EDUCATION FOR SOCIETY AND INDIVIDUAL The purpose of education has always been to every one, in essence, the same to give the young, the things they need in order to develop in an orderly, sequential way into members of society. Any education is, in its forms and methods, an outgrowth of the needs of the society in which it exists. Education is essential for every society and individual. It is life itself but not a preparation for life. Man has various qualities. These qualities of the individual should be developed for the improvement of the society. So education plays a complementary role for overall individual, social and national development. It enables an individual to realize his highest self and goal.
KEY FUNCTIONS AND ROLES OF EDUCATION TOWARDS INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY Functions of education towards individual: (1) Development of inborn potentialities- Education helps the child to develop the inborn potentialities of child providing scope to develop. (2) Modifying behavior- Education helps to modify the past behavior through learning and through different agencies of education. (3) All-round development- Education aims at the all round development of childphysical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual. (4) Preparing for the future- After completion of education the child can earn its livelihood getting proper education, which has productivity. The education should be imparted according to the own interest of the child. (5) Developing personality- The whole personality of the child is developed physically, intellectually, morally, socially, aesthetically and spiritually. He is recognized in the society. (6) Helping for adjustability- Man differs from beast. Man has reasoning and thinking power. Man tries his best to adjust with his own environment through education. Functions of education towards society: (1) Social change and control: The society is never static. It is progressive and dynamic. The child lives in society. It is the social environment where the personality of the child can be developed. The old traditions, customs are preserved and transmitted with the situations, which are ever changing. We should not think or believe in the blind beliefs, which are hindrances
towards our development. Education helps to walk with the development of science and technology. (2) Reconstruction of experiences: Education is life-long 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. (3) Development of social and moral value: Society is always in tension with narrowism. There is no social or moral value. Now the man is behaving like an animal. Animality can be changed with moral education. Education teaches the moral value and social value like co-operation, tolerance, sympathy, fellow feelings, love affection, respect towards elder, helping the poor and needy persons. (4) Providing opportunity or equality: Indian Constitution has introduced the term ‘equality’ because we are not getting equal opportunities in all aspects. Education teaches us to give equal opportunities in all aspects irrespective of caste, creed, color, sex and religion AIMS OF EDUCATION Individual and Social Aims: Individual aims and social aims are the most important aims of education. They are opposed to each other individual aims gives importance for the development of the individuality. Social aim gives importance to the development of society through individual not fulfilling his desire. But it will be seen that development of individuality assumes meaning only in a social environment. Individual Aims Sir Percy Nunn observes, “Nothing goods enters into the human world except in and through the free activities of individual men and women and that educational practice must be shaped the individual. Education should give scope to develop the inborn potentialities through maximum freedom.” Because: (1) Biologists believe that every individual is different from others. Every child is a new and unique product and a new experiment with life. Thompson says, “Education is for the individual”. Individual should be the center of all educational efforts and activities.
(2) Naturalists believe that central aim of education is the autonomous development of the individual. Rousseau said, “Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the Author of Nature, but everything degenerates in the hands of man.” God makes all things good, man meddles with them and they become evil. God creates everything good man makes it evil. So individual should be given maximum freedom for its own development. (3) Psychologists believe that education is an individual process because of individual differences. No two individuals are alike. So education should be according to the interest of the individual.
Criticism of Individual Aim: Individual aim is not desirable because man is a social animal. Society’s interest should be protected. (1) Individual aim makes individual selfish. (2) Maximum freedom may go against the society. (3) Individuality cannot develop from a vacuum; it develops in a social atmosphere. (4) Unless society develops, individual cannot develop. (5) Who will recognize society- where individual is selfish? Social Aim: The supporters believe that society or state is supreme or real. The individual is only a means. The progress of the society is the aim of education. Education is for the society and of the society. The function of education is for the welfare of the state. The state will make the individual as it desires. It prepares the individual to play different roles in society. Individuality has no value, and personality is meaningless apart from society. If society will develop individual will develop automatically. Here society plays an important role.
Criticism of Social Aim: (1) It makes individual only a tool of government. (2) It reduces individual to a mere non-entity. (3) Society ignores the legitimate needs, desires and interests of the individual. (4) It is against the development of individuality of the individual.
Synthesis between individual and social aims of education: Individual aim and social aim of education go independently. Both are opposing to each other. It is not in reality. Neither the individual nor the society can exist. The individual is the product of the society while society finds its advancement in the development of its individual member. Individual cannot develop in vacuum. According to John Adams, “Individuality requires a social medium to grow.” T.P. Nunn says,” Individuality develops in social environment.” Conclusion: The true aim of education cannot be other than the highest development of the individual as a member of society. Let education burn the individual flame, feeding it with the oil of society. “Education can be a real panacea for all social evils.” =John Dewey=
SOCIAL REALITIES AFFECTING THE CURRICULUM Philippine Social Realities Affecting the Curriculum At present, the Philippines is enjoying political freedom. Its relation with other countries is amiable. However, the population is continuously increasing while its food resources continue to decline. The production of our food supplies has not kept pace with the unabated increase of population. This imbalance has given birth to many intricate social problems the solution of which demand utmost resourcefulness in leadership and unflagging support in fellowship. The increase in population, unaccompanied by widespread enlightenment and a corresponding improvement in the economic position of the individual and the greater part of society, generated pressures and created more problems never before encountered by our people. Different means of communication, transportation and travel in our country have increased in number and have become faster and cheaper. We now have thousands of public and private schools, colleges and universities. Illiteracy has been reduced considerably. Various industries, some locally capitalized, and others foreign owned, have grown in our countryside. Medical science has brought to our people the blessings and risks in the use of new wonder drugs. Curriculum developers must have in mind that the problems of society are the problems of education. Education cannot be divorced from the economic, political and social realities of a country. Any society in order to progress economically must progress educationally. Industry needs to indicate the direction and dimensions of educational progress for manpower development. The question is, does such hold true in the Philippines or does it follow a reverse pattern, that is, that educational progress runs ahead of economic development? Is our curriculum relevant to the economic demands of the society, not only for the present but also for years to come? Education must enrich society, improve the living condition of its people and make possible its optimum development. Herein lies the importance of the orientation, organization, enrichment, adaptation and development of the local curriculum. The curriculum must be made relevant to the economic demands of society if we are to achieve the goal or producing people who are to provide direction and guidance in the operation of commerce and industry. Technical skills, researchers for the discovery of new products must be taken into consideration by curriculum developers in the Philippines. Stress on studies and activities related to history, values, social and economic life from the viewpoint of the Filipinos are factors for consideration. The curriculum must provide abundant materials to promote the unity of the people such that it should embody the latest gains in Science since it must give an education for effective participation in the modern society. The curriculum must keep up with the changing political, economic and social conditions of the country. In the New Society attempts have been made to reorient the
curriculum in both content and emphasis on liberal education providing balance between academic learning’s and work experiences for the development of leaders and creators of job opportunities. The new program is being redirected to ensure a greater recognition of the value of hard and honest work unlike in the past when the emphasis was on languages and academic excellence. Economic development plan must be taken into consideration in order to draw guidelines for curriculum development. The Filipinos increasing dislike for colonial mentality is an indication that the curriculum must be redirected to Philippine Culture. Different groups have arisen to voice ambitious development goals. Our national history and
Guidelines To Social Considerations In Curriculum Development In summarized form, here are some guidelines to social considerations in curriculum development: 1. There are basic agencies in society that demand from educational curriculums some special skills, attitudes and knowledge. they are the family, the church, the state, economic agencies, noncommercial community and other social agencies. 2. School curriculum developers must take into consideration not only national and international needs but also local, regional and provincial needs. 3. In the efforts of curriculum developers to gear the curriculum toward the establishment of a sense of identity among Filipinos, cultural pluralism should be respected, thus taking into consideration the rich cultural heritage of all Filipinos, including the minorities. 4. Curriculum development must draw upon analyses of society and culture, of Filipino tradition and heritage, social pressures and social habits. We must ask what the demands and requirements of culture and society are, both for the present and for the future. 5. The curriculum must prepare the learners to participate as productive members of our culture. Not all cultures require the same kind of knowledge. Nor does the same culture need the same kinds of capacities and skills, intellectual or otherwise, at all times. An analysis of culture and society thus provides some guide for determining the main objectives of the curriculum, for the selection of content, and for deciding what to stress in learning activities. 6. Diagnosing of the gaps, deficiencies, and variations of the backgrounds of Filipino students is an important step in determining what the curriculum should be. 7. The task of selecting and organizing learning experiences in curriculum development must take into consideration the culture of society.
8. Society’s concept of the function of the school determines to a great extent what kind of curriculum schools will have. Current conceptions of the functions of the school by society are as follows; a. Education preserves and transmits the cultural heritage. Since all cultural traditions have roots, cultural continuity is possible only if education preserves this heritage by passing on the truths worked out in the past to the new generation, thus developing a common cultural background and loyalties. In the main the transmission of the accumulated wisdom of the race and of basic truths and value I emphasized. b. Education is an instrument for and even reshaping the culture in which it functions. Education and public policy are intimately related, and progress in one is limited without progress in the other. They maintain that education must deal with the needs of current culture and even help shape the future. c. Education results in individual development. Some progressive educators emphasize the creative roie of education in society by stressing the development of a creative individual. This point of view centers educational effort on the development of all the powers of the individual, especially his creative imagination, physical and emotional powers. 9. To establish what demands society makes on education and what contribution education can or should take to culture, especially in a complex and changing society, I not an easy task. Thus, a continuous examination of the goals and demands of this changing society and of the forces operating in it is in order to keep the curriculum reality oriented: to determine what knowledge is most worthwhile, which skills must be mustered, which values are relevant.
