Introduction
“The education of children is primarily an individual and family responsibility because basic education is one of the most fundamental needs of a child” (International Save the Children Alliance 2008). The family is the first place where the child has responsible caretakers and hence it is the duty of parents to educate their children. Education is the basic factor that is responsible for the advancement of our civilization. It is a vital necessity and the fundamental right of an individual. This paper intends to bring out the importance of education and why the family needs to take responsibility for education.
It is difficult to put a price tag on education. However, it can be said that education is the window to numerous opportunities and the most essential means of poverty elevation. Apart from the basic knowledge on various subjects, education brings about several intangibles. For instance, it gives individuals the experience and the confidence that they will be able to use in many life situations. It can give a person confidence in the way that they view their abilities later in life. A good education is a basis for financial, professional, and personal success.
Importance of Education
Several times the value or the importance of education is overlooked by many in society. The main objective of education, other than the apparent intention of acquiring knowledge, is to educate our traditions and to help the future generation, to develop community skills, to purify the use of language for enhanced communication, and to expand problem-solving skills and logical analysis. These are the important aspects of education. Children during their initial stages of development cannot understand its value. Hence the parents and other family members need to take care of it. The philosophy of education is linked with the study of the rationale, progression, nature, and ideals of education. Several philosophers have researched education and have brought our several studies.
In general, a child is accustomed only to the culture in the family before he/she is admitted to a school. When the child enters the school he/she is acquainted with different cultures and traditions. Additionally, the development of social skills is an extremely important part of a child’s education. Through interacting with their peers, they learn how to dealing with others, as well as how to speak to and treat people outside of their family. Without this kind of interaction, children may not know that it is proper to give people personal space, not to interrupt when others are speaking but to wait for their turn, and how to approach someone when they want a friend. For example, an introverted child does not have good people skills. However, education can help such children to change their personalities.
The development of good problem-solving skills and logical reasoning is among the top achievements a child gets when educated in a proper school. When a student is faced with a problem, they need to know how to approach it and different ways of thinking about it. “The logical reasoning and problem-solving skills they develop in grade school will help them solve problems their entire lives, whether they realize it or not” (Huron Valley Schools). These are essential skills required in life. Over the period of time, children get much more than just learning to read, write and do arithmetic. They are learning how to function in society and be successful in life.
While the families and the teachers need to put in equal efforts in educating children, it is also important to understand the basic abilities of a child. There are many children with special needs and it is only possible for parents and teachers to evaluate these children and take care of their needs. The aim of teaching is to make student learning possible. The role of a facilitator, or instructor, in education, is to recognize the need and interests of the students and provide them the ideal environment for learning.
Family plays an important role in the child’s life as it happens to be the first and foremost school the child ever learns to interact with others. Children have a variety of characters and it is imperative to study them through the process of watching, documentation, and proper understanding. One of the main ways we learn about children is through observation and it is the only means that provide parents and teachers insight into children’s thinking. Unless this is realized their potential to extend their learning in both depth and breadth will not be possible. When we deliberately and caringly watch our children, we gain very useful insight into who they are and how to best interact with them. “The individual who is to be educated is a social person and that society is a natural union of persons. For that reason, education must start with a psychological insight into the child’s capabilities, interests, and habits and these are to be transformed into terms of their social equivalents” (Dewey 77-80).
It should also be noted that the families need to provide the child with a congenial environment of development. For instance, there are several factors that influence the ability to learn in an individual that can vary from the fulfillment of basic needs such as food, shelter, and love to even negative emotions such as unfriendliness, fury, panic, and nervousness. Such a situation can make a child depressed and also can make learning very difficult, if not impossible. On the other hand, positive emotions such as hope, love, kindness, and humor can make easy the learning process and also promote a better thinking process.
The education process starts automatically more or less at one’s birth and is continually influencing the person’s power, developing his perception, shaping his behavior, improving his thoughts, and affecting his outlook and emotions. In the course of this unconscious education, the individual slowly improves his intellectual and moral values which humanity has accomplished in getting together. Every child needs special care from the family, friends, and relatives which will help them immensely over a period of time. When the child enters a school, the teachers teach the curriculum and also help them to develop various other skills. But if the child is neglected in the family they can have serious problems at school. Therefore the family needs to take at most care during the initial phase of the child’s learning as well as support their emotional needs.
True education accomplishes through the inspiration of the child’s power by the demands of the social circumstances in which he finds himself. Through these demands he is stimulated to act as a member of a union, shedding his original narrowness of action and emotion, and to accept the wellbeing of the faction to which he belongs. The educational process has two sides-one psychological and one sociological; and of these two sides, the psychological is the foundation. The child’s own intuitions and powers equip the objects and offer the initial stage for all education.
If we study children we get an understanding of their interests and preferences, their levels of cognitive and social development, their strategies for creating preferred results, their skills and activities, and their personalities and temperaments. Through such experiments, it is possible to learn what drives and motivates them. Observation enables us to provide children with avenues to advance their explorations. Children spend most of their time in the family during their initial years and this is the time the family members motivate and prepare the child for future education.
In brief, it can be said that it is in the family that a child can be molded and prepared for future education. Every child needs to be educated and this will bring a positive influence on society. Children who are not educated have the dangers of getting into bad peer groups and become anti-social elements. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the family to study children by various methods of interaction and conversation with them in order to identify their physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and creative, and language capabilities.
There are few specific activities such as productive activities which involve nurturing, training, and caring for the dependent children from birth onward. Few responsibilities are of greater importance than that of parenting, of providing for the healthy development of the child in mental, social, economic, and many other dimensions. A grown-up person chose to have children because of the satisfaction they get, and the parental expenditures of time and effort, of money and hassle, of patience and support are all part of the productive activities of parenthood. “As per the education target set by the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) is that by 2015 all children will have a minimum of primary school education” (UN report). If this vision is to be realized it is absolutely necessary the inclusion all children in the mainstream education system. And it is the family that is involved in helping the children get the basic education which is the fundamental right of every child.
Work Cited
Dewey, J My pedagogic creed, The School Journal, Volume LIV, Number 3 (1897), pages 77-80.
Huron Valley Schools, Parent Curriculum Handbook. Web.
International Save the Children Alliance 2008, Delivering Education for Children in Emergencies (2008). Web.
UN report The Millennium Development Goals Report (2008). Web.