What, if anything, does Cory learn?

I think that one of the most profound lessons that Cory
learns at the end of the drama is to not be like his father.  The father/ son
relationship is a powerful one in that its negative elements and its toxicity helps to
provide a sense of change in Cory.  The son understands what not to be after seeing his
father.  Though initially reticent in attending his funeral, Cory does come around and
attend his father's funeral.  He recognizes that there has to be a sense of forgiveness
towards his father, in order for him to be fully advanced and fully learn from his
father.  If he holds on to the anger, then he would be no different from his father,
holding on to the anger and in the process creating fences between he and his world and
the people who love him.  In forgiving his father and singing with Raynell in the last
scene at the funeral, Cory recognizes the need to live a life without fences, without
emotional alienation.  In this, Cory learns to be radically different from his father in
acknowledging that life has to be one where there is complete immersion in life and
being in the world is not one where division and "emotional fences" can
exist.