Education and schooling : from early childhood to old age

Abstract

A main element in the socialisation process of a society is education, and the more advanced the society the more complex is its education system. Education can take many forms and may be promulgated through various means but the most common, and arguably the most convenient, is through the school system. Education is both a philosophical as well as a sociological concept which encompasses ideologies, curricula and teaching methods, all of which have the aim of passing on and managing knowledge but also of reproducing society's personalities and cultures (Marshall, 1998, p. 183). Thus, education "entails a specific process in which some individuals assume the status of teachers and others the status of students and carry out their associated roles" (Hughes, Kroehler & Vander Zander, 2002, p. 371 ).