Dimensions of education

  

Date Posted: 12/3/2012 12:19:01 AM

Posted By: VANN  Membership Level: Gold  Total Points: 1015

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1. Normative Dimension of Education
Education should inculcate into learners the norms of the society. Each and every society has patterns of conduct that are universally acceptable. W Frankena (1973). These norms must be incorporated into learners through education.
The axiological aspect of education thus is paramount in conceptualizing education. Education is aimed at imparting necessary values to enable individuals in the society to fully understand their conduct. Values such as non material judgmental values that majorly dictate ones judgment onworthiwhileness of non-material objects such as justice, fairness, love, happiness, evil, good among others are crucial in shaping the societal conduct. Political values for instance justice, human rights, fairness and equality shape the ubiquitous allocation of resources in a society.
The judgment of individuals on material objects such as car, money, paintings, music and human states such as happiness, love, pain, knowledge and freedom are a necessary aspect of education. Through such perception of values in terms of aesthetics and ethics, education in its entirety aims at producing an individual who is mindful of other people’s affairs thus enhanced harmony and co-existence in human society besides valuing and appreciating the beauty of nature through the acquired survival and trans-survival values.

2. Creative Dimension of Education
Education must help an individual to be creative and think of alternatives when faced with challenges. Thus an individual is required to be authentic in ideas. This metaphysical value of education in this respect must be fully utilized by individual undertaking educational discourse.
There should be a room for critical inquiry into issues, thus dialogue and critiquing must be tolerated at all costs by individuals practicing education. This in effect implies that learners should not be obliged to conform to baseless established societal dogmas but should be allowed to freely express themselves soberly through inquiry and

quest for truth and ultimate reality especially in an ever dynamic world. Such dynamisms demand urgent attention and the need for one to come up with solutions.
According to John Dewey, an American educationist, education should take into account child centered and method centered pedagogical approaches. This should be on the basis of experience and growth, active inquiry and creativity being the key concepts of educational philosophy. In offering education therefore, one should consider cognitive and physical development of the learner as this helps determine their level of creativity. The following should be factored in philosophical analysis of this creative dimensional of education.
Firstly, the physical growth, one’s mind, emotions, morality and social state determine the level of creativity as such education should take into considerations psychological factors. Secondly, since education is offered to human beings that are natural, it therefore follows that education must be allowed to take its natural course.. This is an implication that , when imparting skills, knowledge, values and attitudes in learners, the learners should be allowed to grow in a natural way, not only physically but also mentally, morally, emotionally and socially.
Thirdly, education being a subset of learning which takes into consideration relatively permanent change in behavior as a consequence of, experience, inquiry and creativity. Thus education should allow the child to grow and develop, and therefore to learn, in accordance with its own needs and interest and be allowed to experiment and express itself. Thus accordingly, education must encourage creativity and self expression as a method of learning because education is a creative experience. This creativity must not be controlled or interfered with but nature should be left to take its own course.
Finally, natural growth accompanies variation and diversity. Thus education must take into account learner’s individual differences in terms of needs and interests which should be catered for to allow for creativity.
In reality, education should impart creative skills into individual to enable them cope with challenges and solve problems besides coming up with new ideas and skills of resolving issues and solving problems.

3. Dialogical Dimension of Education
Education is a dialogue thus any problem in education is solved through dialogue. Education is all about solving problems and resolving issues dialogically. Through constructive dialogue, individuals are able to see sense and get proper education. Through thesis and antithesis, individuals are able to reach a synthesis which of course is not ultimate. (Karl Marx, 1952) This way, individuals invent new ways of solving issues through the use of proper structures of reasoning.
According to Peters and Hurst (1966) The Logic of Education. They point out the role of education as that of initiating learners into public forms or modes of experience which are basically forms of knowledge seen inform of public or social experience in and character. Through this dimension, individuals who are educated should use dialogue to freely and constructively interact with fellow human beings in a socially responsible manner.
Peters and Hurst went ahead and identified the seven forms of public experience as; logic and mathematics, the physical sciences, ethics, religion and philosophy which the learner need to acquire through education.
Education therefore, is a social affair and institution and not an individual affair hence a dialogue.

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