Defining Education.....

On the first day of having our induction programme at the AP University, my learning group was asked to define education.  Of course, we all have our own opinion, and there were differences in opinions and views, and some of our proposed definition were very limited or to put it plainly, out of context.

For instance, my definition was that “Education is the imparting/gaining of knowledge and skill; knowledge is the understanding of the process of how to reach from here to there, and skill is the ability to apply that understanding of the process into practice”.

My friends found my definition too formal, so we embarked on making a generic definition of Education.  The interesting thing was that, none of the members in my group were from Education background and and most of us have a vague idea about education.  So we decided to be inclusive and inculcate everyone’s opinion and came out with a generic definition that goes something like this:

Education is the lifelong process to gain knowledge and impart skills which enhances our ability to understand ourselves and the world better.

Of course I don’t agree with this definition, but like any other good team player, I went along with the group definition.  To me, education is not only about gaining knowledge but also about imparting knowledge, and not just imparting skills but also gaining skills.    

Later on, someone from another group debated with me about our definition of education, and we argued about it.  He gave a very bookish definition, confining education to the formal sector only, i.e. to school based on structured curriculum, etc.

But I stick-on to my group’s definition and defended it, successfully I might said since my debate opponent finally gave up, but deep down, I know my definition has its limitation and is problematic.

When reflecting back on to the various definition, I started mentally defining the concept of education, and it becomes very broad.  Let me explain that reflection with a simple example;

Consider a fisherman teaching his three sons how to fish using a fishing-net in a fishing boat.  Now can the fisherman be called a teacher, the fishing-boat be called a school and can the fishing-net be called the tools, since even fishing has a process to go from here to there, i.e. to an immature fisher to an expert fisher who make a living out of fishing.

Now in a bookish sense, any learning that happened outside a formal set-up is called social learning, and any learning that happened within our social realm is called socialization.  But aren’t these sorts of learning also have process, and involve knowledge and skill that are relevant to our contextual life, and be applied for our daily existence?

I’m yet to fully organize my thoughts on this subject, so please don’t judge it as yet!