The Role of Education in Dealing with Social Issues

Social Issues: The Role of Education

This article will share the role of education in dealing with social issues.

What is education?

Education is a purposeful, organized, planned, and systematic social activity that aims to impart knowledge and technical norms. The fundamental value of education is to provide a nation with talents with high hopes, noble ethics, honesty and law-abiding, exquisite skills, knowledgeable and versatile skills, to cultivate and nurture the labour force needed for economic and social development, and to train qualified citizens to serve the country. It also provides scientific knowledge and material wealth for home and society, promotes economic growth, promotes national prosperity, promotes human development, and promotes world peace.

Functions of education

The task of education is multifaceted. The school teaches a variety of curricula, a wide range of skills and social interaction, while its mission is to prepare young people for the future and to keep children for the days when parents go are at work, the school also operates in part as a social network.

Education means teaching, imparting, and nurturing, it is the primary means of human cultural dissemination. Education appeared at the beginning of human society, originated from social labour, and came into being to meet the needs of imparting productive labour and social life experience. Education has developed to this day and has become the main force that promotes the progress of human civilization.

The essence and function of education can be divided into three parts:

• First, for human beings, the function of education is the inheritance and development of culture and values.
• Second, for the nation, the purpose of education is to improve the quality of its citizens and enhance national competitiveness.
• Third, for the educated individuals, receiving an education is mainly for the pursuit of happiness in life, including spiritual and material possession.

Importance of education in the society

For the human race as a whole, the function of education is the inheritance and development of national culture and values. Education comes into being with the emergence of human society, evolves with the development of human civilization, and stays with human society.

The main purpose of the government spending money on education is to improve the quality of its citizens, provide guarantees for human resources for national construction, and enhance national competitiveness. Education is the foundation of a nation and the engine room for the prosperity of a nation. Strong educational policies promote an overall national strength. To make the country full of talents, and all undertakings prosper and flourish, the topmost priority must be accorded to the development of education.

Education determines the future of a country and nation. Education can improve the ideological and moral quality and scientific and cultural quality of the whole nation, and provide human resources guarantee for the growth of the country. Today’s world is in a period of great development and great changes. Economic globalization is developing in-depth, science and technology are changing with each passing day, and the knowledge of the economy is ascending. Accelerating talent development is a major strategic choice to win the initiative in the fierce international competition. Therefore, training many young minds is an important guarantee for increasing the country’s competitiveness.

Receiving education for an individual is mainly for the pursuit of happiness in life, including spiritual and material possession. The purpose of education is for the educator himself to learn a certain knowledge, master a certain ability, and have a specific level of accomplishment. The educated people must acquire knowledge and have a certain ability to devise a means that can solve problems and can support themselves independently.

The ideal goal of education is to pursue harmonious coexistence among people, society and nature. While contributing to the nation, pursuing one’s own life goals, whether spiritual or material, cannot influence and ignore the life goals of others. Because whether a person can achieve a happy life depends not only on the individual but also requires the cooperation of the surrounding environment and the help of others. The purpose of life is to enjoy life and help others enjoy life, which is also the ultimate goal of education.

The school as a system

Looking keenly into the educational system, one would find that teachers and students are the main participants in this system, and the relationship between them is determined by the curriculum. In addition, indirect actors include parents, co-curricular groups, and the world of values, which nowadays is often shaped by social media. However, the factors that enter the system do not remain in the system but leave it daily. Therefore, this in and out movement in the system forms an interaction in which society influences the school and at the same time the school influences the society.

The curriculum defines the operation and boundaries of the system. At the same time, teachers and students participate in the school system in different ways. The former teaches and the latter studies. However, there is not only a “forward” flow from the system, but the knowledge and skills gained through learning, develop students, and strengthen their skills, which is repeated, in their reference groups. So, they in turn teach in their zone.

Education reforms society

Society is dynamic in that it is constantly evolving. The school mimics society with all its hierarchies and workings. Education is seen in socialization as the transfer of current knowledge and skills.  The lessons learnt from the school are transferred to society through teachers and students. Students teach their environment, family, and friends. At the same time, they influence society when they go to work or make political choices.

Digitalization has rapidly changed the education system and society. Technology in particular has made it easier to acquire and obtain information. Learning content does not only revolve around searching for information but also assessing its correctness and interpreting the data.

Nevertheless, innovative, and transformative learning is important for education to modify thinking and attitudes towards the world around it. Transformative learning encourages critical thinking and influencing of society by way of finding solutions to societal challenges. It is a way to encourage young people to revamp and change the world around them. Also, it emphasizes critical thinking and questioning, through which young people’s thinking can be deepened by guiding them to ask questions.

Education is not only a means of social emancipation to be accessed from an early age, but it also allows one to change his/her life for the better in a long and highly formative path.

In the first instance, it helps to become aware of one’s rights and duties on a social level and in the life of community relations. This is closely linked to the awareness of one’s value and dignity as a person and as a citizen.

Education helps not to be subjugated, exploited, bullied, and cheated, as one can react, argue, assert one’s reasons and affirmations, to the point of convincing the other. It is undeniably a push on the social ladder because it allows access to careers that would otherwise be precluded.

Hence, it becomes a deterrent not to fall into the criminal network, but also to improve the quality of life of the whole society. The study engages, improves, and predisposes to reflection and reasoning, helps to become aware of problems to seek the most appropriate solutions.

The more people have access to education, the better a country’s economy will be. An economy thrives when there is purchasing power and when new jobs are created, which produces wealth.