What Is Education

Education is one of the most important factors that distinguish man from animals, since it is one of the principal outcomes of man's rationality. It has been held traditionally that at birth, man's mind is tabula rasa-a clean slate. That is, that the mind at the moment of birth contains no pieces of informational data. However, some scientists now contend that the "clean slate" formula should be pushed back a bit, because sometime before birth the baby's mind becomes active enough to receive some form of data or information. Whatever be the case, it is clear knowledge that from the moment of birth till the first few years of life, man is subjected by nature to dizzying influx of learning. There is a phenomenal accumulation of informational data. A reduced tempo is experienced as years go by. But as long as man lives, he continues to learn-no matter as what rate. Learning is one of the inevitable concomitants off man's nature. He learns somehow somewhat willy-nilly, even if he learns at a rate much lower than he is capable of learning. But can all learning be characterized as education? What is education? What is the conventional frame of mind regarding this concept? These are the very questions this paper seeks to probe into, with a view of philosophically analyzing the above subject matter.

The term "Education" can be applied in a broad compass and in a restricted sense. In the broad sense, the term embraces all those experiences of the individual, through which knowledge is acquired, the intellect enlightened, or the will strengthened. Informal education is covered by this approach. It is education, but not in the strict sense of the term. Some of the terms used here need preliminary commentary. Experiences, philosophically speaking encompass all the data acquired by the individual through the senses. Any stimulus that registers a sensation through any of the five senses, can be regarded as an experience in this context. The intellect is the faculty of cognition. It is the power, or the aspect of the mind, through which the individual acquires knowledge and exercises reason. The will, on the other hand, is the faculty of option. It is the power, or the aspect of the mind, through which the individual makes choices, forms character and exercises emotions-for example, emotions of love, et al.

In the strict sense, the term, "education" is employed to designate the consciously planned and systematically applied formal education or training, carried on through the various social agencies of education, especially the school. In this sense, teaching and discipline are employed. Here, teaching implies the art of transmitting to the individual the intellectual content of civilization. Discipline, on the other hand, implies the introduction of the individual to the moral life of the community and the techniques of self-control.

It is now time to examine a few other approaches to the