I think most people believe (and rightly so) that the purpose of school is to prepare people for work. Unfortunately, they assume this means teaching knowledge, skills, how to think, among other things.

The reality is that schools primarily instill discipline and work ethic. This was probably fine for most of the 20th century, when you entered the workforce and could do well by showing up on time and not doing anything stupid.

Succeeding in today's economy requires a lot more creativity and savvy, but schools are still suck in the past. In a factory, conformity and discipline are probably beneficial to everyone - they made it an easier, better place to work.

But now conformity and discipline leave students unable to think for themselves, unable to question the world around them (and instead form their opinions based on who their facebook friends talk about). We're being left with fewer and fewer students who want to problem solve, take risks, and really be different (expressing themselves by what they DO instead of what they Buy/Say/Know).