School

Scope

We think of a "school" as a place where children are taught.

True, the meaning is blurred.    Some colleges are for kids, just as some schools are for adults.

Some schools teach specific subjects, such as music or ballet.   Parts of universities are called schools, as with the London School of Economics, or SOAS.   But mostly, schools mean kids.

Distance Learning Schools

So, not surprisingly, the name "school" is not a common choice amongst distance learning providers, at least in the UK.    A few single-subject organisations choose it, particularly those who wish to emphasise their academic credentials.    And some retain it from the days when distance learning providers were called correspondence schools.

School may be the commonest name for an educational establishment, but it is by no means the only one.    Academy, conservatory, lyceum, college, gymnasium, and institute all have their fans, not to mention specialist names like seminary, borstal, reformatory, kindergarten, and university.

Each has its own resonances, which can add or subtract for the overall impression.

And the private sector uses other words as well: company, division, group, office, bureau, etc..

Origins

The Greek word from which school is derived, schole, meant leisure.    Nowadays, for children and teachers alike, school means the opposite.    Indeed, the verb "to school", has overtones of discipline and strictness which are the antipathy of leisure for most of us.    Another example of how words can change so much that they take on opposite connotations.

Related Terms:

• college
• provider

Back to Meanings.