Functions of Government in Educational Control

• Author: Lee O. Garber,William B. Castetter
• Published date: 01 September 1949
• Date: 01 September 1949
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271624926500105

25

Functions

of

Government

in

Educational

Control

By

LEE

O.

GARBER

and

WILLIAM

B.

CASTETTER

T 0

SAY

that

the school

is

a

social

institution

is

to

utter

a

common-

place,

yet

the

meaning

and

importance

of

this

statement

are

too

often

unrec-

ognized.

Its

full

comprehension

is

de-

pendent

on

an

understanding

of

the

na-

ture

of

society,

the

development

of

the

school,

and

the

agency

to

which

society

has

committed

the

administration

of

its

school

system.

When

man

ceased

to

be

an

indi-

vidualist

solely,

when

he

came

to

rec-

ognize

that

he

had

some

interests

in

common

with

his

fellow

men,

society

came

into

existence.

In

the

early

stages

of

man’s

development

society

was

sim-

ple,

but

as

time

went

on

it

became

more

and

more

complex.

In

the

process

of

becoming

complex,

the

need

for

per-

petuating

and

transmitting

group

cul-

ture

to

succeeding

generations

became

increasingly

important.

At

first

this

was

done

in

more

or

less

incidental

fashion.

As

the

social

heritage

ac-

cumulated,

the

need

arose

for

develop-

ment

of

some

agency

that

could

or-

ganize

it

and

pass

it

on

in

some

or-

ganized

fashion.

In

the

beginning,

this

function

of

indoctrinating

youth

was

given

to

and

accepted

by

agencies

such

as

the

family

and

the

priesthood.

Eventually,

in

the

process

of

social

evolution,

society

created

the

school.

Among

all

social

agencies,

the

school

is

unique.

While

other

institutions

also

educate,

they

do

so

only

incidentally.

On

the

other

hand,

the

school,

created

for

the

specialized

purpose

of

providing

formal

education,

educates

consciously.

It

is

a

supplementary

institution,

cre-

ated

by

society

to

extend

the

work

of

other

institutions

and

to

perform

those

educational

functions

which

soci-

ety

deems

necessary

but

which

are

not

performed

at

all,

or

are

only

inade-

quately

performed,

by

other

social

agencies.

From

the

foregoing

considerations,

it

may

be

concluded

that

the

school

is

a

creature

of

society,

created

to

render

a

highly

specialized

social

service.

The

measure

of

its

success

is

dependent,

to

a

large

extent,

upon

the

role

society

as-

signs

it,

as

well

as

the

efficiency

of

the

agency

responsible

for

administering

and

organizing

it.

THE

PLACE

OF

THE

SCHOOL

IN

THE

AMERICAN

SOCIAL

ORDER

In

the

course

of

social

evolution,

the

state,

as

an

agency

for

the

government

of

society,

appeared.

Its

evolution

has

culminated

in

the

democratic

state.

Speaking

of

the

relationship

between

the

state

and

society,

Woodrow

Wilson

has

said:

... that

there

are

natural

and

impera-

tive

limits

to

state

action

no

one

who

seri-

ously

studies

the

structure

of

society

can

doubt.

The

limit

of

state

functions

is

the

limit

of

necessary

cooperation

on

the

part

of

Society

as

a

whole,

the

limit

beyond

which

such

combination

ceases

to

be

im-

perative

for

the

public

good

and

becomes

merely

convenient

for

industrial

or

social

enterprise.

Cooperation

is

necessary

in

the

sense

here

intended

when

it

is

indis-

pensable

to

the

equalization

of

the

condi-

tions

of

endeavor,

indispensable

to

the

maintenance

of

uniform

rules

of

individual

rights

and

relationships,

indispensable

be-

cause

to

omit

it

would

inevitably

be

to

hamper

or

degrade

some

for

the

advance-

ment

of others

in

the

scale

of

wealth

and

social

standing.’

1

Woodrow

Wilson,

The

State

(rev.

ed.,

New

York:

D.

C.

Heath

and

Co.,

1904),

pp.

636-37.