In this unit, learners will be introduced to the definition of the concept of education and its nature so as to serve as a background knowledge for further studies into various aspects of the foundations of education. '
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
Education is as old as man on earth, and there is no society without one form of education or the other, because, without education, socialisation within the society cannot be possible.
The term education is elusive. It is simply difficult to say what education is but rather, simpler definition has been given by UNESCO.
They viewed education as "Organised and sustained instruction designed to communicate a combination of knowledge, skills and understanding valuable for all the activities of life".
To Ezewell (1983), education is viewed as "a cultural process in itself and the way a new-born individual is transformed into a full member of a given society";
In addition, education is generally aimed at making an individual to be socially, mentally, emotionally and morally sound so as to be able to contribute his quarter to the development of his society in general. Winters (2009), defined education as the acquisition of knowledge. She viewed it as taking ownership of the information given to you whether through formal education or through life skills.
Education as it is today known, is a triune concept with at least three connotations. It is a process, a product, and a discipline. But this is only lexically so, for the three concepts are in turn interlaced. Thus, we can say that education is a means through which an individual "develops his abilities skills, capabilities and all forms of behaviour patterns that are of positive value in the society he lives" (Good 1945). In this definition, the "means" is the process; ,while the skills, and all forms of behaviour patterns acquired, which constitute the aggregate of all the processes, are the products. In our .study of both the process and the products, we ask such questions as why do we educate? And how do we educate? This constitute the discipline.
Education is a process whereby the immature members of a group or society are brought to maturity through the influence of the environment. An individual is said to be mature when he has been conditioned to the habits, attitudes, values and customs of the group to which he belongs. An individual's environment includes those forces, which direct his actions. They may be physical or non-physical, near in time and space or extensively remote. They may include animate objects like man and other living things as well as inanimate objects or non- living things.
Environment may be social or psychological. The social environment consists of all the activities of fellow beings that are bound up in the carrying on of the activities of anyone of its members. The psychological environment, on the other hand, consists of all those things "around us" which stimulate us to action and make us behave in the way we do.
Education is a social process which begins at birth. As a social being, the child interacts with the people and things around him, at first completely dependent on them. From birth through childhood to adulthood, he asses through different stages of life. At each stage, he has distinct needs and varying capacities. Through .Ie responses which others make to his own behaviour, he comes to understand and evaluate his surround- .Igs and to distinguish good from bad.
At each stage of his growth he is expected to behave according to the norms of each group to which he belongs, The roles and the parts he plays in each sub-culture and at each level are quite distinct. And he earns these accordingly. Education is, therefore, a process through which the individual passes from birth to death.
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
- understand thoroughly the concept and nature of education it) have an insight into the nature of education in general.
The Concept of Education
The concept of education is not as simple as we generally assume. But in spite of the difficulties, it is now generally agreed that education implies development in the child what the society believes to be valuable.Education is as old as man on earth, and there is no society without one form of education or the other, because, without education, socialisation within the society cannot be possible.
The term education is elusive. It is simply difficult to say what education is but rather, simpler definition has been given by UNESCO.
They viewed education as "Organised and sustained instruction designed to communicate a combination of knowledge, skills and understanding valuable for all the activities of life".
To Ezewell (1983), education is viewed as "a cultural process in itself and the way a new-born individual is transformed into a full member of a given society";
In addition, education is generally aimed at making an individual to be socially, mentally, emotionally and morally sound so as to be able to contribute his quarter to the development of his society in general. Winters (2009), defined education as the acquisition of knowledge. She viewed it as taking ownership of the information given to you whether through formal education or through life skills.
Education as it is today known, is a triune concept with at least three connotations. It is a process, a product, and a discipline. But this is only lexically so, for the three concepts are in turn interlaced. Thus, we can say that education is a means through which an individual "develops his abilities skills, capabilities and all forms of behaviour patterns that are of positive value in the society he lives" (Good 1945). In this definition, the "means" is the process; ,while the skills, and all forms of behaviour patterns acquired, which constitute the aggregate of all the processes, are the products. In our .study of both the process and the products, we ask such questions as why do we educate? And how do we educate? This constitute the discipline.
Education as a Process
Education is a process whereby the immature members of a group or society are brought to maturity through the influence of the environment. An individual is said to be mature when he has been conditioned to the habits, attitudes, values and customs of the group to which he belongs. An individual's environment includes those forces, which direct his actions. They may be physical or non-physical, near in time and space or extensively remote. They may include animate objects like man and other living things as well as inanimate objects or non- living things.
Environment may be social or psychological. The social environment consists of all the activities of fellow beings that are bound up in the carrying on of the activities of anyone of its members. The psychological environment, on the other hand, consists of all those things "around us" which stimulate us to action and make us behave in the way we do.
Education is a social process which begins at birth. As a social being, the child interacts with the people and things around him, at first completely dependent on them. From birth through childhood to adulthood, he asses through different stages of life. At each stage, he has distinct needs and varying capacities. Through .Ie responses which others make to his own behaviour, he comes to understand and evaluate his surround- .Igs and to distinguish good from bad.
At each stage of his growth he is expected to behave according to the norms of each group to which he belongs, The roles and the parts he plays in each sub-culture and at each level are quite distinct. And he earns these accordingly. Education is, therefore, a process through which the individual passes from birth to death.
Social Plugin