One of the blogs I read regulary is Seth Godin’s blog where I read about topics such as creativity, goal-setting and marketing among other things educational and informative. So tonight after I wasted a fair amount of time on skype and facebook I set about clearing out my google reader and enjoyed reading this post from Mr. Godin.

The question recently raised and discussed on the blog was ‘What is school for?’ and here is ‘a starter’ list that was posted.

The purpose of school is to:

1. Become an informed citizen
2. Be able to read for pleasure
3. Be trained in the rudimentary skills necessary for employment
4. Do well on standardized tests
5. Homogenize society, at least a bit
6. Pasteurize out the dangerous ideas
7. Give kids something to do while parents work
8. Teach future citizens how to conform
9. Teach future consumers how to desire
10.  Build a social fabric
11. Create leaders who help us compete on a world stage
12. Generate future scientists who will advance medicine and technology
13. Learn for the sake of learning
14. Help people become interesting and productive
15. Defang the proletariat
16. Establish a floor below which a typical person is unlikely to fall
17. Find and celebrate prodigies, geniuses and the gifted
18. Make sure kids learn to exercise, eat right and avoid common health problems
19. Teach future citizens to obey authority
20. Teach future employees to do the same
21. Increase appreciation for art and culture
22. Teach creativity and problem solving
23. Minimize public spelling mistakes
24. Increase emotional intelligence
25. Decrease crime by teaching civics and ethics
26. Increase understanding of a life well lived
27. Make sure the sports teams have enough players

So my students of 2009 and ‘grown-ups’ of the future…let’s get a little clever and have a think about this list.

What would you add, change or remove? I don’t want you to obsess about some of the ones that you don’t understand or don’t ‘speak’ to you but something must jump out at you as right, wrong or crazy.

Post on your own blog by Friday the 6th of June under the heading “I think school is for…”