a number of different approaches to employability. Some of them are based on outcomes while others are based on developing graduate attributes.
The prevailing tendency is to create employability measures based on outcomes in the form of recent graduate employment rates. While this approach may be convenient, it is also prone to falling into the trap of construing employability as an institutional achievement rather than a propensity for the individual student to get employment.