2.2. General Definitions of Education

The concept of education is like a diamond which appears to be of a different colour (nature) when seen from different angels (Point of view or philosophy of life)^[1].

Education refers to the activity that has as its main purposes the growth, development and enrichment of the individual^[2]. It designates the totality of influences that nature or other men are able to exercise either on our intelligence or on our will. Durkheim defines education as the action exercised by the older generation upon those who are not yet ready for social life. Its object is to awaken and develop in the child whose physical, intellectual and moral qualities, which are required of him both by his society as a whole and by the milieu for which he is specially destined. Education makes an individual vitally aware of, and responsive to the world in which he lives and develops in him the perfection of which he is capable. Thus, as a process of socialization, education socializes man according to society's requirements. It provides him with individual behavioral norms and social and moral values of the society and thus gives the individual a framework by means of which he can live a satisfying life.

In the words of Dewey, "Education is the development of all those capacities in the individual which will enable him to control his environment and fulfill his responsibilities."^[3] According to Redden, "Education is the deliberate and systematic influence extended by the mature person upon the immature through instruction, discipline and harmonious development of physical, intellectual, aesthetic, social and spiritual powers of the human being according to their essential hierarchy by and for the individual and social uses and directed towards the union of the educated with the creator as the final end".^[4] Thomson says, "By education I mean the influence of the environment upon the individual to produce a permanent change in his habits of behaviour, of thought and of his attitude. Environment has various aspects —physical, social and cultural. Education should facilitate the task of adaptation of the child to his environment."^[5]

Gandhi has a scientific attitude mind. He observes facts, sorts them before accepting them and after weighing them well, he draws his conclusion. What he feels is that while physical and intellectual development is necessary, the training of a child's heart and spirit is more important. He remarks "By education I mean an all-round drawing out of the means whereby man and woman can be educated. Literacy in itself is no education."^[6]

Education puts the child in contact with of a given society and plays a dominant role in the transmission of the social traditions and customs. Certain specific sets of action or beliefs develop from the interaction of the universal societal needs and the derived needs stemming from the operation of a specific culture. In this context, Durkheim speaks of education as answering social needs. He argues that each society needs a certain amount of specialization for the development of the society. Every society sets up an ideal of man, of what he should be, as much from the intellectual point of view as well as from the physical and moral. This ideal is, to a degree, uniform for all the citizens and beyond a certain point it becomes differentiated according to the particular milieux that every society contains in its structure. Through education new generations learn the social norms.^[7]

The future of the society depends on very much on the reputation of the education. They can achieve this by regarding their work as a serious attempt to understand and to contribute to the life of the community. Ryan (quoted in (Moyles and Hargreaves,) states that "From a sociological perspective, the issue of teacher's accountability to society in general includes the importance of the content within which curriculum decisions are made. Teachers engage in a process of selecting appropriate texts, resources and pedagogical practices in order to implement the curriculum".^[8]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

J C Aggarwal, Teacher and Education in a Developing Society, p.3.

[2]:

J C Aggarwal, Ibid., pp. 12-13.

[3]:

John P. Miller, Holistic learning and spirituality in education: breaking new ground, p.9.

[4]:

Peter Jarvis and Stella Parker, Human Learning, pp.2-3.

[5]:

John P. Miller, Ibid. pp.95-96.

[6]:

Sharma Chandradhar, A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy, pp.85-86.

[7]:

Jayaswal Sitaram, Advance Education Psychology, p.35.

[8]:

Sivaraka S, Philosophy of Education: Science and Technology of Learning Reform, p.88.