What is the purpose of School?

Ron Miller draws distinctions between three general approaches.
A transmission approach assumes that the primary purpose of education
 is to induct young people into the established values, beliefs, and accepted knowledge of the existing society.
The transaction approach is more sensitive to the social context of learning. There is more room for individual differences, more respect for diverse understandings, and a concern that only a democratic community encourages dialogue and experimentation.
The transformational approach is more radical and proposes that to educate the human being is not merely to make him a knowledgeable, productive member of society (transmission), or an active, engaged citizen (transaction), but also to encourage each person to discover a deeper meaning for his or her life.