Education in the wider sense is a life-long process. It begins with the birth of a child and ends with his death. It is a continuous process. Continuity is the law of life. Education is not merely collection of some information. It is acquisition of experiences through life in the social and natural environment. It includes all the knowledge and experiences, acquired during infancy, childhood, boyhood, adolescence, youth, manhood or old age through any agency of education- the press, the travels, the club, the nature formally and informally. Thus, education becomes the sum-total of all experiences that the child receives either in the school or outside. In this wider sense, life is education and education is life. Whatever broadens our horizon, deepens our insight, refines our reactions and stimulates thought and feeling, educates us.” In other words, education is the process whereby a human being gradually adopts himself in various ways to his physical, social, and spiritual environments. It is the development of all those capacities in the individual, which will enable him to control his environment and fulfill his possibilities. Education, in the broader sense, is transmission of life by the living, to the living, through living and for living”. Education is a means for the development of balanced all- round harmonious development of personality. Personality includes not only body and mind but also spirit.
EDUCATION AS FORMATION OF MIND
Education as formation tries to form the mind by a proper presentation of materials. It is formation of mind by setting up certain association or connection of content by means of a subject matter.
EDUCATION AS PREPARATION
Education as preparation is a process of preparation or getting ready for the responsibilities and privileges of adult life- preparation for “complete living”, this theory is the outcome of modern scientific tendency in education and has for its exponents men like Herbert Spencer, T. H. Huxley and others.
EDUCATION AS MENTAL DISCIPLINE
The theory of mental discipline is a traditional concept of education. It was in vogue in the Western countries for many centuries. It is still highly popular even today in our country. According to this theory, the process of learning is more important than the thing learned. This theory is based upon the traditional “Faculty Theory” of psychology according to which the mind is divided into a good number of separate faculties such as memory, attention, reasoning, imagination, perception, thinking, judgment etc. Johan Locke was the classic representative of this theory. The outer world presents the material or content of knowledge, through passively received sensations. After the simple stuff of experience is furnished by the senses, one’s ideas, judgments, etc. are formed through the perfection of intellect.
EDUCATION AS GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
It is a modern concept of education. Change is the law of nature. Man undergoes changes and transformations from cradle to grave. These changes may be of different types such as physical, mental, moral and emotional. Two factors, training and environment condition every change. The original nature of man can be changed either by training on by his reaction to the environment. Whenever there is change there is growth. Through change, a living organism can take entirely a new shape and this again gives him powers to grow. Thus, Growing is education and getting education is growing.
EDUCATION AS DIRECTION
Educate a child means directing the child in the proper direction. The young learners have innate powers, attitudes, interests and instincts. It is the essential function of education to direct those inborn instincts and powers properly in socially acceptable and desirable channels. The native impulses of the child may not conform to the socially accepted norms and behaviour patterns. So the child has to be directed, controlled or guided. It is the duty of the teacher to see that the active tendencies of children are not dispersed aimlessly. These are to be directed at various phases of life for their proper satisfaction.
EDUCATION AS ADJUSTMENT AND SELF-ACTIVITY
Adjustment is essential to an individual for self-development. Education gives an individual the power of adjustment in an efficient manner. Through education, the child learns to adjust with the environment. That is why it is said education is adjustment and adjustment is education. In the process of continuous growth man has to adjust in multifarious and diverse life situations and environment. This is called adjustment and it requires self-activity. So education is nothing but adjustment through self-activity.
EDUCATION AS SOCIAL CHANGE AND PROGRESS
A society is a well-organized human community. A conglomeration of people may not create a society. There must be active co-operation and intimate interaction among the members of the community. A society is not constant or static. It is rather dynamic and subject to change. A society is composed of individuals and when the ideas of individuals change the society is bound to change. According to Maciver social change is a process, which influences and change human life in different directions. Change is the law of human life and society. The function of education is to maintain this progressive trend.
EDUCATION AS PROCESS SOCIALIZATION
Education is a process both in the narrower as well as in the wider sense. Ancient people used to collect facts and information about nature for survival. This is nothing but education. In the wider sense, education is acquisition of experience throughout life. Experience brings changes in human life and behaviour. It is the primary function of formal education to accelerate and facilitate social progress.
CONCLUSION
Education is thus not limited to the classroom only; it is also not limited to a particular period of life. Education is a life long process and goes on from birth to death. Throughout life one goes on learning to adjust oneself to the changing patterns of life. Change, it’s the fundamental law of human existence. Life is a continuous process of growth and development and so education is also a continuous process. An individual learns through his experiences, which are acquired throughout his life.
(The author a doctor at Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences and Hospital Jammu is also an Educator at Unacademy, India’s largest online education platform.His views are personal)
