I'm a teacher right now in an elementary school and you are absolutely correct (and so is Al to some extent)... we do not talk about what we're doing and why. I mean, we don't. EVER. In my school, which I assume is probably pretty average for schools that cater to mainly white kids from middle to upper middle-class families, we just go on year after year after year doing the same kind of professional development, the same lessons, and talking about the same problems over and over and over again. A public school, I can vouch, is the VERY LAST PLACE to find an intellectual discourse on the purpose, aim or goal of public education. It's as if it's a forgone conclusion that, as things stand, they are the best they can be. I'm that annoying guy sometimes at meetings who try to get the group off the agenda by pointing out something about the "why" of what we're doing. Only I'm told by administration, and sometimes my own colleagues, to basically shut up. It's not on the agenda. It's not in my "sphere of influence." It is how it is.

So, what, pray tell, have I learned after 19 years in the biz is the purpose, goal and aim of public education? To teach the standards.

That's all.