Abstract

Currently there is no well-defined purpose for formally educating students in America that can be used to serve the maximum potential interests of students. An ultimate principle of educational teleology, or, purpose, can be obtained from Plato's educational theory in his REPUBLIC, "the most fit doctrine" . ;The MFD can be adapted to the context of an open, pluralistic society . Its implementation requires sweeping changes in both student diagnostic testing and organizational structure of existing educational institutions. Models of such tests and organization are herein provided. ;In order to provide an educational infrastructure that can serve the MFD goals, changes in societal attitudes toward formal education are also required. The very basic relationship of the educational staff to the student is essential to the MFD implementation. Political priorities must also be changed so that the public aspect of education, along with the private domain, can be adjusted. The role of the family, especially parents, in the formal education of the child must also be changed to ensure that students get consistently favorable reinforcements that render effective whatever institutional changes. As well, options to the typical K-12 semester programming are questioned and alternatives are provided. ;The philosophy of classical utilitarianism is employed as a basis for judging, on a logically independent front, the worth of the MFD-based proposals. Some of the problems with utilitarianism, as a theory of value, are acknowledged and addressed. Still, the prevalence of utilitarianism as a justificatory device in American society promotes its status as an independent basis for justifying the MFD approach to education. ;Finally, it is not contended that the MFD approach can answer any and all questions regarding quality. It is logically, if not empirically, possible for individuals to achieve a serious sense of personal and social fulfillment, the ultimate goals of the MFD, without having to be a student product of an MFD type of system. Still, such a possibility is remote and unrelated to the need to institutionalize the MFD programming which would serve to maximize individual and social potential in the open, pluralistic American society