1.
1 CONCEPT OF EDUCATION-MEANING, SCOPE AND IMPORTA
A.
(a)
Derivative meaning of education:
In derivative sense, the term 'education' is considered as educare and educe
Educare:
Educare is a Latin word and it means.
(i) To nourish
(ii) To bring up
(iii) To raise
So educating a child means nourishing or bringing up the child accord specific aims.
(b)
Educere:
Educere is also a Latin word and it means.
(i) To lead out
(ii) To draw out
So educating a child means drawing out what is hidden in the child or leadi out of darkness, into light.
B.
Meaning of Education from the Point of View of Western Thinke The meaning of the term Education, as understood
by Western thinkers, ha implications for a modern reader. In fact, the modem concept of 'Education' over Western
thinkers who have interpreted education as a developmental process. Importar are summed-up below.
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
(a)
Thinkers of the past
(i)
(ii)
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According to Plato, "Education is the capacity to feel pleasure and pain at the right moment.. It develops in the body
and in the soul of the pupil all the beauty and all the perfection which he is capable of."
According to Aristotle, Education is the creation of a sound mind in a sound body....... It develops man's faculty
especially his mind so that he may be able to enjoy the contemplation of supreme truth, goodness and beauty of
which perfect happiness essentially consists."
(iii) According to Comenius, "All who are born as Human beings need education because they are destined to be real
men, not wild beasts, dull animals, and clumps of wood."
Modern Thinkers
(i)
According to Pestalozzi, "Education is the natural, harmonious and progressive development of man's innate
powers."
(ii) According to Froebel, "Education is unfoldment of what is already enfolded in the germ. It is the process through
which the child makes internal, external."
(iii) According to John Dewey, "Education is the development of all those capacities in the individual which will
enable him to control his environment and fulfil his responsibilities."
(iv) According to Raymont, "Education is a process of development from infancy to maturity, the process by which
he adopts himself gradually in various ways of his physical and spiritual environment."
(v) According to T.P. Nunn, "Education is the complete development of the individuality of the child so that he can
make an original contribution to human life according to the best of his capacity."
(vi) Thompson defines Education as "the influence of the environment on the individual with a view to producing a
permanent change in his habits, behaviour, of thought and of attitude."
(vii) According to John Adams, "Education is conscious and deliberate process in which one personality acts upon
another in order to modify the development of that other by the communication and manipulation of knowledge."
C.
(i)
T. COuary 1.5 Yea
NARROWER AND BROADER MEANING OF EDUCATION
Education in its Narrow Meaning
In the narrow sense, education is confined to school and university instruction From this point of view, education of
the child starts as soon as he enters the schoo where he is given a limited and definite amount of knowledge. Under
this scheme education of the child is over when, having received the given amount of knowledge, leaves the
institution and takes up some occupation in life. The narrower meaning education has been summed up by T.
Raymont in the following words:
"In the narrower and more definite sense culture and the general influences of one's surroundings, but only those
specia education does not include se influences which are consciously and designedly brought to bear upon the
young, by the adult portion of the community, whether through the family, the church or the state. In short,
education in its narrow meaning is equivalent to schooling, instruction act of training.
(ii)
Education in its Broader Meaning
In its broader meaning, education is a life-long process.
J.S. Mackenzie says: "It is a process that goes on throughout life, and is promoted by every experience in life."
According to Prof. Dumvile, "Education in its wider sense includes all the influences which act upon an individual
during his passage from the cradle to the grave."
In the words of Lodge, "All experiences are said to be educative. The bite of mosquito, the taste of a watermelon, the
experiences of falling in love, of flying in a aeroplane, of being caught in a storm in a small boat......all such
experiences have directly educative effect on us.... Whatever broadens ur horizon, deepens our insight, refines ou
reactions, and stimulates thought and feeling educates us."
A comparative view of education in its narrow and boarder meaning is tabulated below Broader Meaning
Narrow Meaning
1. Meaning. Education is limited to 1. Education goes beyond schooling and schooling and instruction.
2. Duration. Starts with the child's entry into a school and ends with the completion of specified course content.
3. Aim. The aim of education in its narrow sense is to impart limited knowledge in specific subjects.
instruction.
2. Education is a process which goes on throughout life and ends only when life ends. It is a life long process.
3. Education in this sense becomes man- making activity. Its aim is all-round development of human personality.
0.
to
Experience is the touchstone of education in its wider sense. Education is one with life which teaches in both bitter
and sweat ways.
4. Methods. Education in the narrow 4. There is no limited methodology. sense makes use of limited. methodology.
It is confined classroom teaching in which text-book is the be-all and end-all of instruction. 5. Contents. Contents of
education are limited to specific bits of knowledge which are pre-determined. Contents include only the academic
subjects traditionally taught in the school.
5. Contents of education in its Wider sense "includes the totality of experiences that pupil receives through. the
manifold activities that go on in the school, in the classroom, library, laboratory, workshop, playground and in the
numerous informal contacts between teachers and pupils."
COMPREHENSIVE DEFINITION OF EDUCATION
Redden's definition of education is quite comprehensive. It reads like this; "Education is the deliberate and
systematic influence exerted by the mature person upon the immature, through instruction, discipline and
harmonious development of physical, intellectual, aesthetic, social and spiritual powers of the human being,
according to individual and social needs and directed towards the union of the educ and with his creator as the final
end".
An analysis of Redden's definition of education will show that-
Education is deliberate and systematic.
Education is an influence exerted by a mature person upon an immature
person.
Education leads to harmonious development.
Development is according to individual and social needs.
Education is a means to an end.
Education is deliberate and systematic.
Education is a deliberate process. It is a conscious process. It involves care and guidance. It is not a haphazard
activity. It is carefully planned, hence, it is systematic. Influence exerted by a mature person upon the immature one.
Education involves one who knows and the one who does not know. Mature persons which include parents, teachers
and other elders influence the young one - the learners.
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3. Education leads to harmonious development.
4.
5.
Education is a complex process. Its aim is harmonious development of the learner's personality. This means, through
the process of education all aspects of the child's personality physical, intellectual, aesthetic, social and spiritual
should develop together in perfect harmony.
Individual and social needs.
The development should be according to individual needs. But the social needs are not to be ignored. Development
of individuality must be in conformity with the needs of the society.
The union of the created with his creator.
Education is a means to the final end. It is through education that the individual is to meet his creator and attain
salvation.
In short, education is a continuous, life-long process.