The fundamental purpose of education and schooling is to
guide a person from birth to death in learning first how to survive, how to
communicate, how to care for yourself, how to interact with the rest of
humankind, and finally how to find your “spot” in the world.
I believe there is a difference between education and
schooling. To me, education is
everywhere. Education is navigating life
and learning from the mistakes and successes on that journey. Some of that education is subtle and some is
quite plain. Someone may learn how to
handle a situation by observing another person or by doing what seems to come
naturally and then when asked to explain how they learned that or why they do
something a certain way, they say “that’s the way I’ve always done it,…I never
thought about doing it any other way.”
On the other hand, when a person is taught by a parent and corrected
over and over about how to tie his shoes, it is quite plain where they learned
that skill.
I see schooling as institutional. A person goes to a school or takes a course
to learn something specific. In the US,
we begin with elementary school where the curriculum is chosen for them and
they learn what is “required”. As
people complete the public education system, they can choose to continue their
institutional schooling by focusing on taking courses of their own choosing at
universities.
Historically, as adults enter the work force, employers will
require a certain level of schooling (from an institution) no matter what kind
of education (life lessons, experiences) the person may have. I’ve been in that position where I could not
be hired even though I had the skills to do a job, and do it well, because I
didn’t have a specific piece of paper from an institution.
I think that education is a contextual word that is often
used interchangeable with schooling.
When we talk about education we are usually talking about the
institution or system. However, when I
think about it, education is much more than a building and some books.
Hello. You brought up many interesting points, such as this one: "I’ve been in that position where I could not be hired even though I had the skills to do a job, and do it well, because I didn’t have a specific piece of paper from an institution." This alludes to a purpose of education that I do not recall discussing in class. Schools provide the paperwork that allows so many doors to open in society. How many people go to school with the primary goal of earning a degree, while the desire for knowledge is secondary?
ReplyDeleteSchools can function as job training centers, or they can function more holistically as life training centers. In the former case, education is a form of programming. In the latter case, education becomes a fluid concept that includes questions, conversations, investigations, experiments, and new discoveries. Both types of education have a place in our society.
Kim, you bring up many good points in your phlog post this week. I agree with you that the word "schooling" connotes an institution, whereas "education" is much more broad. Our language sometimes reflects this distinction with terms such as "self-educated" (not "self-schooled"). And here's another example that supports your definition, although it is quite subtle: "She lacks proper schooling" used to be a phrase I'd hear bantied about in the Deep South, and although it implied many things, it most specifically meant that the child's family was at fault, that the parents had chosen not to send their child to a "good" school, and therefore the child was lacking not only academically, but also (and more importantly) -- socially (e.g., the proper norms, behaviors, manners, codes). It was, in other words, a put down. If instead one said that a child was "uneducated," no fault was implied. It was simply a statement of fact or pointed to the possibility that the child might improve himself/herself in the future by "getting an education" in the broadest sense. Were the idea of "institution" (and all the attributes it brings with it such as "good vs. poor" and "qualifying vs. non-qualifying") not tied to "schooling," I don't think such distinctions in our use of language would exist.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, isn't it interesting that we have "Departments of Education" instead of "Departments of Schooling"?
The fact that we do makes me suspect that both you and I are perhaps too limiting in our definitions of "schooling" vs. "education" (despite the aforementioned linguistic "evidences" I proposed ), and it will be interesting to me to hear what others might have to say.
I think that you have hit on some interesting points here. In particular the example of not being selected for a job due to a lack of schooling. I believe that a high level of education (but here in particular we are talking about schooling) does not necessarily make one individual more qualified than another who may lack the degree of schooling but is better educated in that particular field. Another side of this issue is refusing to hire an applicant that appears to be "over-qualified" for the position. I can only imagine how frustrating this is for people that may have decided to take their career in a different direction or simply have a family to support. It is unbelievable that someone could be penalized for hard work and qualifications. I think that our society in general needs to reassess the meaning of education.
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