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If schools get in the way of learning, why do we have them? Why did anyone ever think they would work? Compulsory schooling in the U.S. started because of some lofty, beautiful hopes for democracy, unfortunately mixed up with a lethal dose of arrogance and tainted with a few other impurities. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and other early American leaders argued that in a democracy, people needed to have knowledge and wisdom in order to make decent decisions together. Also, they hoped America could be a country where "everyone" (meaning all the white boys who hadn't immigrated too recently) had an equal chance to succeed. Thus, they all needed a chance to learn and read and grow as children, rather than be packed off to factories for hard labor, rather than be shut off from the world of books and ideas.

According to some historians, people have turned to religion during times of rising capitalism. How should we explain this? Max Weber suggested that it is because Protestants have an ethic of hard work, which is consistent with the need to produce economic value in a capitalistic society. Researchers have shown, however, that Protestants are no more ambitious or hardworking than are members of other religious groups. Thus, Weber’s hypothesis of a Protestant work ethic appears to be invalid.

The People v/s the Profession

This piece of article has no intention of lessening your appreciation for the people who teach school. On one hand, I want to acknowledge the wonderful qualities teachers have, and to explain a few difficult and ironic aspects of their profession. In general, it is not teachers' faults that School Is Bad, although if they all quit there would be no more school. On the other hand, I want to point out some less healthy aspects of common teacher personalities, to help you understand some of the guilt you may feel at school, and to help you give yourself permission to leave.

Let us accept the fact that most students approach the assigned readings with a somewhat cavalier and pragmatic attitude, combined with varying degrees of anxiety and dread. To address this negative posture, we have to see the issue from their point of view given their life circumstances. In particular, we have to avoid projecting our identities and values onto them. When we were in college, most of us ranked among the best students, or we wouldn’t have made it into and through graduate school and into the academy. We exceeded the average in our reading abilities and persistence, our enjoyment of the activity, the importance we attach to it, the learning benefits we derive from it, our interest in at least some subjects, and our raw intelligence. At the same time, we probably weren’t perfect students ourselves. No doubt we cut some corners, skipped some readings, spent some nights cramming, and prioritized certain extracurricular activities over some of our courses. And we were gifted enough to get away with it.

Undoubtedly, an effective Character Education provides students with opportunities for moral action.  In the principled as in the intellectual domain, students are practical learners; they learn best by doing. To nurture good character, they need several and diverse chances to apply principles such as empathy, responsibility, and equality in everyday communications and discussions in addition to community service. By grappling with real life challenges, how to divide the labor in a cooperative learning group, how to reach consensus in a class meeting, how to reduce fights on the playground, how to carry out a service learning project and reflecting on these experiences, students develop practical understanding of the requirements of cooperating with others and giving of oneself Through repeated experiences that cause them to consider their moral beliefs, students develop and practice the skills and behavioral habits that make up the action side of character.