The Purpose Of Education And Its Role In The Society

‘Education has been conceived as a means to better the lot of our children rather than our own lot;’ (Bruner, 2002a), this implies how important and useful education is as it helps you to progress in the greatest way possible. Education provides people with the knowledge of the world around them and changes it into something better as it plays a vital role in changing the world. Education decreases poverty, racism, abolishes gender inequalities and most importantly promotes peace. For example, a world leader can do this by changing people’s ideas and concepts by educating them. It develops in us a perspective of looking at life in a critical manner and helps us build opinions and build our own perspectives on things in life.

There are 3 types of education, Formal, Informal and Non-formal education. Formal education would involve participating in schools and working towards getting a degree or certification. Informal education is different to this as it involves practical adult learning and non-formal education is when you’re learning from home and your experiences. In order to get an education this does not mean you have to be in a school setting with a teacher, whom is providing you with information as there are many other ways to achieve more knowledge. For example, learning your mother tongue, participating in community-based education courses, learning how to ride a bike and reading a book. These examples are all different forms of education but by doing so you are developing your skills and learning along the way. Due to there being different forms of education there is also many different purposes of education. The writer will be discussing the different purposes and the importance of them.

Education provides you with the knowledge of the world, which includes important historical events and significant people. This then means students are aware of past and present events which effect the world we live in. This allows students to build their own opinions and to develop their own perspectives as they now have a better understanding of the world, they live in. However, this does not mean you have to take part in formal education in order to gain knowledge. Informal education which may include you participating in outdoor activities has many factors as it allows you to become more confident and independent as you are able to act freely in unknown situations. ‘However, learning is obviously not synonymous with schooling’(Wood, 1998, p.16), this supports the idea that in order to lean you do not have to be part of formal education. An individual can learn without any obligations or restrictions as they are able to explore more. Another factor is that you begin to understand yourself more as it allows students a choice in learning therefore meaning they will begin to realise what their likes, dislikes are and what activities interest them. This also bridges the gap between school and life. The purpose of education is to increase your knowledge through personal development, the factors included in this are physical, social, intellectual, and emotional abilities. For example, your physical abilities are enhanced as you can create a better way of living as you have a sense of well-being as you will learn about nutrition, medicine and exercise, therefore meaning you will know what a healthy lifestyle looks like. Knowledge also improves your intellectual development as you begin to become a critical thinker and have the ability to solve problems, due to you being able to find information, analysis situations and create alternative solutions. Being knowledgeable also has an impact on you emotionally as you feel personal satisfaction due to you achieving your goals which therefore makes you feel like you have created a meaningful life. Your self-esteem also increases as you begin to feel better about your-self because of how much knowledge you have gained.

In addition, another purpose of education is discipline, when in school there are many rules and regulations which help to keep everyone on track. This then teaches students what type of behaviour is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Discipline is put in use as there are rules every student must follow, for example you must listen to the teacher, classmates and follow directions. This teaches students to engage and to listen carefully when given instructions. Another rule is to be respectful of classmates, teachers, and objects, this ensures that the students learn to treat everyone in the correct manner, to value objects and to also take care of them. The method of discipline is very useful as it is seen as self-improvement practice, it also allows students to achieve their goals in life as they are working towards them. Discipline is not only taught in schools as you could be working from home and would learn to discipline yourself as you would be sticking to a routine and would be consistent when working. If discipline is not put in action it will then have a negative effect on your attitude as you will begin to become lazy as there is no structure in your life. It can also cost a person’s career as without discipline they will not understand how to behave in the correct manner, they will also lack basic life skills like punctuality, communication and time management. This then affects them in their present life as they will become a barrier to themselves, but it will also affect their future as it will be difficult for them to find a job due to them not having successful qualities.

Self-discipline is also very important as this means you have the ability to control and motivate yourself, meaning you will stay on track and do what is right. At a young age you are taught about moral sense, this can be taught by your teachers, parents or even friends. Bear (2010) states that self-discipline encourages a positive school climate, fosters academic achievement, helps you to promote your self-worth and emotional well-being. Self-discipline ensures you achieve your goals as it means you avoid acting on impulses and can continue working on your goals you have set in place as you have the correct mindset.

Freire was concerned with oppressed populations, he believed in order to create social justice, education must be led by the oppressed and serve the oppressed. Oppressed communities can connect in order to educate on their own terms as this would then be more beneficial due to them being able to relate more as they have dealt with the same issues. Freire believed the purpose of education was to help build a more socially accepted world in which everyone can become freer. He argues that education should treat the learner as a co-creator of knowledge. The Banking Concept in Education prolongs oppression as this method suggested that an educator looks at students as if they were empty containers read to be filled with knowledge. This method is economical due to only little tools needed to relay the information to the students. Freire believed that the Banking Concept maintains control over the students as there in no communication between the teacher and the students. Instead the students are expected to absorb the information they have been given without questioning it. This then means that the students are not understanding what they are learning meaning there is no value to their knowledge. ‘It is highly probable that certain changes in our educational system will occur in the years ahead, given the demands placed upon it by the community.’ (Burner, 2010b) This suggests how there is still improvement to be made within education and supports the idea that Freire believed education should be more than just a teacher speaking and the students listening but more about the people within the community as they are very significant. Students experience many different things in their life and come from many different backgrounds, these aspects can help change the curriculum. By including these factors in the curriculum this then means the knowledge they will be learning will be more meaningful, as education is not just about learning facts. ‘They must abandon the educational goal of deposit making and replace it with the posing of the problems of human beings in their relations with the world.’ (Freire, 2007) Freire also believed that people of the lower class should be empowered through the educational process as they have suffered enough. By becoming educated this then means they are opened up to better opportunities and are able to change their life for the better. Social justice is very important as it helps students to tackle real life problems by looking at them from numerous viewpoints. In addition, students are more observant as they are able to notice discrimination and inequality in current and historical events and also in their own actions. Meaning they are more aware and have a better understanding. Social justice imposes the idea of what is fair and what is not which then leads to better decision making as an adult. Overall this supports the idea that the purpose of education should be to free those who are oppressed and the knowledge that people gain should be more significant.

Another purpose of education is economic welfare as one of the benefits of education is the labour market earnings. Educations value in economy is evident due to the well-known fall of manufacturing jobs. Education enhances people’s understanding of themselves and the world they live in as it improves the quality of their lives and leads to wide social benefits to individuals and society as a whole. Education helps to raise people’s productivity, inspiration and endorses entrepreneurship, it also play a vital role in securing economic and social progress and improving income distribution. People whom have an education earn higher wages as they are able to get a higher status jobs due to their qualifications. Having qualifications is very important as it shows you have the correct skills and abilities in order to be efficient at your job. Also, the more successful you are, the more money you will earn. Having a good income is very important as it ensure you are able to afford to buy a house, groceries and clothes, etc. Therefore, meaning you are ensured to have the best lifestyle with all the things you need in order to survive and to stay healthy. This also links to Freire as he believed the oppressed deserve justice and freedom.

Another purpose of education is to provide people with life skills which will be very useful in daily tasks they complete. John Dewey was concerned with the relationship between education and democracy, his philosophy shaped the teaching and running of his school. Dewey believed that students learn through a hands-on approach and that they must interact within their environment in order to adapt and learn. He then founded a school (The laboratory school), the aim of this school was to revolutionise the education system and to transform society into a great democratic community. The laboratory school had a different approach to teaching as Dewey believed that reality must be experienced. Instead of leaning about subjects like English, Maths and science, the students would do practical work which included topics like cooking, gardening and woodwork. This then meant that the students would begin to learn day to day skills which they would use in life, therefore meaning the knowledge they were provided with was significant. However, this method of learning is not being practiced as now in education there is a curriculum which majority of schools must stick to and subjects like English and Maths are very important. However, you do still learn very important life skills from these subjects. For example, English teaches you many skills but the four main skills you learn are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. English is very a common language as it is either the official or the primary language in many countries. ‘It has become a language of International commerce and trade, a language of status and symbol.’ (Ahmad, 2016 P.479). This demonstrates how important English is as it is used in many other countries meaning when travelling or working abroad it will not be difficult as you will be able to communicate easily. Similarly, by learning how to speak English correctly this means you enhance your cognitive and analytical abilities.

In this essay the write has discussed the importance of education and the purpose of education. Education helps to develop people into lifelong learners as they begin to develop the love of learning. ‘Education is the engine of our economy, it is the foundation of our culture, and it’s an essential preparation for adult life.’ (GOV.UK, 2015). Education provides you with many opportunities in life and also makes you become more aware. All the purposes of education mentioned in this essay are all important as they all help to better you in different ways. However, the writer strongly agrees with one purpose which is that the purpose of education is to promote social justice as everyone deserves fair distribution of wealth and equal opportunity. The importance of social justice is that it helps us work towards celebrating diversity in our communities and country, this is very significant as it means racism and discrimination is no longer an issue. For the longest time racism and discrimination has been very popular over the years and this is the reason as to why wars have started, and many attacks have taken place. By promoting social justice and educating people on race and culture this will then improve the world as there has already been such an improvement due to racism not being as popular as it was before.

References:

Ahmad, S. (2016). Importance of English communication skills. international journal of applied research, p.479.

Bear, G. (2010). School discipline and self-discipline. New York: Guilford Press, p.46.

Bruner, J. (2002). The process of education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp.74, 75.

Freire, p. (2007). Log into Liverpool Hope University. [online] Live.moodle.hope.ac.uk. Available at: https://live.moodle.hope.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/111579/mod_resource/content/0/Freire%20-%20Pedagogy%20of%20the%20Oppressed%20-Chapter%202.pdf [Accessed 26 Jan. 2020].

GOV.UK. (2015). The purpose of education. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-purpose-of-education [Accessed 6 Feb. 2020].

Wood, D. (1998). how children think and learn. 2nd ed. Blackwell, p.16.