What is 'EDUCATION?'

By: LAVANYA KARKI

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Sometimes, it is easier to use a term than to define it. Sometimes, it is easier to understand something’s meaning than to explain it to someone else. Sometimes, it is easier to label and classify items than to properly understand the basis of this classification. The term ‘education’ is one such term.

We have been using words like ‘education’, ‘educated’, ‘uneducated’ etc. since as long as we can remember. Take a pause… and try to define any of these. One thing that this endeavour will reveal to you is that defining ‘education’ is not a cup of tea even for the most educated lot; ironically!

Many philosophers have tried defining their conception of education. For Plato, education meant “the capacity to feel pleasure and pain at the right moment;” his definition intended to mean the development of the body and the soul. Socrates conceived the concept of education as “bringing out ideas of universal validity that are latent in the minds of individuals.” While Aristotle saw education as “the creation of a sound body in a sound mind,” Rousseau believed that “education begins at birth, even before an individual can speak or understand.” While Friedrich Willing Froebel defines education as “the unfolding of what is already inherent in the individual,” Herbert Spencer thinks that “education is completely living.”

Each of these definitions are instructive in their own sense. None of them are wrong because they are opinions, and opinions can never be right or wrong. Opinions depend on perspective, which changes from person to person. By the same logic, each one of us can define education in our own terms, which is also why there are so many definitions of ‘education’ and yet no single, universally acceptable definition!

As most of you, I have formulated my own understanding of ‘education.’ My perspective of what encompasses ‘education’ begins with a basic understanding that education involves the interaction of people with their surroundings and with other people. This means that we take education from our environment (social, political, economic, natural etc.) and education is what, in turn, empowers us to interact gainfully with the environment. Environment, in the broader sense, means the society we live in, the nation we are a part of, and the entire global community, at large.

I believe that education refers to development and growth of an individual in three domains-

• Intellectual growth- While defining intellect could in itself be tricky, what I mean by intellectual growth is the ability to distinguish right and wrong and the ability to take independent decisions after weighing all factors that one may have to consider. Right and wrong, per se, is neither static nor universal. However, being able to decide for oneself based on one’s morality is, according to me, an important indicator of education. Intellect, in this sense, is developing the faculties of your mind to think rationally.

• Moral growth- The use of the word ‘morality’ in the previous sentence, brings me to the second domain of growth, which is moral growth. Morals, values, principles etc. are important elements of education for the simple reason that we live in a society, and education, as I stated earlier, involves the interaction of an individual with his/her surroundings. While I recognize that solely aligning one’s morals with that of the society has led to continuance of some evils like sati or the caste system in the past, I would also like to point out that this is where ‘intellect’ i.e. the ability to think rationally, comes into play. In this sense, moral growth means to develop certain values that guide your intellect and drive you as a person, but which also propel your intellect to question societal norms, when they conflict with your morals.

• Knowledge accumulation and Life-skills development- This domain is, in my opinion, the easiest to express because it is something that is spoon-fed to many of us, who have had the opportunity to enroll in a formal educational institution. Gaining information about history, about politics, about economics and studying subjects like Maths, Science, languages etc. is an important domain of education. In this sense, I believe that knowledge accumulation is about gaining information and imbibing life skills like cooking, swimming, driving etc.

While modern educational educations stress heavily on the third domain, ancient educational mechanisms stressed on preparing students for life with more focus on moral and intellectual growth. I believe that it is imperative to ensure harmonious growth of students in all the three domains of education if we want to build responsible global citizens, who are, before anything else- good human beings. Education, after all is the manual that guides you on how to live life. Hence, learning the right way is important for living the right way.

This article is a humble attempt at defining something that we pride ourselves on.