Understanding the importance of education and learning

A lot of people often mistake between education and learning and think that both of these are synonymous terms but in reality, both of these concepts have opposite meanings. So, what is education? How is it different from learning?

In this article, we will discuss the meaning of education and learning, how they are different from each and why they are important for us.

What is Education?

Education can be simply said as the process where knowledge, skills, values, etc. are imparted from one generation to another. Education usually means conveying beliefs, skills, habits, etc. to someone else in order to make them more aware of the societal workings. Usually, education is facilitated under the guidance of an educator and often takes place in a formal setting.

Education is perceived as a one-way street where the educator imparts the knowledge to his/her pupil but the pupil doesn’t impart back knowledge to the educator.

What is learning?

On the other hand, learning is the process where you acquire new skills, information, etc. which can be later adopted by the person in their real life. Learning is an ever-going process and each being learns something or the other at a point in time. Also, for learning something new or old, you don’t need any particular guidance from an individual.

Learning can often be an internal process as well and one can gain a lot of knowledge by their daily experiences. Learning can be termed as an informal process which never stops.

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How is Education different from learning?

We know that education is a process of imparting knowledge whereas learning is a process of gaining knowledge. So, if we take the scenario of school then it means that the teachers and the books available there are used to educate us. Now, a lot of students earn a lot from these classes but the learning doesn’t stop once the school is over. You keep on learning through your experiences and your conversations and gain more knowledge as time progresses.

Another major difference between education and learning is that education is something which you get from an outside source like books, internet, teachers, etc. whereas learning can be acquired both from outside and inside resource. Your observations, talks, experiences, etc. help you in learning various things in life which often are useful for you in the long run.

Why are they important?

While a lot of people might argue that learning is more important than education and one can discard education for learning, this is not entirely correct. Yes, learning plays an important role in life but so does education. While learning readies you for your life in the real world, education helps you in gaining a few skills and acquiring information that can help you survive in the world.

You gain a lot of important things by education like reading skills, communication skills, mathematics, biology, etc. which often comes handy in life so you can never learn without educating yourself first. So make sure you both educate and learn and you will be able to live a happy and peaceful life.