The Purpose of Education

 Personal Purpose

 As I was reading some of the answers the students stated in this article for the section, I could not help but think maybe we are asking the wrong question or asking a question that is closed when it should be open – ended.  What exactly is education? Does that definition apply to every single being who lives or has lived?  You can send a child to school and have them receive an education but is he/she being educated in a manner that will ultimately make a difference in that life in the desired manner by the instructor?  There must be a purpose to the instruction otherwise it is vain so to speak.  How is education perceived by the learner and are those two values relative because in order for there to be a synergy they must have some value to both teacher and learner.

Competing Ethnocentric Worlds

Let’s assume I am child [A] and I live in one area of the world, and there is a child [B] who lives in another. If we assume that education is equally taught and understood by both children, what would the expected desired result be?  In a nutshell that result would be the purpose of education, but life is clear the results can be startling and complete opposites.  This is why I ask what exactly is education, and does that form apply equally across life stations?  I would tend to believe it doesn’t.  Education in the simplest form would be to transfer knowledge from one to another who lacks it.  We can discuss modes, and methods, and information but ultimately that is the purpose of education that should be understood by all.  The question that modern education struggles with is: What to teach who, and how because it would seem futile to teach an uninterested soul physics in depth when all he/she really desires is to know art.  I am making it simple, but you should grasp the point.

How do we transfer the basics of life in its mechanisms from culture, sciences, relationships, morals, values, intuition, and other facets of daily living to the students.  Plus, we need to do that in a manner that allows them to grow individually within their own personal characteristics and personality, while guarding them from youthful errors so that they might grow and progress into the unique person that only they can be.  If education is to do one thing successfully, it should have the express purpose of aiding in the development of socially whole people.  Whole being an absolute relative term because we all have different talents, abilities, and capacities.  This should be the purpose of education in my opinion.

In conclusion, personal education is the key to unlocking the doors of life.  It is not just what you know, but how to utilize this knowledge in connection with others.  How to share and relate, as well as how to listen and learn.  We are learners our whole lives, and this is one of the first lessons true education can teach you: How to be a life student!