We explain what education is and its various meanings according to various authors. Also, the types of education that exist.
What is education?
Education is called the facilitation of learning or obtaining knowledge, abilities, values Y habits in a given human group, by other people more versed in the subject taught and using various techniques of pedagogy: storytelling, debate, memorization or research.
Education is a complex process in the life of the human being, which occurs fundamentally within the family and then in the different stages of school or academic life that the individual transits (from kindergarten to university).
However, not only the organized and compartmentalized knowledge of the Sciences and knowledge is education: so are local traditions, beliefs familiar or ways of conduct inherited.
The final result of the educational process is uncertain, since the human being He never stops learning, therefore, to change his behaviors and his precepts. However, the initial stages of life They are considered crucial for the formation and education of the individual (both in formal aspects and in affective, civic, etc.), since they will be responsible for the way of acting that the individual presents in his adulthood.
At the same time, formal or academic education is considered in our societies a institution at the service of the human being, its improvement and its learning, in which it can not only acquire deep and complex knowledge, but also shape a way of thought in the affairs of the ethics, the moral, affectivity, etc.
And yet, access to this type of education is usually restricted to the middle and upper classes, which is always an additional difficulty for the most disadvantaged classes, often steeped in ignorance.
Education can be given through different models and different ranges of experiences, but it is usually carried out by a tutor, teacher, teacher or guide, who is a figure of relative authority over the apprentices or students, in charge of ensuring the correct understanding of the topics and of solving the doubts that may arise in the process, since not all people have learning mechanisms Similar.
Education concepts
Depending on the author consulted, education is defined as:
- "Education consists in directing feelings of pleasure and pain towards the ethical order" - Aristotle (Greek philosopher, 384-322 BC)
- "The attainment of a healthy soul in a healthy body, such is the end of education" John Locke (English philosopher, 1632-1704).
- "Education has finally the development in man of all the perfection that his nature carries with it" Immanuel Kant (German philosopher, 1724-1804)
- "Education is the only way to learn to live for others through the habit of making sociability prevail over personality" -Auguste Comte (French philosopher, 1798-1857)
- "Education is evolution, rationally conducted, of the specific faculties of man for his perfection and for the formation of character, preparing him for individual and social life, in order to achieve the greatest possible happiness" - Rufino Blanco (Spanish educator, 1861- 1936)
- "Education is a process of transmission of the traditions or culture of a group, from one generation to another" - Fernando de Azevedo (Brazilian educator, 1894-1974)
Types of education
Formal education often leads to a degree.
There are numerous classifications of the educational act, sometimes by model or by topics of interest. However, the most important distinction is often the following:
- Formal education. That which takes place within the program organized, planned, evaluated and taught by the institutions of the society: academies, schools, institutes, universities and other instances of organized knowledge. They usually lead to obtaining a degree and social recognition of the knowledge acquired.
- Informal education. That which is received in an intentional and organized way, but outside the formal institutions dedicated to it, that is, outside the academies and without the endorsement of a degree (or having it, but without any professional value).
- Informal education. That which is acquired in an unintentional and disorganized way, through the accumulation of experience and knowledge incorporated by trial and error. It is, let's say, the education "of life" and everyone acquires it in their own way.
Physical education
Physical education is a pedagogical discipline, that is, a branch of education, focused on the human body from various physical perspectives of exercise and improvement, in pursuit of a comprehensive management of the healthy human body, as well as sports training and training. combat of sedentary life.