Characteristics of Education

From the Indian as well as Western concepts of education, we come to descry the following nature of education: 

Life-long process: 

Education is the sequence of learning through the medium of experience which is acquired through formal, non-formal and informal institutions, and continues upto death. 

Dynamic process: 

Education is related to human life which will never be static, but always dynamic. Therefore, the nature of education changes according to the changing needs of time, place and society. In the words of John Dewey, "Education is the process of living through a continuous reconstruction of experiences". 

Individual development: 

Education is the process of individual development. The all-round development of an individual has seven dimensions, that is, physical, mental, aesthetic, moral, spiritual, social and economic development. It is education which coordinates these seven dimensions of the individual and makes him get rid of animal instincts and be a civilized man. J.S.Mill says, "Whatever helps to shape the human being, to make the human being, what he is or to hinder him from being what he is not-is a part of his education". 

Develops child's innate power: 

Education is not a thing to be inserted into the mind of the child from outside, but it helps to develop his innate capacities through outside experiences of the environment. If the child has the faculty of speech, he can become a good speaker with the help of education. Thus, education provides every person with the opportunity of developing his innate power according to his capacities. Gandhi remarks, "By education I mean an all round drawing out of the best in child and man-body, mind and spirit". The Western philosophers such as Pestalozzi and Froebel have emphasised the development of the child's innate power as the characteristic of education. 

Modifies behaviour: 

Education helps the individual to bring about a desirable change in his behaviour. In fact, the behaviour of an educated individual is better than that of an uneducated man. If not, the education of the individual will be incomplete and he will be called as a literate rustic. Ruskin says, "You need not educate a man by telling what he knows, but by making him what he is not". Prof. Drever has rightly remarked, "Education is a process in which and by which knowledge, character and behaviour of the young are shaped and moulded". 

Social adjustment: 

Education is an important tool which helps the individual in making adjustment with the social environment, that is, with the parents, relatives, friends, teachers and other members of the society. Human personality cannot be balanced unless he is able to adjust himself with every field. Through the process of education the child is taught to adjust himself according to the environment. 

Bi-polar process: 

John Adams calls education a bi-polar process. In this process, there is a constant interaction between the teacher and the taught and the impact of personalities like two poles interacting with each other. Ross writes, "Like a magnet, education has two poles, it is a bi-polar process". As such, education becomes a conscious and deliberate process in which one personality acts upon another in order to modify the development of the other by the communication and manipulation of knowledge. It means the direct application of the educator's personality to the personality of the educand through `shared activity' or sharing experiences. Thus, education is a bipolar process in which both the teacher and the student are equally important. In other words, if the teacher instructs, the child follows, if he gives, the student receives in fact the teacher moulds and modifies the behaviour of the child so that the latter develops his personality.

Education - bipolar process

Adams has also pointed out the subjective and objective sides of the process of education. Education becomes subjective when the learner does not question the educator. On the other hand, education becomes objective when the learner understands the motives of the educator and questions him or even opposes him and applies his own reasoning. 

Tri-polar process: 

Education is also regarded as a tri-polar process involving the interaction of the personality of the educator with that of the educand in a social setting which modifies the behaviour of the educand. John Dewey believes that the process of education cannot even be thought about without social environment. According to him, "All education proceeds by the participation pation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race". A system of education becomes incomplete in the absence of social environment. J.E.Adamson proposes the tri-polar theory of education. According to him, the whole environment of the individual becomes the source of education.

Education - tripolar process

The pragmatists consider man as a social animal and he learns everything while living in society. So, social environment is the third dimension which influences the personality of the child. In this way, the process of education consists of three poles-

(i) teacher, (ii) child and (iii) society. 

Hence, the teacher consciously designs and plans educational experiences in the light of social environment and directs the child's instincts, urges, impulses and tendencies towards the socially desirable channels. The three poles (teacher, child and society) should actively participate in the process of education so that education system could be completed successfully. 

Direct and indirect processes: 

Education is said to be a direct process when the teacher and the taught are in direct contact. It is an indirect process when pupils receive education (non-formal and informal) from a distance. 

Enrichment of experiences: 

It is regarded as an important characteristic of education. Generally, every individual has his own range of experiences which can be directed towards the goal of life through the process of education. Thus, education enriches human experiences which maybe right or wrong. 

Goal attainment: 

The main feature of the concept of education is helping the individual to fulfil his goals in life. It maybe put forth thus: Education is anything by which the personality of the individual is developed and prepared to undertake any task and adjust with surroundings in order to fulfil his basic necessities and objectives of life. In short, education is anything which satisfies our needs and fulfils our desires. 

Theoretical and practical in nature: 

The social, religious, moral, cultural, economic and intellectual knowledge can be acquired from the theoretical and practical forms of education through school, college or university. Thus, education provides both theoretical as well as practical knowledge. 

Demand of modern age: 

We consider that education is one of the basic necessities of life like food, clothing and shelter, because it seems to be very important for sociological life as shelter is for biological life. Sociological life is very important to develop national integration and international understanding in the minds of younger generation. The need for education in agricultural, industrial, technical and professional fields has been increasing. As a result, adult education, social education, women education, population education, environmental education, etc. have emerged in order to meet the demands for different professionals in the modern age. 

Scientific nature of education: 

The modern age is a scientific age. Education is mostly based on science and technology. In fact, in the whole life of man, school, college and university have become laboratories of education. Education induces the desire to undertake researches in many topics pertaining to different aspects of human life in social, political, religious, moral, cultural, economic and aesthetic areas. The nature of education is artistic in nature. In this sense, education helps to design the personality of the child. The teacher is an artist who moulds the child into a better, purer and nobler person. Education helps the child in acquiring knowledge, integrated growth, social and economic efficiency in order to lead his life in the scientific age successfully. 

Instrument of social change: 

Education is a powerful instrument for social reconstruction. It brings about a remarkable change in social, political, cultural, religious, moral, spiritual, scientific, economic, and aesthetic aspects of human life. No change occurs in any society in the absence of education. Hence, education is the most important invention of mankind by which the society is being shaped and moulded in a desirable way. Social change is one of the important characteristics of present education.