Name of University/Autonomous College: UNIVERSITY OF JAMMU

Class: B.A. Semester-1

Subject: E. Content of Education
Core course: Education and Society
Course code: UEDTC 101
Unit: 1
Topic: EDUCATION AND ITS FUNCTIONS
Duration of Presentation: 35-40 minutes
Name of the Faculty member: DR. POOJA BHAGAT
Designation: COLLEGE LECTURER
Name of the College: GOVERNMENT DEGREE COLLEGE SAMBA

Objectives of the topic

1. To enable the students to understand the meaning of the term education.

2. To enable the students to understand the basic concepts of education.

3. To make the students familiar with the definitions given by various educationists
and thinkers.

4. To make the students familiar with the various functions perform by the
education.

5. To enable the student to critically analyse the functions of education.

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 Unit-I

EDUCATION AND ITS FUNCTIONS

1.1.Concept of Education

1.2.Functions of Education

1.1. CONCEPT OF EDUCATION

Introduction

Education is the most important invention of human race. Of various inventions it is

utmost important. Without education man’s life is just like a lower animal. Man is the
supreme creation of God. He is endowed with inherent powers such as thinking, imagination,
reasoning, judging, and memory. As human child born, animal like instincts dominates his
personality. As he grows up and comes in contact with the social environment, education
turns him into socially acceptable individual by redirecting and sublimating his inborn
instincts. W.H. Kilpatrick says “Any modification brought about in the Behaviour of an
individual as a result of his interaction with the environment constitutes learning.''

Meaning

Education is very wide and comprehensive term. Its implications are rich and varied. Its
meaning has been interpreted differently by the different educationists, thinkers and
philosophers at different times. Etymologically, the term education is derived from three
Latin words ‘Educare’, ‘Educere’ and ‘Educatum’. The word ‘Educare’ means to bring up, to

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 nourish. It means that the child is to be brought up according to set ideals and goals.
‘Educere’ means to lead out, to draw out and ‘Educatum’ means the act of teaching or
training. Thus, etymologically the term education means to bring up and to draw out internal
hidden talent/potentiality of a child or person.

According to Ross James S, ªThe whole of Education- intellectual, moral and physical
consisted in leading out the innate knowledge, virtue and the powers of the child making the
potential actual”.

Thus, Education means both the acquisition of knowledge and experience as well as the
development of skills, habits and attitudes which help to a person to lead a full and
worthwhile life in this world. In fact, it is a process of training and Individual through various
experiences of life draws out the best within him.

Synonyms of Education

There are number of synonyms of the word Education. Sometimes the word Pedagogy is
used for Education. The word Pedagogy can be splited as `paides' means boy and 'a' means to
lead. Thus pedagogy is the science of instruction for leading the pupils. The most common word
‘Siksa’ is derived from the Sanskrit verbal root ‘Sas’ which means to discipline, to control, to
instruct or to teach. Similarly the word ‘Vidya’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Vid’ which
means to know. Thus Vidya is the subject matter of knowledge.

This shows that disciplining the mind and imparting knowledge were the foremost
considerations in India. The term Education has very wide scope and there have been variations
in the concept of Education. Thus, Western concepts of Education have differed to some extent
from Indian concept of Education.

Indian concept of Education

Different Indian thinkers and philosophers have given their own views on education:

 Rig Veda: “Education is that which makes a man self-reliant and self-less”.

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 Upanishads: “Education is that whose end product is salvation”.

 Bhagavad-Gita: “Nothing is more purifying on earth than knowledge”.

 .Yajurveda and Manusmrti: “Education by which man enjoys the fruit of immortality”.

 Kautilya: “Education means training for the country and love for the nation”.

 Guru Nanaka: “Education is Self-realization and service of the people”.

 Vivekananda's view: “Education is the manifestation of divine perfection already

existing in man”.

 Tagore: “Education means enabling the mind to find out that ultimate truth which
emancipates us from the bondage of the dust and gives us the wealth, not of things but of
inner light, not of power but of love, making this truth its own and giving expression to
it”.

 Gandhi’s view: “By Education I mean all round drawing out of the best in child and
man- body, mind and spirit.”

 Sri Aurbindo: “Education as helping the growing soul to draw out that is in itself. Again
he means that which will offer the tools whereby one can live for the divine, for the
country, for oneself and for others and this must be ideal in evert school which call itself
national”.

 Zakir Hussain: “Education is the work of whole life. It begins from the time of birth and
continues till last moment of death.”

The Indian concept of Education is well-summarised by the University Education

Commission (1937-38) -

“Education, according to Indian tradition, is not merely a means to earning a

living; nor it is only nursery of thought or a school for citizenship. It is limitation into the

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 life of spirit, a training of human souls in the pursuit of truth and the Practice of virtue. It
is second birth ‘dvitiyam janma”.

Indian Education Commission (1964-66) -

“Education ought to be related to the life, needs and inspirations of the people so
as to be a powerful instrument of social, economic and cultural transformation”.

Western concept of Education

1. Socrates: “Education means the bringing out of the ideas of universal validity which are
latent in the mind of every man.”

2. Plato: “Education is the capacity to feel pleasure and pain at the right moment. It
develops in the body and in the soul of the pupil all the beauty and all the perfection of
which he is capable of.”

3. Aristotle: “Education is the creation of sound mind in a sound body. It develops man's
faculty, especially his mind, so that he may be able to enjoy the contemplation of
supreme truth, beauty and goodness in which perfect happiness essentially consists.”

4. Rousseau’s view: “Education of man commences at his birth before he can speak, before
he can understand he is already instructed, Experience is the forerunner of precept”.

5. Pestalozzi: “Education is natural, harmonious and progressive development of man’s

innate powers.”

6. T.P. Nunn: “Education is the complete development of the individuality of the child so
that he can make an original contribution to human life according to the best of his
capacity.”

7. T. Raymont: “Education is a process of development from infancy to maturity, the

process by which he adopts himself gradually in various ways of his physical, social and
spiritual environment”.

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 8. Ross: “The aim of Education is the development of valuable personality and spiritual
individual”.

9. John Dewey’s view: “Education is the process of living through a continuous

reconstruction of experiences. It is the development of all those capacities in the
individual which will enable him to control his environment and fulfil his possibilities.”

10. Froebel: “Education is enfoldment of what is already enfolded in the germ. It is the
process through which the child makes the internal-external.”

11. Kant: “Education is the development in the individual of all the perfection of which he is
capable of.”

Conclusion

As the human child born, he is quite immature and undeveloped. He is born with inherent
capacities, tendencies and potentialities. It is the education which unfolds the inherent talents and
potentialities of the every child. Throughout life, the child receives knowledge and experiences
through formal, informal and non-formal means of education. Education is continuous and life
long process.

Thus we see that different educationists have given different definitions of education at
different times.

Narrow meaning of Education

In the narrower meaning, education is confined to some specific purpose and is

deliberately planned. Education is consciously directed effort to develop and cultivate human
powers. According to Prof. Drever, “Education is a process in which and by which knowledge,
behaviour and character of the young are shaped and moulded.”

Thus in the narrower sense education is regarded equivalent to instruction. It consists of the
specific influences specifically designed in a school or in a college or in any institution to bring

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desirable changes in the development and growth of the child. This type of education is
intentional and considered as the accumulated experience of the human race.

Broader meaning of Education

In the wider sense, education is life-long continuous process of human race which starts
from the birth and continues till the last moment of death. It is a process of development from
cradle to grave. Education is not confined to class room and also not limited to a particular
period of life span. Education is thus life and life is education.

John Dewey: “Education in its broadest sense is the means of social continuity.”

It begins with the birth of the child and ends with his death. It is a continuous process. It
includes all the knowledge and experiences, acquired during infancy, childhood, adolescence,
adulthood or old age through any agency of education i.e., school, home, society, church etc.

Modern Concept of Education

In the modern concept, education is learner-centric process. The learner occupies the
central place in the education process. Education in the modern sense develops the inherent
capacities of the learner in the social environment in the best possible manner. The old
curriculum was subject centric whereas curriculum in the modern concept of education is activity
centric because the focus of this type of curriculum is the development of total personality of
learner i.e., physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual aspects of the learner. The old methods
of teaching emphasised on rote learning but the modern methods of teaching includes play-way
method, learning by doing, learning by experience, Cooperative learning, project method etc. In
the old concept of education, school was the only agency of education but in the modern concept
of education, all formal, non-formal as well as informal agencies are the base of imparting
education.

Education as a bi-polar process

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 In this process, both the teacher and the pupil influence each other. It involves interaction
between the two. The personality of the teacher has its influence upon the behavior and
personality of the learner. Adam calls education “a bipolar process in which one personality acts
upon another to modify the proper development of the other by the communication and
manipulation of knowledge.” The learner is also active in this process.

Education as a tri-polar process

In the tri-polar process, there is interaction between the pupil, the teacher, and the social
environment. The teacher tries to develop the personality of the learner keeping in view the
needs of the society. It is maintained that all education takes place in the society and social
setting.

In the words of John Dewey, “All education proceeds by the participation of the individual in the
social consciousness of the race.” Thus, social environment is the third factor in the education of
the child. The three pillars of tri-polar process are:

 The pupil who receives education,

 The teacher who imparts education and,

 The social environment in which all education is imparted.

Conclusion

Education is never ending process of human race. It starts from birth time and ends till
the last moment of death. The word education etymologically derived from Educare, Educere
and Educatum. In its narrow sense, education is synonymous to instruction where ad in its
broadest sense, it means life-long continuous process. Education is life and whole life is
education. In modern concept, education is child-centric and activity-oriented.

1.2. FUNCTIONS OF EDUCATION

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 Education is a dynamic and continuous process of human race. In the meaning we discussed
what education is and in function we will discuss what education does for the individual, society
as well as for nation development. According to John Dewey, “The function of education is to
help the growing of a helpless young animal into a happy, moral and efficient human being.”
According to Webster, “The function of education is to discipline feelings, to control emotions,
to stimulate motivations and to develop religious sentiments. This clearly shows that education
performs various functions.

The following are the functions of education:

1. Progressive development of man’s innate powers: Every human child is born with
some inherent capabilities, tendencies and potentialities such as love, affection, curiosity,
reasoning, and thinking and imagination powers. The very first function of education is to
unfold these inborn capacities and potentialities. Pestalozzi also holds the same view
about the function of education when he defined, “Education is natural, harmonious and
progressive development of man’s innate powers.”

2. All round development of personality: Another function of education is total

development of personality. It includes physical, mental, moral, emotional, social and
aesthetic aspects of development of personality. If any aspect of personality development
remains undeveloped or underdeveloped, the personality development of individual is
lop-sided. In order to achieve the higher goals of life, such as, truth, beauty and goodness
which leads to self-realisation, all round-development of personality is must.

3. Control, redirection and sublimation of instincts: Human child is born with some
basic emotions and instincts which mould and shape his behavior. When he born, animal
like instincts dominate his personality and behavior. Unlike animal, human child is
bestowed with the powers of thinking, imagination, reasoning, judgement and memory.
These mental powers help him for socially acceptable behavior by control, redirection
and sublimation of his basic instincts. Another function of education is to redirects and
sublimates the animal instincts into desirable patterns of behaviour for the good of the
individual and for the good of society.

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4. Character building and moral development: Another important function of education
is to develop moral qualities in the individual and develop his character. Education must
inculcate the moral qualities such as honesty, truth, beauty and goodness in the individual
and make them good human beings. Character is the foundation of good personality. It
reflects the personality of the individual. The school must organise various activities that
promote the healthy and sound character of students. The national character should also
be imbibed among the youth.

5. Developing good citizens: For every nation, citizens must be good and dynamic.
Education is the only creative process which prepares and develops the sense of duty and
responsibility, fellow-feeing, co-operation, love for nation, patriotism, service and
leadership qualities which bring about national unity and prosperity. According to
Kautilya's, “Education means training for the country and love for the nation.”

6. Awakening of social feelings: An individual is an integral part of society. He born and

develops in society. He cannot live in isolation. Therefore school environment and
various curricular and co-curricular activities in the school develop social feelings and
spirit of social service in the children. The social qualities such as love, co-operation,
fellow-feeling, sympathy, tolerance, kindness and sacrifice must be developed through
education in the children.

7. Preservation of culture and civilization: Preservation of culture and civilization is

another very important function of education. Our country has a very rich cultural
heritage. The education preserves and enriches cultural patterns from one generation to
another generation. Education achieves this function by organising various curricular and
co-curricular activities and by ensuring participation of children in these various
activities.

8. Social reforms and social progress: Another function of education is to bring about
social reforms and social progress by removing all blind beliefs, superstitions, myths,
dogmas, useless traditions and old customs which hinders the progress and development
of the society.

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 9. National understanding and national security: Another important function which
education has to perform is to secure and provide continue national security. The
education achieved this function only by inculcating necessary qualities in the children as
may enable them to sacrifice their lives for the security, integrity and honour of the
nation.

10. Preparation for adult life: The child of today is the citizen of future. The function of
education is to prepare the child for future life as good citizen of his country and that of
the world at large. Education must develop such abilities and qualities in the child which
may enable him to face the challenges of life boldly and courageously.

11. Adaptation to Environment: Every individual has to make struggle for existence with
environment. It is the function of education to enable the individual for making suitable
adjustment in the environment. A well-adjusted person easily adapts himself to the varied
life situations. Education makes him understand the needs of the situation and makes him
to react accordingly. It is well known fact that life is changing every moment. Education
keeps the individual updated to face the new situations and challenges of life.

12. Satisfaction of needs: The child has various types of needs viz, biological, social,
aesthetic, ethical, spiritual etc. Education enables the child to satisfy these needs.
Education prepares the child to realise and satisfy his needs from time to time. Every
child has different needs and proper education helps him/her a lot to satisfy these needs.
The satisfaction of needs make the child a well-adjusted person in the society.

In addition, there are some common functions of education:

 Development of Individuality

 Development of Vocational efficiency

 Training of leadership

 Re-organisation and reconstruction of experiences

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 Development of skilled man-power

 Emotional and national integration

 Practical knowledge of life

 Improves reasoning and thinking power

 Development of science and technology

 Preserves the nature

 Provides opportunities and equality

 Development of society

 Development of nation

Conclusion

It can be concluded that education performs a number of functions in the individual life,
social life and national life. The progress of individual, society and nation totally depends on
education. Education develops complete individuality of an individual. Education develops
society and nation by providing socially efficient members and efficient leaders in all
spheres of life.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND THEIR ANSWERS

1. Give the etymological meaning of the term education.

2. Education as a tri-polar process. Discuss?

3. Discuss the Indian and Western concept of Education.

4. Explain in detail the various functions of education.

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 Q.1. Give the etymological meaning of the term Education.

Ans. Etymologically, the term education is derived from three Latin words ‘Educare’,
‘Educere’ and ‘Educatum’. The word ‘Educare’ means to bring up, to nourish. It means that
the child is to be brought up according to set ideals and goals. ‘Educere’ means to lead out, to
draw out and ‘Educatum’ means the act of teaching or training. Thus, etymologically the
term education means to bring up and to draw out internal hidden talent/potentiality of a
child or person.

Q.2. Education as a tri-polar process. Discuss?

Ans. In the tri-polar process, there is interaction between the pupil, the teacher, and the
social environment. The teacher tries to develop the personality of the learner keeping in
view the needs of the society. It is maintained that all education takes place in the society and
social setting.

In the words of John Dewey, “All education proceeds by the participation of the individual in
the social consciousness of the race.” Thus, social environment is the third factor in the
education of the child. The three pillars of tri-polar process are:

 The pupil who receives education,

 The teacher who imparts education and,

 The social environment in which all education is imparted.

Q.3. Discuss the Indian and Western concept of Education.

Ans. Indian concept of education: Different Indian thinkers and educationists have given
their own view on the term education.

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  Rig Veda: “Education is that which makes a man self-reliant and self-less.”

 Upanishads: “Education is that whose end product is salvation.”

 Bhagavad-Gita: “Nothing is more purifying on earth than knowledge”.

 Yajurveda and Manusmrti: “Education by which man enjoys the fruit of

immortality”.

 Kautilya: “Education means training for the country and love for the nation”.

 Guru Nanaka: “Education is Self-realization and service of the people”.

 Vivekananda's view: “Education is the manifestation of divine perfection already

existing in man.”

 Tagore: “Education means enabling the mind to find out that ultimate truth which
emancipates us from the bondage of the dust and gives us the wealth, not of things
but of inner light, not of power but of love, making this truth its own and giving
expression to it”.

 Gandhi’s view: “By Education I mean all round drawing out of the best in child and
man- body, mind and spirit.”

 Sri Aurbindo: “Education as helping the growing soul to draw out that is in itself.
Again he means that which will offer the tools whereby one can live for the divine,
for the country, for oneself and for others and this must be ideal in evert school which
call itself national”.

 Zakir Hussain: “Education is the work of whole life. It begins from the time of birth
and continues till last moment of death.”

Western concept of Education:

[Type text] Page 14

 Socrates: “Education means the bringing out of the ideas of universal validity which are
latent in the mind of every man.”

 Plato: “Education is the capacity to feel pleasure and pain at the right moment. It
develops in the body and in the soul of the pupil all the beauty and all the perfection of
which he is capable of.”

 Aristotle: “Education is the creation of sound mind in a sound body. It develops man's
faculty, especially his mind, so that he may be able to enjoy the contemplation of
supreme truth, beauty and goodness in which perfect happiness essentially consists.”

 Rousseau’s view: “Education of man commences at his birth before he can speak, before
he can understand he is already instructed, Experience is the forerunner of precept”.

 Pestalozzi: “Education is natural, harmonious and progressive development of man’s

innate powers.”

 T.P. Nunn: “Education is the complete development of the individuality of the child so
that he can make an original contribution to human life according to the best of his
capacity.”

 T. Raymont: “Education is a process of development from infancy to maturity, the

process by which he adopts himself gradually in various ways of his physical, social and
spiritual environment”.

 Ross: “The aim of Education is the development of valuable personality and spiritual
individual”.

 John Dewey’s view: “Education is the process of living through a continuous

reconstruction of experiences. It is the development of all those capacities in the
individual which will enable him to control his environment and fulfil his possibilities.”

[Type text] Page 15

  Froebel: “Education is enfoldment of what is already enfolded in the germ. It is the
process through which the child makes the internal-external.”

 Kant: “Education is the development in the individual of all the perfection of which he is
capable of.”

Q.4. Explain in detail the various functions of education.

Ans: Education is a dynamic and continuous process of human race. John Dewey, “The function
of education is to help the growing of a helpless young animal into a happy, moral and efficient
human being.” According to Webster, “The function of education is to discipline feelings, to
control emotions, to stimulate motivations and to develop religious sentiments. This clearly
shows that education performs various functions.

The following are the general functions of education:

1. Progressive development of man’s innate powers: Every human child is born with
some inherent capabilities, tendencies and potentialities such as love, affection, curiosity,
reasoning, and thinking and imagination powers. The very first function of education is to
unfold these inborn capacities and potentialities. Pestalozzi also holds the same view
about the function of education when he defined, “Education is natural, harmonious and
progressive development of man’s innate powers.”

2. All round development of personality: Another function of ed6is total development of

personality. It includes physical, mental, moral, emotional, social and aesthetic aspects of
development of personality. If any aspect of personality development remains
undeveloped or underdeveloped, the personality development of individual is lop-sided.
In order to achieve the higher goals of life, such as, truth, beauty and goodness which
leads to self-realisation, all round-development of personality is must.

3. Control, redirection and sublimation of instincts: Human child is born with some
basic emotions and instincts which mould and shape his behavior. When he born, animal
like instincts dominate his personality and behavior. Unlike animal, human child is

[Type text] Page 16

 bestowed with the powers of thinking, imagination, reasoning, judgement and memory.
These mental powers help him for socially acceptable behavior by control, redirection
and sublimation of his basic instincts. Another function of education is to redirects and
sublimates the animal instincts into desirable patterns of behaviour for the good of the
individual and for the good of society.

4. Character building and moral development: Another important function of education

is to develop moral qualities in the individual and develop his character. Education must
inculcate the moral qualities such as honesty, truth, beauty and goodness in the
individual.

5. Developing good citizens: For every nation, citizens must be good and dynamic.
Education is the only creative process which prepares and develops the sense of duty and
responsibility, fellow-feeing, co-operation, love for nation, patriotism, service and
leadership qualities which bring about national unity and prosperity. According to
Kautilya's, “Education means training for the country and love for the nation.”

6. Awakening of social feelings: An individual is an integral part of society. He born and

develops in society. He cannot live in isolation. Therefore school environment and
various curricular and co-curricular activities in the school develop social feelings and
spirit of social service in the children. The social qualities such as love, co-operation,
fellow-feeling, sympathy, tolerance, kindness and sacrifice must be developed through
education in the children.

7. Preservation of culture and civilization: Preservation of culture and civilization is

another very important function of education. Our country has a very rich cultural
heritage. The education preserves and enriches cultural patterns from one generation to
another generation. Education achieves this function by organising various curricular and
co-curricular activities and by ensuring participation of children in these various
activities.

8. Social reforms and social progress: Another function of education is to bring about
social reforms and social progress by removing all blind beliefs, superstitions, myths,

[Type text] Page 17

 dogmas, useless traditions and old customs which hinders the progress and development
of the society.

9. National understanding and national security: Another important function which

education has to perform is to secure and provide continue national security. The
education achieved this function only by inculcating necessary qualities in the children as
may enable them to sacrifice their lives for the security, integrity and honour of the
nation.

10. Preparation of adult life: The child of today is the citizen of future. The function of
education is to prepare the child for future life as good citizen of his country and that of
the world at large. Education must develop such abilities and qualities in the child which
may enable him to face the challenges of life boldly and courageously.

11. Adaptation to Environment: Every individual has to make struggle for existence with
environment. It is the function of education to enable the individual for making suitable
adjustment in the environment. A well-adjusted person easily adapts himself to the varied
life situations. Education makes him understand the needs of the situation and makes him
to react accordingly. It is well known fact that life is changing every moment. Education
keeps the individual updated to face the new situations and challenges of life.

12. Satisfaction of needs: The child has various types of needs viz, biological, social,
aesthetic, ethical, spiritual etc. Education enables the child to satisfy these needs.
Education prepares the child to realise and satisfy his needs from time to time. Every
child has different needs and proper education helps him/her a lot to satisfy these needs.
The satisfaction of needs make the child a well-adjusted person in the society.

13. Reconstruction of experiences: Education is life-long and continuous process. Life is

education and education is life. Life is full of experiences. One cannot live with his past
experiences which are unable to adjust in the society. So education helps the individual to
reconstruct the experience and adjust with the environment.

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REFERENCES

 https://www.slideshare.net/AbidNazir8/concept-of-education-ppt-104920825

 https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/183964/5/05_chapter1.pdf

BOOKS RECOMMENDED

 Aggarwal J.C, (2000). Land marks in the History of Modern Indian Education. Vikas
Publishing House Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi.
 Brubacher, J.S. (1968). Modern Philosophies of Education. New York: Mc Graw-Hill.
 Chaube, S.P. and Chaube, A. (1999). Education in Ancient and Medieval India. Vikas
publishing housing Pvt. Ltd.: New Delhi.
 Sharma, N.R. & Sharma, K.R. (1996). History of Education in India. Atlantic Publishers.
 Sharma, O.P. (2019). Education and Society. Malhotra Book Depot: Jammu.
 Singh, R. Education and Society. N. R. Books International: Jammu.
 Srinivasan, M.V. (2019). Education in Contemporary India. Pearson India.

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