Is Pouring Resources Into Education Worth It?
Every culture, every race and every religion values and places importance on education.
Our cultural beliefs and ideas may influence the way in which we view education or the way in which we learn, however it is undeniable that everybody values it.
In today’s era we hear so much emphasis on governments promising our children a better education or even providing free education but is this something we really need? As a society have we only just started to value education and are we placing too much unwarranted emphasis on education?
History of education
Historically education has been seen as a transmission of the values and accumulated knowledge of a society. In this sense it is equivalent to what social scientists term socialisation or enculturation. The idea is that children are born without a culture and education is designed to guide them in learning a culture, moulding their behaviour in the ways of adulthood, and directing them towards their eventual role in society.
In more primitive cultures there is often little formal learning, little of what one would ordinarily call school or classes or teachers. Instead, the entire environment and all activities are frequently viewed as school and classes, and many or all adults act as teachers. As societies grow more complex, however, the quantity of knowledge to be passed on from one generation to the next becomes more than any one person can know, and, hence, there must evolve more selective and efficient means of cultural transmission.
The outcome is formal education, the school and the specialist called the teacher.
As society becomes ever more complex and schools become ever more institutionalised, educational experience becomes less directly related to daily life, less a matter of showing and learning in the context of the workaday world, and more abstracted from practice, more a matter of distilling, telling, and learning things out of context. This concentration of learning in a formal atmosphere allows children to learn far more of their culture than they are able to do by merely observing and imitating.
As society gradually attaches more and more importance to education, it also tries to formulate the overall objectives, content, organisation, and strategies of education. Literature becomes laden with advice on the rearing of the younger generation. In short, they develop philosophies and theories of education.
Do some cultures value education less?
Absolutely not! However cultural differences can lead to a misunderstanding about the exact value people place on education. As new migrant in a New Zealand Primary school 28 years ago there was so much less cultural understanding as compared to today.
People travelled less, meaning globalisation was low and New Zealand did not have as many migrants as it does now.
Taking you back to my memories of school, I was a polite little girl who never spoke unless I was directly spoken to.
Year after year my school reports contained comments by my teachers of my lack of personal opinion in the classroom discussions, but that overall I was a competent student.
It took years for me to understand that what was considered an “expression of my opinion” at school was deemed as “answering back” at home and as a child I quickly learnt to adapt appropriately depending on my surroundings.
The influence of culture on beliefs about education, the value of education, and participation styles cannot be overestimated. Many Asian students, for example, tend to be quiet in class, and making eye contact with teachers is considered inappropriate for many of these children. In contrast, most European New Zealand children are taught to value active classroom discussion and to look teachers directly in the eye to show respect, while their teachers view students’ participation as a sign of engagement and competence.
Another contrast involves the role of Indian parents in education. Parents from Indian cultures tend to regard teachers as experts and will often defer educational decision making to them.
In contrast, European New Zealand parents are often more actively involved in their children’s classrooms, are visible in the classrooms, or volunteer and assist teachers.
These cultural differences in value and belief may cause educators to make inaccurate judgments regarding the value that certain cultural groups place on education. It follows then that all cultures value education they simply express this in different ways.
Do we only value education as a means to employment?
We often hear people telling their children that education is important to secure a good job and will enable them to make a decent living as adults.
No doubt education is a very vital tool that is used in the contemporary world to succeed.
The knowledge that is attained through education helps open doors to a lot of opportunities for better prospects in career growth. However education enables so much more than just a good job. It helps us build opinions and have points of view on things in life.
Benefits of education
Education has many benefits and has positive impact in our life. An educated person is an asset for any country.
In today’s world, human capital is considered the best national resource. On one hand, he can explore better opportunities for himself, and on the other hand, the entire nation would get benefited from his works.
Now let us consider some of the reasons our government places so much importance on education;
1. World citizenship:
Education is a must for world citizenship or global citizenship. Such a person always works for the benefits of humanity. He treats the entire human-race as brothers and sisters. We all acknowledge the importance of education, knowledge and truth for promoting the world outlook. Education produces citizens who are people of intellectual and moral integrity, who are neither fanatical nor cynical, but are public-spirited, tolerant and wise. Education aims at producing ideal human-beings. These people are truly cultured, wise, tolerant and public-spirited.
2. Backbone of developing countries:
Education is the backbone of developing countries. Developing countries need to understand the importance of education and develop a sound educational system.
Sustainable development of economy and society is closely related to education.
The most important resource of a nation is its human-capital. Educated people have more understanding of themselves and of the others.
3. Education produces good citizens:
Education also produce well-cultured and wise people.
It is often said that the children of today are the citizens of tomorrow.
If children of today study hard to become good students, then they will surely become good citizens in future.
It is not easy to measure the loss which the human race has suffered on account of want of education by men and women who had exceptional talent but could not make full use of it.
4. Transmit national culture:
Education is an important medium to transmit national culture to the students.
Of course, educational institutions are not the only agencies through which the culture of the nation can be passed on to the younger generations.
The home exercises a powerful influence on the youthful mind. Religion has a big role to play in making people truly cultured and moral.
But schools and colleges have also a contribution to make to the transmission of national culture.
5. Wisdom:
In democratic countries educational institutions earnestly try to arouse intellectual curiosity, satisfy the appetite for more and more knowledge and develop the critical spirit which alone brings wisdom.
6. Seeks perfection:
A truly educated man always seeks perfection.
He is not a specialist who has perfected only his body or the intellect or the mind but one who seeks the development of all his faculties.
7. Earn a livelihood:
Education enables an individual to earn a living. It is true that employment does not depend upon intellectual attainments alone.
It is also determined by the stage of economic development of a country. However, there are chances that an educated person will get a good job with income sufficient to earn him his livelihood. An educated person can easily meet the basic material needs of life.
Education was always important but now it has become imperative The aim of education is not to develop one single virtue but to produce healthy normal human beings who understand the meaning of life and what it demands from them.
Education plays a vital role in shaping tomorrow’s leaders. Not only can we become a better nation by acquiring the skills necessary to be productive members of a civilised society. Increase knowledge to actively achieve and meet challenges that can produce changes in which are productive for attaining business innovations, political and economic objectives. Our world is constantly changing and it requires a society that is well versed in understanding the problems deriving from culture differences and tolerance of one another’s beliefs and perceptions.
So next time you hear the government go on and on about the money they are investing in our education system, stop and smile and be assured that if we understand the importance of education today we have indeed sown the seeds to a brighter future for tomorrows children.