The changing role of education

Although most citizens of industrialized countries take it for granted, modern education, involving the instruction of pupils in specially constructed school premises, took a long time to emerge. For centuries, formal education was available only to few who had the time and money to pursue it. Before the invention of printing press in 1454, books were laboriously copied by hand and were therefore scarce and expensive. Reading was not necessary or even useful in the daily lives of many people. For the vast majority of the population, growing up meant learning by imitation the same social habits and practical social skills as elders. Children began assisting with domestic, farm and manual work at an early age, becoming highly knowledgeable about the land or the production of the crafts by their mid-teenage years. Local customs were passed down through generations, while the oral tradition of story-telling ensured that legends and epic tales were preserved in a dynamic form. Things have changed dramatically since pre modern times. In industrialized countries today, literacy is high – that is almost everyone possesses the ability to read and write at basic level. Almost all the members of society are aware of belonging to it, and have at least some knowledge of geographical position in the world and of its past history. Our lives are influenced at all ages beyond infancy by information we pick up through books, newspapers and magazines and television. We have all undergone a process of formal schooling. The printed word and electronic communication, combined with formal teaching provided by schools and colleges, have become fundamental to our way of life.

Education and Industrialization

The process of industrialization and the expansion of cities greatly influenced the development of the education system. Until the first few decades of the nineteenth century, most of the population had no schooling whatsoever. But as the industrial economy rapidly expanded, there was a great demand for specialized schooling that could produce an educated, capable workforce. As occupations became more differentiated and were increasingly located away from the home, it was impossible for work skills to be passed on directly from parents to children. As educational system became universal, more and more people were exposed to abstract learning (of subjects like mathematics, science, history, literature and so forth), rather than to the practical transmission of specific skills. In a modern society, people have to be furnished with basic skills, such as reading, writing and calculating and a general knowledge of their physical, social and economic environment, but it is also important that they know how to learn, so that they are able to master new, sometimes very technical, forms of information. An advanced society also needs ‘pure’ research insights with no immediate practical value to push out the boundaries of knowledge. In the modern age, education and qualifications became an important stepping stone into job opportunities and careers. Schools and universities not only broaden people’s minds and perspectives, but are expected to prepare new generations of citizens for participation in economic life. The right balance between a generalist education and specific work skills is a difficult one to arrive at. Specialized forms of technical, vocational and professional training often supplement pupils’ ‘liberal’ education and facilitate the transition from school to work. Internships and work experience schemes, for example, allow young people to develop specific knowledge applicable to their future careers. While many teachers in school and universities seek above all to provide a well-rounded education, policy makers and employers are concerned to ensure the education and training programmes coincide with a country’s economic profile and employment demands. Yet in times of rapid economic and technical change, there is not always a smooth match between priorities of the educational system and the availability of professional opportunities. The rapid expansion of a country’s health care system, for example, would dramatically increase the demand for trained health professionals, laboratory technicians, capable administrators and computer systems analysts familiar with public health issues. Industry-wise changes in factory-floor production technology would require q workforce with a set of skills that might be in short supply.