Education is generally denoted as a discipline related to the activities of educating or instructing and activities that impart knowledge, skill, attitudes. There is a great discussion among scholars about the existence of education as a separate discipline. Some scholars believe that education is not a separate discipline. It is only a loose combination of different disciplines such as philosophy, pedagogy, psychology etc. Against the view of these critiques of education as a discipline, the followers believe that education in not just a combination of different subjects, it a separate discipline itself. Before arguing about these opposing views, it is necessary to understand the meaning of discipline and the actors, which constitute a separate discipline. Literally, discipline is as a branch of knowledge. It is an integral body of knowledge, which has a distinct existence different from other branches of knowledge or disciplines. Before examining education as a discipline, we should understand the phenomenon behind the rise of a discipline. Knowledge, which is a core element of any discipline, is the product of human experience. It is a stock of verified
body of experiences. The origin of knowledge is directly dependent on human experiences. People continually discover different types of knowledge via their experiences.They experience the entire natural phenomenon around them and investigate the processes behind it. It develops a large stock of knowledge. The body of knowledge, which is revealed by experiences, constitutes distinct "facts". People categorize these "facts" based on similarities and differences to preserve them. It develops knowledge in the form of "concepts". Further, people relate different "concepts" in the form of cause and effect ('if and 'then'). It produces "laws' or "principles". Human beings use this hierarchy of knowledge to understnderstand all the activities around them. With the passage of time, the stock of knowledge regularly swells and this knowledge needs to be categorized into different headings based on similarity of areas of knowledge. It gives birth to different disciplines, distinct from other disciplines.
1.2 Characteristics of education as a discipline
Education is a distinct discipline, which is the product of human experiences. Education has been originated due to the endeavor of human beings as the process of human learning. The main inquiry related to the origin of education as a discipline is "What is real knowledge and how an individual acquires the knowledge?" It also inquires about ultimate aim of acquiring the knowledge. Following characteristics of education signify education as a distinct discipline:
* The discipline of education has its very rich historical tradition. Its origin can be directly related to the origin of human civilization. It has originated from the first experiences of human beings with their environment Since then, many informal and formal attempts have been made to enquire the body of knowledge, which constitutes education as a discipline.
* Education is developed on some distinct foundations.These foundations of education are philosophical,sociological, historical, psychological and pedagogical foundations.
* It has a rich depository of facts, concepts, theories and principles to get answer of the inquiries related to this field. This process has furnished the distinct foundations on which the discipline of education lies.
* Education has a distinct disciplinary base furnished on a theoretical structure based on facts, concepts, theories principles and laws. All the inquiries related to the field of education could be answered based on this theoretical structure.
* This theoretical structure is the product of different researches, which were carried out by scholars at different time. It also lays a basis for further research in the field of education. The theoretical structure of education is of continually being strengthened by such types researches.
All these features related to education support the view that education is a separate discipline, which has its distinct origin, facts, theories and principles, theoretical structure, foundation and research methodology.
1.3 Meaning and definition of education
Generally, education means acquisition of knowledge, understanding, intelligence, conscience, wisdom etc. Common people think it is the process, which takes place in schools and colleges, and the person, who has acquired a certificate from these institutions, can only be termed as educated. However, in real sense, it is not limited only to schooling. There is no limit of time, place and age for acquisition of education. People can acquire education everywhere, in every moment of their life without the bound of age. They can receive education from every source such as schools, parents, society, colleagues, mass media etc. It can be planned or unplanned. It can be intended or unintended. One can acquire the needed ability, knowledge, skills, attitudes and aptitude from different means. Education is the aggregate of all the experiences by which a person develops ability, attitudes and other forms of behavior of practical value in the society in which they live. The meaning of education can be discussed from the following perspectives:
a. Etymological meaning of education
Etymologically, it is believed that the word "education" has been derived from two Latin words "E" and "duco". "E" means "from within" and "duco" means "to bring out". Thus, etymologically education means the process which brings out the internal potentialities and abilities of learners.
S. N. | Language | Etymological source | Nepali/ English Word | Etymological meaning |
1. | Sanskrit | शिक्षा | शिक्षा | शिक्षा दिने |
2. | Latin | Educatum | Education | to train, act of teaching |
3. | Latin | Educere | Education | to lead out, to draw out |
4. | Latin | Educare | Education | to bring up, to rise , to educate |
"Education is a process in which and by which knowledgecharacter and behavior of young are shaped and molded."- Drevery"The influence of the environment of the individual with aview to producing a permanent change in his habits onbehavior of thoughts and attitude is education."- G.H. ThompsonAll the above definitions of education can be classifiedinto following four categories:. Education is the development of innate power- Socrates, Froebel, Pestalozzi, Gandhi. Education is the complete development of a person.- Nunn, Kant, Comenius. Education is adjustment to environment- Horne, James, John Dewey. Education is shaping of behavior.- Rousseau, Drevery, ThompsonNone of the above definitions given by different scholars can be taken as a complete definition. Scholars widely differ in the meaning of education. Their views can be mainly attributed to the philosophies they follow. The view of an idealist largely differs from naturalists. Similarly, realists and pragmatists have their own views regarding themeaning of education. However, we can find some common elements in the definitions provided by different scholars related to different schools of philosophy. Analyzing theabove definitions, we can conclude that all of them emphasize education as a process, which develops all those capabilities of human beings, which are already hidden inside them. It is the fuller development of the internal potentialities of human beings. The main purpose of education is to help individuals in their adjustments with the environment.
Education is a process of drawing out the internal capabilities of persons to make them capable to solve the problems of their life and enable them to be adjusted with their social environment. This process is carried out in many forms. This process takes place from the cradle to grave. It is truly a lifelong process. People can get education both from planned and unplanned means. In ancient time, people used to get education in an unplanned manner. It was informal in nature. People used to acquire knowledge from direct experiences and they used to transfer this knowledge to their offspring. There was no barrier of age, place and duration. There was no teacher and also no student. People used to acquire knowledge according to their need, will and interest.
Much of such knowledge gradually vanished, because they were not properly transmitted to others. In this way society needed an institution which could properly preserve these valuable experiences and transmit them to future generations in an organized manner which gave birth to the modern schools. Gradually, education in schools was organized in a graded manner to develop it in a more systematic way. Schools developed examination system to validate the amount of acquisition of knowledge by an individual. They started to issue certificates as an indicator of acquisition of knowledge by the learners. In this way, education from school became formal.
Formal education system limits education to schooling. The duration, time, nature, place of this system is fixed. It also requires specific prerequisites to enter in this system. This formal structure of education poses many barriers for the attainment of need-based knowledge in terms of age, duration, place and prerequisites. This problem gave birth to non-formal education, which is more flexible in terms of age, duration, place and prerequisites. This education is considered as more need based in comparison to formal education. Thus, the process of education can be classified in the following three forms:
1. Formal education
Formal education is the product of civilization and division of labor. It is the most planned form of education. Formal education is of hierarchical nature, which is divided into different grades. These grades are generally tied up with the age level. It has a predetermined curriculum. It takes place within the boundary of schools. Examination is conducted at the end of each grade to validate the acquisition of knowledge by the learner. A person can be upgraded to upper grade only after being successful in this examination. Schools issue a certificate as an indicator of success of examination, which is also recognized by society. It develops knowledge in a systematic manner. It takes place in certain duration at certain place in a certain time. The education provided by schools and colleges is the example of formal education.
Although formal education is an organized and well planned system of education which is mainly responsible for the development of knowledge, it is also criticized by many educationists such as Paulo Friere, Ivan Illich and Reimer for its more formalized structure. They criticize this system for providing piecemeal education, which is not according to the need of learners. Its formalized structure poses a barrier in front of learners for the acquisition of need-based knowledge. For example, if a learner needs the knowledge required to solve his or her immediate problem, formal education system requires him or her to entry in this system at lowest level and wait for future to acquire this knowledge systematically. It can take a long time.
In formal education, more emphasis is given to the acquisition of theoretical structure of knowledge rather than to the education, which enables to solve the problems of daily life. People have to wait for a long time to get their required knowledge from formal system. It provides knowledge in a passive manner. Such education is more examination oriented rather than skill oriented. The students acquire knowledge passively only with the aim of passing the examination and getting a certificate.
The strength of this system is mainly concerned with the development of systematic body of knowledge, which develops a sound disciplinary base among the students. This body of knowledge not only makes the knowledge base of a learner sound, but also assists in development of new knowledge. Research is performed on the basis of this systematic body of knowledge which clearly indicates about the unanswered questions in this systematic structure add leads towards the search of new knowledge. This system functions according to mental development level of children and assists in their fuller development.
2. Non-formal education
Non-formal education system is an alternative as well as supplementary education system to the formal education. It is a need based education system, which does not require the fulfillment of formalities as the formal education requires.Any person desiring certain knowledge and skill can get this type of education without fulfilling any formality such as need to complete certain level of education. Its time and place requirements of the learner. Although, non-formal education.has predetermined objectives and curriculum, these are more need based than disciplinary based. Examination may or may not take place at the end of education. It can take examination at the end of the program, but it is not concerned to pass or fail the learners. It just signifies the attainment of certain type of knowledge. This education provides an alternative chance to those people, who are not benefited from formal education. Adult education, continuing education, open education, functional literacy education, education for income generation and skill trainings are the examples of non-formal education.
Non-formal education can be considered as the byproduct of formal education system. When people education, education for income generation and skill trainings are the examples of non-formal education. The graded school education system, it gave birth to non-formal education system. At first, it was developed as complementary to formal education system. Philip H.Coombs in his famous writing "An education crisis" calls it a system which assists the "entry or reentry" of a person in formal education system. However, thinkers like Paulo Freire, Ivan Illich call it an alternative to formal education justice can be provided by formal education system. They criticize formal education system for the passivity of learning lack of empowerment to the disadvantaged.
3. Informal education
Informal education is truly a life long process. It does not have a predetermined objective or curriculum. It does not have a fixed time or limit. In this education system, the agency that provides education, may or may not have a well. defined objective and well targeted group of learners. It provides education in such a way that every one who is interested to get that particular knowledge can get knowledge according to his or her will, interest, utility etc. Education is provided in an unplanned manner and the learner acquires it in an unplanned manner. This type of education has no limit in terms of time, students, amount of knowledge to be learned. The learners learn those entire things, which they directly experience. It develops the knowledge in an indirect manner. The learners decide the amount of knowledge, what they want to acquire. They acquire only that knowledge in which they are interested and leave uninteresting sum of knowledge. Education from newspaper, pamphlets, posters, radio program etc is the example of informal education.
Education can create new knowledge, which can be utilized for the betterment of human beings. Society uses education as a means for the invention of new knowledge for the welfare of the society itself.
1.5 Nature of education
Nature is the essential quality or characteristics by which something is recognized. If we try to examine the nature of education, we will find that there is no single nature of education. The nature of education is quite dependent on how the people perceive it, how this system functions and what the outcomes of this system are. The varied nature of education is the product of its dual meaning, i.e. narrower and wider meaning, and its dual aim, i.e. individual and social aims. Some people perceive education as the learning and certificate limited to an education institution and some people perceive the entire positive experiences of life as education. Some take it as a conscious process; some term all the learning, which is acquired directly or indirectly as education. In a nutshell, education is the process of bringing out potentialities of an individual, but the different perspectives to analyze this process have designated the following natures of education:
General education is related to the common needs of the life of an individual. Every human being as a member of a society has to play some common roles. These roles constitute the need of general education. People should be capable to communicate their ideas in written form; they should understand and use numerical properties of substances; they should function as a responsible member of their society or community and they should be capable to solve he problems of life. All these needs give birth to general education, such as knowledge of language, mathematics,social and natural sciences. All such education is termed as general education.On the contrary, specific education develops such capabilities within an individual, which are different from others. Beyond their many common qualities individuals are inherently different. They not only possess different characteristics, their capabilities and potentialities also differ. The education provided according the specific potentialities of the individuals, which develops different capabilities within them, is termed as specific education. Because of such education, people develop their capabilities in different directions. They become a doctor, an engineer, a social scientist, a manager, a teacher, a farmer, a businessperson or lawyer because of this specific education.
The direct nature of education designates it as a deliberate process, in which the educator and educand both are evolved in a conscious .All this education can be termed as indirect education. In C. Jadividual and collective education: The product of manner for the purpose of education. Here, the educatorwants to teach something to the educand and the educands consciously learn what is taught to them. Theeducator may be a teacher, parent, a senior person or a group leader. The educand may a student, offspring a junior member of society, an educand or a subordinate to the leader. The deliberate dialogue towards the place without the deliberate effort of teachers to educate dissemination of knowledge between them is termed as direct education.Education cannot be limited into the direct delivery between two groups: educator and educands. People can both teach and learn in indirect manner also. Here, teacher and pupil may not be directly involved in educative process. Teachers can teach the pupils without deliberate dialogue. They can play the role of a guide or even a facilitator or inspirer for the learning of their students. Students can learn by taking cues from teacher's guidance their students. It is purely learner-centered education.
C. Individual and collective education:
The product of education is learning, which is termed as positive change in the behavior of the learners in the form of modified knowledge, skill and attitude. However, the collective processes involved in the learning of individuals, designate it as of two natures, i.e. individual or collective education. Individual education is related to that education, which produces learning in an individual. A teacher and a student interact individually, which results learning within the student. Learning is purely and individual process and education is judged in the form of earning of an individual student.
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