EDUCATION AND CULTURAL INTEGRATION

                                                                      BIYA MATHEW

  INTRODUCTION 

           Education, in a very general sense can be summed up at a basic level as referring to an experience or act that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. In the sense that it is formative means that education is serving to form something and particularly something that will have a long lasting effect on the persons mind and faculties.

             Within the social and cultural context, education can be seen as the process by which society transmits its accumulated knowledge, values and skills from one generation to the next. In this sense education is not only used to instill the values and norms of a given society, but is also an important element of the socialization process. Different forms of education have different structures of learning that define the learning process and what is seen as educational achievement. Educational systems are not just about teaching people subjects, they are also about socializing people and transferring the value systems of the society in which they are situated. Education does not have to be an individualistic, meritocratic experience, it can be cooperative, inclusive and community minded. Without education the development of a Permanent Culture would be impossible. Education is needed to transmit the newly evolved ideas and practices that emanate from different streams of thought and disciplines.

            Culture is every social order is unique. According to Cuber “In terms of anthropology culture is a continually changing pattern of learned behavior and the products of learned behavior including attitudes, values, knowledge and material objects which are shared by and transmitted among members of society”. Just us every human being receives from society the gift of family life, community life, education, vocation, legal rights, safety and production in the same way he or she inherits from society the valuable gifts of cultural heritage. Education is an instrument that helps us preserve and transmit the required aspects of culture. New aspects are also transmitted taking into consideration present and future needs if the society.

MEANING OF EDUCATION

                        Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation. Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which knowledge, skills, and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through teaching, training, research, or simply through auto didacticism. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts. Education has a great social importance especially in the modern, complex industrialized societies. Philosophers of all periods, beginning with ancient stages, devoted to it a great deal of attention.

Definitions of education

1.             By education I mean, an all-round drawing out of the best in chid and man - body, mind and spirit”. - Gandhi

2.    “Education is a natural, progressive and harmonious development of all the faculties of the individual - head, heart, and hand”. - Pestalozzi

3.   “Education is the development of all those capacities in the individual which will enable him to control his environment and fulfil his responsibilities”. - John Dewey

4.   “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. - Nelson Mandela

5.   “The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one”. - Malcolm Forbes

MEANING OF CULTURE

          The word “culture” has been derived from a Latin word culture which means to “to cultivate”. In the narrow sense culture means that man made social organization which promotes specific habits of thinking and living, specific habits of social interaction, specific ways of eating, dressing and living, religious and scientific beliefs  and various material objects together with political and social customs, traditions and patterns of behaviour  which cumulatively satisfy the various needs of human beings. In its wider sense, culture refers to all inclusive habits thinking which shape human behavior in all its aspects and in all fields of human activity. In short, culture includes all human beliefs, patterns of behaviour and all academic, artistic, moral, religious beliefs together with all achievements in all fields of human life. In these sense, culture epitomizes the total pattern of human belief and behavior.

 Definitions of culture

1.   “Culture can be defined as the cultivated behavior that is   socially transmitted. It involves the accumulation of knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, experiences, religion, relations, concepts of the universe, values, meanings, roles, notions of time, relations, material possessions and objects acquired and a way of life of a group of people throughout the generations. This way of life is accepted by all the individuals in the group without thinking about it and is passed from one generation to another through communication and imitation. It can therefore be considered as a group’s traditional ideas and values that are attached and followed by all the generations”. -Hofstede, 1997

2.   “Culture is the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law custom and other capacities and habits acquired by man as a member of the society”. -Tylor.

3.   “Culture is complex whole that consists of everything we think, do and have as members of society”. - Bierstedt

4.   “Culture is the foundation, the primary thing. It should show itself in the smallest detail of your conduct and personal behavior”.- Gandhi

5.   “Culture means total life of the people that goes on with these groups; what people in a given society do, think, feel, behave, desire, fear etc”.- Rugg

6.   “Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit”.-Nehru

EDUCATION AND CULTURE

         Education and culture are intimately and integrally connected. Hence, the culture pattern of a society conditions its education pattern. For example, if a society has a spiritual pattern of culture, then its educational procedures will emphasize the achievement of moral and eternal values of life. On the other land, if the culture pattern of a society is materialistic, then naturally its educational pattern will be shaped for the attainment of material values which promote pleasures of senses and material comforts. It may no educational organization. Hence it may be safely asserted that the culture of a country has a very powerful impact on its educational pattern.

              Just as culture influences education, much in the same way education also exerts its powerful influence upon the culture of a country. In the following lines, explaining the various ways by which education influences the culture of a country.

a)   Preservation of a culture: Education helps in the conservation and preservation of cultural heritage.  Each country believes and flaunts the superiority of its own culture over rest. Hence, it tries to preserve its culture in its original form.  Education preserves the historical monuments, arts, morals, tradition, the value system, customs, beliefs etc. in other words, education preserves the culture of society.

b)   Transmission of culture: The process of preservation includes the process of transmission as well because through transmission of culture from one generation to another is the best guarantee of its preservation. The famous sociologist Ottaway has rightly remarked. “The function of education is to transmit the social values and ideals to the young and capable members of society”. Education helps in the transmission of culture patterns, traditions, experience, values and norms.

c)    Development of culture: The function of education is not only to preserve and transmit the culture of society, but it also brings about the needed desirable changes in the cultural ideals and values for the progress and continued development of society, without which social progress will stratify and come to naught. In other words, education culturises   individuals, modifies cultural process by research and deeper investigations in to all areas of human requirements.

d)   Transformation of culture: Any living being undergoes changes, so does the culture. Every generation adds something of its own to the existing culture before it is transmitted to next generation. it is the function of education to make children adjust themselves to the contemporary culture and familiarize them with the past. For this they must be given by clear ideas about the values, beliefs and customs.

SOCIOLOGICAL BASES OF EDUCATION               

         The term “Sociology” is derived from the Latin “Socius” which means “social or being with others”; and the Greek “logos” which means “study”. Therefore, the term “Sociology” basically means the “study of social beings”. In other words, “Sociology is the science of society and the social interactions taking place within it.”

           Sociology of education deals with the relation between education and the social structure of the social system or society. The Anthropology of education deals with the relation between education and the culture of social system or society. Since social structure  and culture are closely related, many sociologist in India believe that social Anthropology or culture Anthropology are very close to each other.

            Education is life-long process. Life is education and education is life. Life is full of experiences. One cannot live with his past experiences which are unable to adjust in the society. So education helps the individual to reconstruct the experience and adjust with the environment. Education teaches the moral value and social value like co-operation, tolerance, sympathy, fellow feelings, love affection, respect towards elder, helping the poor and needy persons. Determine the basic sociological foundations of education which would help us become socially aware of our responsibilities not only to ourselves but to our society as well.

TYPES OF CULTURE 

In each society, culture is of two types as under-

Ø  Material culture

Ø  Non – material culture

Material culture: Material culture includes all those man – made things and objects which human society has created for its welfare in times of peace and war. Items such as clothes, utensils, homes, roads, ornaments, T.V., radio, various machines, gadgets and various means of transport and communication are some example of material culture.

Non- material culture: non – material culture includes all those ideals, attitudes, and values which modify the behavior of an individual- Language, literature, art, music, religion, customs and traditions etc., are some examples of non - material culture.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE

The following are the characteristic of culture –

1)   Acquired Traits - Culture is the sum total of acquired traits. The new born baby is devoid of any trait.  As the grows older, he acquires different ideals, attitudes values by imitation and social contacts. These experiences contribute to the formation of his personal culture.

2)   Distinct Entity – Different societies of the world have their distinct cultural patterns which establish the different identities of different nations.

3)   Transmission –cultural traits and patterns are transmitted from generation to generation. Each generation is free to modify the cultural heritage and then transmit it to the next.

4)   Utility-A culture is good if it has some utility to the individual as well as to the society. If it does not fulfill this purpose, it decays and dies out in the long run. It may be borne in mind that mutual give and take among different cultures is also an essential and conditioning process.

5)   Dynamism – culture is not static but dynamic. In other words, it changes and grows. Due to rapid rise and means of transport and communication a culture invades the other culture.

INFLUENCES OF CULTURE ON EDUCATION

Cultural components, material and non – material influence the education which is considered as a social process or activity in a society. Educational aspects which are influenced by culture are briefly described below:

1.   Aims of education: Aims education is determined taking into consideration the culture of the society.

2.   Curriculum development: aims provide the guidelines for the development of instructional material to be followed in the educational institutions for the purpose of achieving desirable social aims.

3.   Methods of teaching: culture helps in choice of appropriate methods of teaching to achieve aims.

4.   Development of social discipline: culture determines the nature of social discipline to be developed in an individual with the help of educational system.

5.   Teacher and teacher educational programmes: culture is the base for taking decisions regarding the roles of pre - service and in – service teachers in educational institutions.

6.   Educational environment in educational institutions: cultural patterns, values, beliefs determine social environment in educational institutions.

NATIONAL CULTURAL INTEGRATION AND EDUCATION

       India is an ancient country with such civilization and culture as are rarely found in any other country in the world. Moreover, in India we found a variety of races, religions, faiths, languages and loyalties, social customs and cultural traditions. Perhaps in no other country of the world such a variety of races, cultures and religions can be found. When people with different traditions and cultures live together it helps in the diffusion of cultures. Thus India has a rich cultural heritage emphassing tolerance, compassion, unity, oneness and integration.

        National integration is unity in diversity. It implies social, political, economic, linguistic and cultural unity. The role of education in bringing national unity and integration is considered to be extremely significant.

       Education is best means for achieving the end of national integration. Educative process though a creation of the society, is not its stooge any longer. It has assumed the active role of bringing about social and cultural change.

   

MULTI- CULTURAL CONTEXT

      Multicultural education is a set of strategies and materials in U.S. education that were developed to assist teachers to promote democracy while responding to the many issues created by rapidly changing demographics of their students. Multicultural education means to ensure the highest levels of academic achievement for all students. It helps students develop a positive self-concept by providing knowledge about the histories, cultures, and contributions of diverse groups.

            Multicultural education assumes that the future of U.S. society is pluralistic. Multicultural classrooms promote decision-making and critical thinking while moving away from inequality of opportunity and toward cultural pluralism. 

           Multicultural educators seek to substantially reform schools to give diverse students an equal chance in school, in the job market, and in contributing to building healthy communities. One of the leaders in the field of multicultural education, describes five dimensions of multicultural education: (1) content integration, (2) the knowledge construction process, (3) prejudice reduction, (4) an equity pedagogy, and (5) an empowering school culture and social structure

Globalization is a social trend which integrates people with different cultural backgrounds. Cultures meet, clash, and grapple with one and other as if in the contact zone. Under this circumstance, people started to improve the teaching methods, which means the phenomenon of multicultural education is coming along with the development of globalization. Multicultural education provides a relatively fair learning environment for international students, which can help them to more easily get involved in a new community. Additionally, with the help of this education method, international students can receive more opportunities to better access to knowledge. Moreover, when teachers pay attention to cultivate a multicultural atmosphere, it helps international students to gradually obtain global view.

CONCLUSION

           Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which knowledge, skills, and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through teaching, training, research, or simply through auto didacticism. Education and culture are intimately and integrally connected. The culture of the race is preserved, transformed and transmitted from generation to generation. This preservation, transmission and transformation of culture are made possible only through education. The educational system of any society has a clear impact on its culture. The bases of educational system of a society are its needs and they are fulfilled by

education. Education teaches the moral value and social value like co-operation, tolerance, sympathy, fellow feelings, love affection, respect towards elder, helping the poor and needy persons.

           Sociology of education deals with the relation between education and the social structure of the social system or society.           In each society culture is of two types, material and non – material culture. Cultural components, material and non – material influence the education which is considered as a social process or activity in a society.

                  

            National integration is unity in diversity. It implies social, political, economic, linguistic and cultural unity. The role of education in bringing national unity and integration is considered to be extremely significant.

REFERENCES

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