Reflective Writing 2

For the last reflective writing piece, I have chosen to focus on Education in society for the theme as I feel very strongly about the importance of education within society on a national and international level. Education, as defined by Merriam Webster (2016), is “the action or process of educating, or of being educated” and “the knowledge and development resulting from an educational process”, however I also feel as though education is the process of acquiring information in order to equip oneself for life and also for any challenges one may face that require the use of particular skills. I believe that education is an important aspect in both culture and society, as education teaches us how to understand our culture through being taught by those around us as well as how to adapt into society, as without education, we would become alienated, illogical and unethical in our dealings with other individuals. By educating people, it equips them with the skills to engage with other people in social situations, as well as the ability to interact within communities, acquire and display individual traits, and function adequately in group situations. This relates to my understanding of concepts of culture and society as education relates directly to knowledge and understanding of culture and identity of an individual, and interrelates with human rights for education within society.

Education relates to almost every issue of social and cultural and diversity within society, as well as changes within society. Education provides the base for advancement and change within society, providing the foundations for social changes on a global level, as well as civic and ethical duties within social boundaries. Education has effects on how we deal with many political and moral issues too, such as how we deal with unemployment, racism, sexism and health (including mental and physical health). Education gives us the basic tools to incorporate the norms, behaviors, values and social skills we have from our identities and socialization (Dictionary.com, 2016) into how we deal with change and cultural diversity. Education provides the tools to understand and respect other individual’s culture in order to avoid ignorance between cultures, and broadens our understanding of how culture interrelates with society and how we can make society function efficiently.

The theme of education is important to my values, beliefs and identity as I have always felt as though education provides a platform for equality and understanding of individuality, yet also gives enough room to understand similarities and bonds people together. Education prevents social issues from arising such as discrimination and marginalization, racism and sexism, as well as political issues such as economic depressions and outbreaks of war. Education is also important as I feel like it is a basic human right to be educated. Without decent education, we would face health issues, poverty, economic failure, bad ethical values and we would also suffer from the inability to interact cross culturally. Education is also an important part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations (1948), where in article 26 it is stated that  

“(1) everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.”

Prior to the lecture of human rights, I didn’t know too much about it as I am lucky enough to live in a society where it didn’t need to be noted, as in New Zealand we have a pretty ideal way of living, however, after doing a presentation on homelessness and looking at the statistics in New Zealand, I felt it was something I should know more about as the right to a home is also an article on the Universal Declaration. I feel as though more education needs to focus on human rights, and teaching how human rights are acknowledged and also how they are breached within some societies and cultures in order to help people reach out, as you can’t change anything if you are unaware that it exists. More education on these rights will also prevent breaches by other people on individuals as we will then know and be aware of what we are doing that is breaching the right of the individual within society.

The theme of education in society relates to my own discipline of Psychology’s approach to culture and society as psychology is concerned with the education of the individual in the social worlds. Education has an impact on both the cognitive and behavioural aspects of an individual, as it plays an important part in determining traits, intelligence, learning roles, and also the concept of the “self” which is a large focus in my psychology papers. Psychology focuses on the memory and the learning processes we use as human beings. Education also relates psychology to other disciplines such as sciences like biology and chemistry, as well as neuroscience. Education in society also applies to my other discipline of customer service, as without education I would not be equipped with the skills of socialisation, which would make it increasingly difficult to provide adequate service to individuals from my own culture, as well as others. By being educated, I can adapt to my surroundings and engage customers with skills of the trade that I have been taught, again reiterating how important education is for learning in different disciplines. Education creates a platform where people become understanding of each other, and provides every individual with the ability to understand and respect each other, and depending on the level of education within specific societies, how to implement these understandings and respects into everyday life. Each discipline will deal with the implementation of education into everyday life as each discipline has a different set of values, ethics, beliefs and goals for the individuals under each discipline, for example, business disciplines want individuals to be educated on how to formally interact with other businessmen, as well as how to act in business settings. Education is an important concept for understanding how to act in different disciplines, as well as how to socialise in different social and cultural contexts.

References:

Merriam-Webster. (2016). Education Definition. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/education

Dictionary.com. (2016). Socialization. Retrieved from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/socialization

United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/