Every person may have different understanding about education. Some people define education as schooling; some others relate education to learning activities. In my opinion, education is a lifelong, social context related process which involves getting information from environment and reflecting obtained information within self. It enables one to survive and it is important to make one’s life more valuable and beneficial for others.

Education is not limited to particular time duration. Human is born with capable mind which can be used for a life time. It is not limited to school, because education can be taken everywhere. It is a process because education should persist and gradually change one’s skill, ability, or behaviour. Education is always related to social context because the level of importance of skills or abilities differs in every society. For example, in a fisherman village, a child learns how to fish in early year. He may not attend special course about fishing, but practically helping his father educates him to be a fisherman. His experience continues to make him an expert and in implicit way it educates him to be a better fisherman. Fishing skill may be important in a fisherman village but in a modern city it might be placed in the bottom of education priority.

Education involves two things. The first one is getting information. Human senses enable human to receive stimulus. Therefore it is human nature to be able to receive information from external world. Inputs received by senses then processed in human brain and eventually the information can be used in any way to help human live. Education also involves personal reflection. What is obtained from surroundings will be interpreted in a specific personal way. One can reflect and learn through one’s own perception. This will cause education unique, different for everybody even though the education received is similar.

Education enables human to survive. Obtained skills and abilities from education will definitely help one to not only survive but also make the quality of one’s life better. Education is a crucial thing in human’s life because it is a mean to make one’s life more valuable and to enable human to help each other. By education, an average fisherman can be a better fisherman, gives a better life for his family. In addition, the fisherman can also help other people by providing more fish, opening job opportunities, or even educating other fisherman.

My version of the meaning of education involves three principles. It is a lifelong, social context related process. There are two activities in education, which are receiving information and processing the information by reflecting it within self. The aim of education is to make human survive, to enhance the quality of human’s life, and to enable human gives benefit for others.

Oct 07, 2012