Saturday, January 21, 2012
Education vs. Schooling
On the first night of class we all discussed what education meant to us in our small groups and there were so many different interpretations from each individual. We talked about how education is the transfer of knowledge from one person to another, it is learning, it is experiences, it happens all the time, it is a process that grows upon itself. We said that education is knowledge of the basics like reading, writing, and arithmetic. We also said that education is the process of becoming an educated person. It is clear that education can mean a variety of things to different individuals but I would agree with any and all of those statements. I believe that education is the process of using experiences to develop a skill set in which an individual always has access to an optimal state of mind in any situation. Education does not only apply to school settings and book-smarts, but also growing as an individual and common sense. Therefore, schooling is almost like guidelines that are applied to educational goals. Schooling incorporates specific curriculum, standards, benchmarks, and boundaries to set goals for the direction in which learning is happening. It is specific training, classes, and exposure to areas that an individual wishes to become educated in. I think education can happen without the directional guiding of schooling, but the purpose of schooling is education, and so cannot happen without education.
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Hi Kristen!
ReplyDeleteI also gravitated to the two questions about education and schooling. I agree with your ideas about the two topics. I feel that schooling is education acquired through structured and guided experiences…. I guess I might differentiate between education and learning. I feel that the purpose of education is to help an individual survive and function in society as well as by one’s self. I see learning as attaining knowledge and skills in many different settings that in turn help an individual to attain an education. I feel that what is learned through education is different for everyone but that the purpose of education and learning are universal.
Hello Kristen,
ReplyDeleteI share your view that education may mean different things to different people. And like you, I also think that education is the goal of schooling.
I agree that schooling is arming an individual with tools to function in society but I think there are different types and levels of education. I agree that in school you teach kids things about social norms (i.e. what is acceptable behavior and expected) but I think the majority of an individual's education on social norms comes from their home and social groups. I think the purpose of modern day schooling is to make individuals competitive. There are several benchmarks in education but not too many of the standards check to see if someone is sociable or knows what is socially acceptable. I guess those aspects just go without saying?
ReplyDeleteI too feel that education is a transfer of knowledge that happens in a variety of ways. Learning is a continual progress and schooling plays a large part in the learning process but is not the main contributor in education.
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