Education : Part 1

Education is a very broad term and vast subject. It can be said that the interpretation of it can be done in as many ways as many heads are. Here, I have attempted to talk about the term education from the perspective of the students who are pursuing their degree, either Bachelor’s or master’s, in education. Hope it will fulfil the requirements of students to understand some basics.

As the term education cannot be covered up in just one blog and cannot be justified properly so there will be two to three parts of it, dealing with its different facets in detail.  Here, in this blog, we will try to understand the aims of education on which the whole education process resides.

Meaning of the term:

Education means a process in which the petals of ignorance gets removed and enlightenment takes place in the form of acquired knowledge.

Now let us look at the definitions of several educationists who have attempted to define the term in their own unique way which reflects their philosophies of education:

Education means, “the creation of a sound mind in a sound body”.

– Aristotle

Education is a way of “helping the growing soul to draw out that is in itself.”

– Sir Aurobindo

“Education is the process of living through a continuous reconstruction of experiences.”

– John Dewey

Education is the “manifestation of the perfection already in men”.

– Swami Vivekananda

“Education is a process that goes on throughout life, and is promoted by almost every experience in life.”

– J. S. Mackenzie

Concept of Education:

On the grounds of the above definitions and the general understanding of the term ‘education’ its concept can be constructed in the following manner: 

• It is a perpetual process of gaining knowledge in life. 
• It is a process of giving the touch of perfection to the human being.
• It is aimed at bringing harmonious and multifaceted development in men.
• It is a journey of advancing self through experiences and learning from them.
• It’s a way to bring the developments in the human potentialities. 
• Harmonious development includes one’s physical, psychological, moral and social level development.
• It is a tool which can help us in bringing solutions to the problems that we face in life.

Aims of Education:

The education process attempts to attain several aims that can be enlisted as below:

1. Social Aim: The first and foremost aim of education is to bring developments. In other terms same can be termed as, bringing reformations and upliftment of society and its subjects i.e. people. Humans are the basic components of society and their progress of them ultimately results in the progress of society. We all know that in society many types of beliefs and notions are prevailing which are in a way the obstacles on the path of progress. Until the wave of enlightenment does not take place society cannot come out from the dark.

Another important facet of this aim is, by education, a child cultivates different social values like harmonious relationships among people, understanding and cultivation of an attitude for social development and approach, awareness about the society and the social structures, etc.

2. Vocational Aim

One of the purpose of education is to enable a person to stand on oneself and vocational aim is what trying to fulfill that objective. Hence, it is also known as the ‘bread and butter’ aim of education. The purpose of this aim is by getting education one should be able to get a respectable job which can pay to the person enough that the person can atleast feed him/herself properly in life.

According to the renowned psychologist of America, Abraham Maslow, who gave the theory of ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ by which he opined that the child can learn attentively if the basic needs of one are fulfilled because then only one can think of other things. The vocational aim of education is in a way fulfilling this objective to the fullest by enabling one to get his ‘bread and butter’ so that s/he can direct himself or herself to the other things.

3.  Cultural Aim

The third aim of education is known as the cultural aim. A person always carries his or her culture along with him or her is woven with his lifestyle and also reflects in the manner of one’s living. Now, comes the question that how can one make a child aware and can provide knowledge of the culture? In response to it, it can be said that such knowledge can be imparted by providing them with the information about different festivals, the way to celebrate them, why do we celebrate them, what are the mythological associations with them? etc.

The minds of the children are always stuffed with such questions. As a teacher or parent one should attempt to answer the children of such questions and provide them with proper information about the concerned matter. This activity encourages the child to seek more, to research and to know more and ultimately develop as well as strengthen their bond with their culture and nation too. In one way, it can be said that it helps to make the child feel proud of their nation.

Apart from that connecting the child with the culture also connects him/her with the society they live in, the kind of structure the society has, the kind of code of conduct one should have to live in society as a social being, what are the social rules and norms there that one should have to follow and so on. In a way, it helps a normal home man, who is not connected with society on large scale, to get connected and develop a good relationship with the outside world with a humanitarian approach.

4. Moral Aim

The personality of one can be analysed by the kind of behaviour one keeps during his/hers difficult times, in the approach, that a person keeps while addressing the hard times. This is the time when the character of one reflects. The character and behaviour of one play a vital role to create an image of an individual in the mind of a person and these two factors are based on the moral development of an individual. Therefore it’s very necessary to have a proper moral foundation in an individual which can only become possible through proper education regarding it from the beginning step of the education process.

Further in this, it can be said that the process of education is not just to enable one to earn but also to help one to understand the difference between what is good and bad? Especially in regards to gender education been said that parents and teachers should give knowledge to children about what is bad touch? What good touch? This understanding and more such concepts should be developed among the children which can help them to feel protective and safe in society.

These things fall under the moral aim of education. And by getting knowledge about them a person can develop both professional as well as personal level in a sound manner. It helps to eradicate the problems like violence, dishonesty, jealousy, etc. from society and in the development of humanity in a better way.

Conclusion:

Hereby, to sum up, everything it can be said that education is a process, a journey to penetrate which can bring cumulative transformation in human beings, in their thinking and ultimately in the society.