Value, Strengths, and Weaknesses of Liam Shield's Proposal on the Fairness of Education

LIAM SHIELDS’ PROPOSAL FOR IMPROVING FAIRNESS IN EDUCATION
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LIAM Shield’s Proposal for Improving Fairness in education
Fairness in education is one of the critical aspects that many philosophers, and experts advocate for. It refers to giving equal opportunity to learners to acquire knowledge and skills for future applications (Zwick and Dorans, 2016). Fairness in education correlates to equity which refers to opportunities to learn and demonstrate the value of education through test construction. Equitable and fair education is the primary factor to unlock different opportunities for those who cannot successfully afford education, especially those living below the poverty line (Mazzoli et al., 2018). Therefore, the concept of fairness focuses on the quality and mortal virtue of educational assessment that results from learning theories and measurements. It is also relayed to other societal concepts such as justice, validity, and reliability. Generally, fairness in education relies on three major factors including, evaluative thinking, constructive environment, and learning opportunities (Cooling, 2012). Fairness is incomplete without transparency and diversity among the learners. Different philosophers have established different proposals to articulate fairness in education. However, the proposals have strengths and weaknesses. The paper evaluates Liam's proposal on the fairness of education by considering its value, strengths, and weaknesses.
Value of Education
The value of education is a complex concept in the philosophy of education. Some of the aspects which the experts must consider to understand the value of education include institutions, policies, and rightness (Gatley, 2021). Any moral philosopher must be well competent with the identified elements. Different claims exist regarding the value of education. The first claim is that educational value is good when there is a positive aspect or gain from the process. For instance, Shields (2018) claims that education is a valuable good regardless of many conflicts on the claim. The link between education and its value is evident based on the economic perspective. For instance, a student studying economics does so to gain economic concepts necessary for future application. It means that such learners view education as a valuable tool to curb future barriers. The other claim on the value of education is that it provides guidance (Gatley, 2021). Education enlightens people with adequate knowledge necessary for personal and professional growth. Therefore education is considered valuable depending on the impacts on the learners. There are critical elements of the value of education, including instrumental and intrinsic aspects.
Intrinsic and Instrumental Value of Education
The instrumental value of education correlates to different aspects such as knowledge, wisdom, and intellect, thus relying on the meaning of education. Education is determined by how well one understands specific principles and applies them in given situations (Gatley, 2021). The intrinsic value of education is also based on motivational property. Instrumental and intrinsic are not similar since the learners may engage in education for different purposes. For instance, one may study volleyball for career purposes while another may study the same game entertainment. However, in both cases, it promotes self-actualization as determined by Aristotle. Aristotle noted that both instrumental and intrinsic value of education leads to happiness due to their virtuous nature. The two concepts of education conflict since others view education as a source of job opportunity while others embrace it as a source of developing talents (Shields, 2018). Therefore, due to the two conflicts, education impacts growth positively.
Education's instrumental and intrinsic value makes it necessary to treat it fairly and ensure the learners equally access different educational premises. It is unfair for a given community section to equally access education while others struggle to fail due to socio-economic imbalance. According to Shields (2018), fairness in education relies on equality and equity regardless of the intrinsic and instrumental ideologies. Therefore, experts and educational philosophers should consider intrinsic and instrumental values to promote fairness in education.
Shields’ Approaches to Making Education Fairer
There is a need to make education fairer based on its intrinsic and instrumental values. Shields (2018) noted that making education fairer would impact the community and the learners and reduce any cases of inequalities caused by socio-economic imbalance. Therefore, Shields (2018) established specific approaches necessary to make education fairer by focusing on intrinsic and instrumental value.
The first approach is to develop human talents to enhance intrinsic values. Making the education fair is not only based on opportunities; however, there is a need to allow the learners to develop different abilities without any restriction. Talent development is a crucial consideration necessary for any learner regardless of their social background or any other factor. According to Meyer (2014), the current century has higher technological development due to increased innovation and growth. Therefore, one of the crucial ways to promote education is to ensure that the learners have an equal chance of focusing on innovation and creativity. There is a need to combine ethics and knowledge during talent exploration and development. During talent development, it is also necessary to accommodate the disabled and the gifted students to allow them to equally generate new ideas and competencies. Different types of learners should have equal opportunities for successful growth.
Shields (2018) notes a need to equally employ intrinsic value in developing talents. The parents should play a considerable role in ensuring that their children develop effective and reliable talents. The parents should use the power of conviction regardless of their socio-economic status to ensure that their children focus on the intrinsic value of education before they fully develop and focus on the intrinsic value of education. The major problem that inhibits individuals from developing talents is unequal opportunities. Therefore, Shields' approach of considering the parents in creating equal opportunities for talent development is effective since it leads to fairer education. The approach is also necessary since it limits the learners from objecting to intrinsic values in education.
The second approach involves restricting inequalities in different opportunities with positive impacts or instrumental values in education. The instrumental aspect of education is necessary since it majorly focuses on the correlation between education and other job opportunities. According to Peters (2017), education's instrumental value is essential since it complements education with other goods. There is a need to focus on suitable structures that promote equal opportunities for learners and access related learning opportunities such as professional development. The identified approach is significant since it allows the learners to reason beyond talent development and instead explore real life. Therefore, the identified approaches...