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Eductional Systems
Read this article to learn about Educational System: It’s meaning, aspects and social functions!

Education is indispensable to individual and society, for without it there would be loss of all the accumulated knowledge of the ages and all the standard of conduct. An individual must learn the culture of the society or the accepted ways of doing things. He must be socialized into the prevailing culture and must learn the rules of conduct and expectations about future behaviour.

Society therefore, consciously devices its instructional programmes to fulfill personal and social needs rather than leaving the learning to change. Education provides a conscious teaching programme that helps to inculcate values, norms and social skills that will enable the individual to develop his personality and sustain the social system.

Meaning of Education:

The term education has different meanings. Each person interprets the word in terms of his past experience, his needs and purposes. The parents, the teachers, administrators, religious leaders, politicians and artists interpret the term education in their own ways. For example, to a student, education means acquisition of knowledge, receiving a degree or diploma. A statesman may claim that it means to train individuals as ideal citizens. A teacher may interpret education as means for creation a new man and new society.

The meaning of education differs from place to place and from time to time. It has passed through many ages and stages of evolution. At every stage it has had a different meaning according to existing social conditions.

The term education is derived from the Latin word ‘educate’ which means to ‘educate’, to ‘bring up’ or to ‘draw out’ the latent powers of child. Confirming to this meaning Durkheim defined education as “the action exercised by the older generations upon those who are not yet ready for social life. Its object is to awaken and develop in the child those physical, intellectual and moral states which are required of him both by his society as a whole and by the milieu for which he is specially designed”.

He conceives of education as “the socialisation of the younger generation”. Hence, education may be broadly regarded as the way in which people learn to take part in the life of society in which they live. Education is the social process by which individual learns the things necessary to fit him to the social life of his society.

Education is primarily deliberate learning which fits the individual for his adult role in society. As Counts and Mead phrase it, education is an induction into the learner’s culture. It is a deliberate instruction throughout which we acquire a large part of our social and technical skills. Accordingly says Lowie, “it is as old as organised social life. Schooling is merely a highly specialised form of education.

According to Samuel Koenig, Education may also be defined as the process whereby the social heritage of a group is passed on from one generation to another as well as the process whereby the child becomes socialised, i.e. learns the rules of behaviour of the group into which he is born.

It is again believed that the term education is derived from the Latin word ‘educatum’ which means the act of teaching or training. Thus, education is both acquisition of knowledge or art of teaching and learning of values, norms and skills.

The education a system, first of all, may be viewed as a part of the total social system. It both reflects and influences the social and cultural order of which it is a part. However, in modern society, education is viewed as formal training. As A.W. Green writes, Historically, it (education) has meant the conscious training of the young for the later adoption of adult roles.

By modern convention, however, education has come to mean formal training by specialists within the formal organisation of the school”. Education, according Western scholars, is deliberate and organised activity through which the physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual potentialities of the child are developed, both in individual as an individual and also as a member of society.

So that he may lead the fullest and richest life possible in this world. All practical aims such as the development of character, the attainment of knowledge both for use and enjoyment, the acquisition of skills, the making of worthy citizen and others that have been proposed from time to time are subordinate to the ultimate aim in life.

The educational system may be viewed as subsystem within social organisation of its own. It has a system of status and roles, a body of skills, values and traditions. Each schools and each classroom within the school forms an interacting group. Aspects of Education:

Now, we can indicate several sociological aspects of education. First, learning is a creative experience. When a man responds to stimuli, he acts in a creative manner. In other words, education is a creative act for the learner. Second, education is of two ways of learning such as informal education and formal education.

The first serves continuously through life, as mechanism for learning as well as for reinforcing previous learning. Third, formal education is a socially devised technique, a highly elaborated procedure for creating situations in which the pupil may learn. Individuals go through formal education only a Short period of their life.

Forth, education is both the living of life (in the network of social relationships, in the classroom and outside) and a preparation for life. Preparation for life involves (a) capacity to earn a livelihood, (b) capacity to enrich one’s life through enjoyment of the cultural heritage and of one’s inner resources, (c) capacity to function efficiently and constructively as a member of society, as a citizen of the State. Fifth, education involves (a) mastery of the tools of learning, such as reading, writing arithmetic and (b) mastery of our relations to our inner self, to our neighbour, to the universe.

Education is interpreted in two senses, “narrow’ and ‘broader’ sense. Education, in narrow sense, is a planned, organised and formalised process. It is imparted at a particular place (School, College, and University) and at a definite time. Its curriculum is also formal. In narrow sense education is limited to classroom. In broader sense education is not related to schooling or teaching.

Each and every individual acquires some sort of education, even he has never spent a day in a school,. because his acquired characteristics are the products of experiences and activities which are the products of experiences and activities which are educational in nature. Education, in wider sense, is used for the purpose of teaching people all characteristics which will enable them to live in the society.

Education is a continuous ‘process’. Education of human being begins at birth and it ends with his death. He leans throughout his life. There is no end to it. Education is much more than schooling. The child goes on reconstructing his experiences throughout the whole life. Instruction ends in the classroom, but education ends only with life. Social Functions of Education:

Education as social institution, plays a vital role in our society. The function of education is multidimensional within the school system and outside it. It performs the function of socialising the individual for a variety of social roles and development of personality. It is also an important part of the control mechanisms of society. Education is a necessity right from the simple society to modern complex industrial society. 1. Socialisation:

The most important function of education is socialisation. The people have no knowledge about the culture of their society. They must learn them and they must learn the way which their society is functioning. Hence, the children as they grow up must be introduced into the culture which they are going to face.

Society, therefore, provides a conscious teaching programme to inculcate values, norms and social skills that will fit the individuals for their adult role in society. Society creates educational institutions such as school and colleges to perform certain functions in accomplishing this general end.

Besides, providing the children with tools of knowledge – how to write, spell and master arithmetic, the school also exposes them to social norms and values beyond those which are available for learning in the family and other groups.

The learners acquire academic knowledge through schools and college which they will need latter on and some will be practical or technical to fit him for some sort of job. At the same time the schools and colleges inculcate social values and norms among them.

Though people learn a great deal from their parents or in clubs and among groups of friends, they learn more of the culture of their society though educational system. For it is in the educational institutions that the young are exposed to social norms and values beyond those which are available for learning in the family and other social groups. History books tend to be written from an ethnocentric viewpoint and to inculcate nationalistic; attitudes.

Through education, the child is able to develop reasoning in social relations, cultivates social virtues and thus becomes socially efficient as says Deway. When he speaks about social efficiency, he refers to economic and cultural efficiency, and he calls it ‘socialisation of individual’. Thus, education, may be only part of the process of socialisation, but it is a very important part. 2. Development of Personality:

Education plays an important role in the development of personality. The object of education, as said Durkheim “is to awaken and develop in the child those physical, intellectual and moral states which are required of him both by his society as a whole and by the milieu for which he is specially designed”. Education helps the development of the qualities of an individual, such as physical, mental and emotional make-up as well as his temperament and character.

The self, the core of personality, develops out of the child’s interaction with other. Subsequently, the habits, traits, attitudes and ideals of an individual is patterned by the process of education. A learner’s personality is also developed indirectly when he is encouraged to form his own attitudes and values by studying outstanding people in history and literature. Moreover, a learner is also influenced by the outlook and attitudes of fellow students and teachers. 3. Social Control:

Education plays a vital role in regulating individual behaviour through transmitting a way of life and communicating ideas and values to the new generations.

One way that education contributes to the regulations of social conduct, says Bottomore, “is in the early socialistion of the child”. In order to transmit its social heritage and survive as a social order all societies develop educational systems to train its younger generations. The young must be consciously trained for their adult roles to maintain the society. Through the process of education society regulates the behaviour of its members and enforces conformity to its norms.

“Education in a broad sense”, as says Bottomore, “From infancy to adulthood, is thus a vital means of social control”. Formal education in modern societies communicate ideas and values which play a part in regulating behaviour. The new generations are instructed to observe the social norms, the violation of which may invite punishment. 4. Social Integration:

Education, by imparting values, also integrates people into the broader society. The curriculum of the school, its ‘extra-curricular’ activities and the informal relationship among students and teachers communicate certain values and social skills such as cooperation or team-spirit, obedience, fair play. 5. Determination of Sfatus:

Determination of status of an individual is an important function of education. Amount of education is a good indicator of socio-economic status, from lower working class to upper class, education leads to economic opportunity. It is through education young people secure higher status jobs than their parents. With higher incomes they come to associate with the persons of higher status. Thus, education provides the channel to better socio-economic status. 6. Provides Route for Social Mobility:

Educational qualifications increasingly form the basis for the allocation of individuals to social statuses and social mobility. There has been steady move from one status to other due to educational attainment. An industrial society like United States or Great Britain places increasing emphasis on the attainment of both of the skills acquired in elementary, secondary and higher education and of the educational credentials that a person has acquired the skills for a job.

The educational system is expected to provide opportunity for social and economic mobility by selecting and training the most able and industrious youth for higher-status position in society.

The educational system places those with the greater abilities and training in higher positions and those with the lesser abilities and training in lower ones. Thus, education tends to generate vertical social mobility by increasing their earning power and by preparing them for higher-status occupation than that of their parents.

The educational system whether industrial societies or in developing societies like India tend to create and maintain a broad division between elites and masses, between education for intellectual and for manual occupations. Such differentiation within the educational system is closely linked to the system of social stratification and mobility. 7. Social Development:

Skills and values learned in education are directly related to the way to which the economy and the occupational structure operate. Education trains the individuals in skills that are required by the economy. In modern planned economy the output of skilled people must be consciously geared to the economic and social priorities of the society. That explains the vital role of education in social development. Literacy, for example, stimulates economic and social de development and that is why all developing countries have undertaken large-scale literacy programmes.

Literacy increases political consciousness among poor people who now organize themselves into various forms of organization.

Short Paragraph on the Meaning of Education!

Education is one of the basic acclivities in all human societies. The word education is derived from the Latin word educate which means to bring up and is connected with the verb educate which means to bring forth.

The idea of education is not merely to impart instruction to the pupil in certain subjects but also and principally to bring him up or develop in him those habits and attitudes which may enable him to face the future well.

Plato held that the aim of education was to develop in the body and in the soul of the pupils all the perfection and all the beauty of which they are capable. According to Aristotle, to educate meant ‘to develop man’s faculties, especially his mind so that they may be able to enjoy the contemplation of supreme truth, beauty and goodness.’

Sumner defined education as the attempt it transmit to the child the mores of the group, so that he can learn, “what conduct is approved and what disapproved……….. how they ought to behave in all kinds of cases, what he ought to believe and reject.” According to F.J. Brown and J.S. Roucek, education is “the sum total of the experience which moulds the altitudes and determines the conduct of both the child and the adult.” According to Anderson Education is the social process by which an individual learns the things necessary to fit him to the life of his society.” Durkheim conceived of education as “the socialization of the younger generation.” “It is actually,” he stated, “a continuous effort to impose on the child ways of seeing, feeling and acting which he could not have arrived at spontaneously.”

Education is a process of transmission of social heritage. In its broadest sense education may be defined as the process whereby the social heritage of a group is passed on from one generation to another and whereby the child learns the rules of social behaviour. It is a conscious training of the young for the later adoption of adult roles.

It is synonymous with socialization. It is an attempt to shape the development of the coming generation in accordance with the social ideal of life. However, we shall use it in a limited sense meaning a formal training by a body of instructors within the institutional pattern of the schools, colleges and universities.