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The Fundamental Instrument for Human and Societal Development
Education for Human and Social Development
Through the ages of man’s history, education has been viewed and understood in numerous ways, but all of which are within the end purview of an evolving human and social development. A synthesis of the numerous definitions of education may be put into one that involves the training instruction, guidance, and direction of individuals to enable them attain harmonious development of all the in powers, capacities, capabilities, talents and potentials-intellectual, moral, spiritual, physical, social and emotional, to prepare them to live honorable, upright, useful, happy, and fulfilled lives in themselves and in the society both local and global.
Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights. It promotes individual freedom and empowerment and yields important development benefits. Yet millions of children and adults remain deprived of educational opportunities, many as a result of poverty.
Normative instruments of the United Nations and UNESCO lay down international legal obligations for the right to education. These instruments promote and develop the right of every person to enjoy access to education of good quality, without discrimination or exclusion. These instruments bear witness to the great importance that Member States and the international community attach to normative action for realizing the right to education. It is for governments to fulfill their obligations both legal and political in regard to providing education for all of good quality and to implement and monitor more effectively education strategies.
Education is a powerful tool by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and participate fully as citizens.
Corollary to this, there are a number of key questions which a modernizing education should be concerned with; to wit;
1. What is education for?
2. By what processes or techniques do the individuals learn?
3. What should determine the content education?
4. Should education aim to equip individual for particular task in the society?
5. Should society set the curriculum?
6. Should individuals of different groups, classes or backgrounds given different types of education?
7. Should education be determined by its being able to produce individuals who will preserve and sustain the society?
These are some essential questions that require careful analysis and more specific answers, considering education as the most fundamental instrument for human and social development.
Such questions can be addressed by the Four Pillars of Education advocacy, popularized by Jacques Delors in his report, entitled “Learning the Treasure Within”
The Four Pillars of Learning
Education throughout life is based on four pillars: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be.
1. Learning to know lays the foundation of learning throughout life. This pillar refers to the basic knowledge that we need to be able to understand our environment and to live in dignity. It is also about arousing curiosity, allowing us to experience the pleasure of research and discovery. It faces us with the challenge of combining a sufficiently broad education with the in-depth investigation of selected subject.
2. Learning to do refers to the acquisition of practical skills, and also to an aptitude for teamwork and initiative, and a readiness take risks. A variety of situations, often unforeseeable, is bound to arise. When this happens, learning to do enables us to turn our knowledge into effective innovations.
3. Learning to live together is, thus, also about recognizing our growing independence, about experiencing shared purposes, and about implementing common projects and a joint future. Only then will it be possible to manage the inevitable conflicts in a peaceful way.
4. Learning to be is founded on the fundamentals principle that education needs to contribute to the all-around development of each individual. The end of education is to discover and open the talents which are hidden like a treasure within every person.
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/right2education
http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jh1767e/3.1.html
Parcasio,Imelda G.; Caban, Reymarie M.; et. al (2011). Social Dimensions for Education Coursebook. Trinitas Publishing, Inc. pp.10-11.