Education is the key to solving the myriad problems of LDCs, discuss.
The imparting and acquiring of knowledge through teaching and learning is the gist of the concept of education. The philosophy of education is tended on human developmental processes wherein the purpose is inculcating understanding of the social construct, individual progress and fulfillment of a purpose. The foundation of education lies on the traditions of Western culture with paideia or the teaching and learning of a child as the enduring philosophy (The Paideia Program 1). Such stance is being supported by the fact that students should be taught from simple to less complex to more complex skills. Known as the educational essentialism, this reality is central on the teaching children progressively conception in order to learn the basics in a methodical manner (Gellner 2003, 135).
Moreover, educational model reveals that aside from facts principles that are perceived to be of everlasting importance must be also taught to children. Given that people are human and that facts changes, liberalism and reasoning must be a priority. Personal development is a significant endeavor that facilitates higher order learning's for the people (Segall and Wilson 2004, 156). Apart from being human, human belongs to a society whom can learn the best of reality while interacting with others. The scheme is that people learn progressively that highlights people could only be educated by means of self-helping and mutual-helping. Perhaps, the greater emphasis is lifelong learning and socialization skills (Rury 2005, 154).
International education that transcends beyond borders purporting active engagement of the people in international context, or what came to be known as international study, had been one of the emergent views regarding education. According to Kagan and Stewart, deepening of knowledge, expertise and competent of the people must be embedded on culture, language and environmental situations as well as political relations, religions, geography and history (2004). Most recently, the concept of experiential learning is gaining the momentum since it focus on the transactive process between teaching and learning for the purpose of leveraging knowledge and developing skills while also clarifying values (Neil 2005).
Sustainable education is, perchance, the newest concept that education faces. The premise is that sustainable economy could be achieved through education as an incremental tool. As such, sustainable education will be an important element of the sustainable development. Basic education, except for the issues of accessibility, necessitated to be reoriented in order to include more knowledge, skills, perspectives and values related to sustainability. Education could only be a key for sustainability unless we could learn the new ways and the mindset that the concept of sustainable development requires us most of which points to providing solutions to the current problems in the least developed countries. The rationale behind this is to cultivate the apposite behaviors and to reintegrate thinking beyond the economic, societal and environmental horizons of individual’s immediate families and communities (Hopkins and Mckeown 2000, 25).
Looking at the context of education as central to policy-making is critical. Education is primarily associated with schooling though the scope of education extends to a ‘lifelong learning’ process. Such process concerns the intellectual development and the social development as well. The need for social policy in education imbued education as an instrument of policing intended for the general welfare and policing that dealt with the structure of the society. The purposes of education include liberal education, socialization, support mechanism and social change. Education aimed at the individual development, spread of social norms and values, provision of child-minding services for posterity’s sake and as agent of significant social changes. The challenge for policy-makers, however, conforms to widening the access; educational inequality; poor and falling standards of education; participation and examination achievement, more particularly on basic skills acquisition in both numeracy and literacy and school leavers in exchange for labor market participation (Machin and Vignoles 2006).
References
Gellner, E. 2003. Contemporary Thought and Politics: Selected Philosophical Terms. London: Routledge.
Hopkins, C. A. and R. Mckeown. 2000. Education for Sustainable Development. Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy 14(4): 25.
Kagan, S. and V. Stewart. 2004. Introduction to International Education. Phi Delta Kappan.
Machin, S & Vignoles, A 2006, Education Policy in the UK, Centre for the Economics of Education, London School of Economics.
Neil, J. 2005. John Dewey: The Modern Father of Experiential Education.
Paideia Program, The.
Rury, J. L. 2005. Education and Social Change: Themes in History of American Schooling. London: Routledge.
Segall, W. E. and A. V. Wilson. 2004. Introduction to Education: Teaching a Diverse Society. Rowman and Littlefield.
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