We always talk about the
importance of education and its impact on society, but seldom think about how
society affects our educational system. We often ignore the fact that social
norms, customs and traditions deeply affect education. Society and education are
tightly bound entities and hence cannot be separated from each other. I think,
society in itself, is an educational institution. Social interactions give us
the ability to read people. Our customs and values shape our upbringing, thus
molding our personalities. We learn from our surroundings; we learn from
experience. And we should be grateful towards society for providing us with a
platform to learn, grow and enrich ourselves.
Before understanding the influence of society on education, we must define
society. Society is an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and
economic organization. It is characterized by patterns of relationships between
individuals. It is a group of individuals who share a common system of customs,
values and laws. From the definition of society, it is clear that we human
beings are its building blocks. As we interact with people, try to understand
their thinking styles and behavioral patterns, we soon realize that there is so
much to learn from them. Society is the greatest facilitator of education. Don't
you think so?
We cannot restrict the impact of society on the education system alone. We need
to understand the role of society in the overall development of an individual.
Even before we become a part of the education system, we start learning from our
surroundings. And during the process of formal education, we constantly take
'non-formal education' from society. Yes, our interactions with our
fellow-beings, our observations about their social behavior and our
understanding of social norms prepares us to face life. True, educational
institutions, like schools, colleges and universities play a very important role
in our education. But, we cannot ignore the fact that we learn some of the
important lessons of life from society. It would not be an exaggeration to say
that the actual process of learning begins at a point, which marks the end of
institutional education. Learning, as an individual, from your interaction with
society, is a vital part of education.
Society plays an important role in education and influences it, both positively
and negatively. Social inequalities and unhealthy educational practices and are
some of the negative influences of society on our lives. Customs and traditions
that prevent certain sections of society from exercising their fundamental
rights and hamper the well-being of society, shatter the basic ideas of
education and social awareness. Some social groups deny women's right to
education, while others force children to work, depriving them from a healthy
environment, conducive to their growth and development. Education is one of the
basic human rights. If social norms deprive certain strata of society from
progressing in life and come in the way of social welfare, it defeats the
purpose of education.
Society is an entity that cannot be separated from us. It is we who make up the
society. It is entirely in our hands whether to add value to our education or
devalue it.