Sunday, March 21, 2010

Is Education Complete Without Practice?

I read in a newspaper that travel, watching programs in TV, or attending a seminar can be considered as education. But is the learner or watcher really educated at the end of this knowledge sharing or viewing episode? Let us first look at a formal definition of Education and Practice from Wikipedia.

Education in the broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another. Etymologically the word education contains educare (Latin) "bring up", which is related to educere "bring out", "bring forth what is within", "bring out potential" and ducere, "to lead".

Practice or practise (verb form in Standard English) is the act of rehearsing a behavior over and over, or engaging in an activity again and again, for the purpose of improving or mastering it, as in the phrase "practice makes perfect". Playing a musical instrument well takes a lot of practice. It is a method of learning and of acquiring experience.

Coming back to the example of Travel as education, travel or a picnic is an exciting cultural experience. But travel is an informal education process that does not include practice. The tourist guide is not going to ask you to narrate the history of the fabulous monument he/she just described to you.Or to make a pot! Unless you are a charismatic host for a reality travel show, you will not be journalling, blogging, or you-tubing your travel experiences!

So, is informal education complete without practice? What is the syllabus for you to get an informal degree or diploma?  Have you retained the information from a seminar? Can you take a seminar i.e transfer the talk you heard to another crowd?

So, the lack of practice or repeating, brainstorming, and analyzing what you have learnt is missing in informal education. So, is informal education complete or incomplete? Or is it that you are educated but not learned?

Would like to hear from U! Put in your comments and feedback :)

No comments:

Post a Comment