Mark Twain once said, “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.” A statement made towards the end of the 19th century, indicating a distinction between academic studying and learning for life. And today, even after more than a hundred years, we continue to debate about the distinction between schooling and education; are they the same or different? Education has been defined by excellence in academic skills and knowledge in the recent history of Indian schooling. But with the needs being different and competition being the order of the day in an increasingly complex web of dynamic cultures and pervasive global issues, what then is education really?
Enlightenment, awareness and a gain in perspective: not an academic degree alone. This is education- redefined. Then to cope with these ever changing exigencies, what do we need in schools to increase children’s preparedness, not only to adapt to the surging and fast depleting and cascading information, but to define and cleave to an all-essential moral compass?

Having articulated education, we must therefore have in every school, primarily, teachers who “can touch the future.” A faculty and not an authority of teachers is required, who possess high culture capital; meaning those with an ability to understand that every aspect of life is connected and those who can be life long learners themselves. Very few know and appreciate that a single concept of say ‘life’ can be viewed from different lenses and thus a myriad perspectives can be configured. It is very essential to understand that learning is an unending process and it does not end with one’s formal academic degree. A teacher must remember that learning for each individual is unique because- every child is a product of his culture, parentage, schooling, his strengths and predilections. In short, education is a social and psychological process. With these many variables (and many more unexplored) teachers must begin to implement methods to therefore customize learning.

A strong faculty is the first need in institutions, but if as schools we do not put into practice or at least be aware of the developments in the realm of research in genetics educational psychology and cognitive neuroscience which is the basis of learning, then the purpose of truly educating our children is not fully accomplished. For instance awareness of dyslexia, visual learners, auditory learners, and how we deal with children affected by such circumstances is significant. Should they be labeled and classified or must they be integrated and included with children in the mainstream? If so, then how? Such are the complex questions in learning, which we must grapple with.

Information is quickly cascading and fast outdated in today’s age. Children are far more aware and more adaptable than we ever were. Thus, a curriculum must be designed that should include their levels of ‘knowing’ and that should be the starting point of disseminating information; not what is already known to them. We must appreciate the universal fact that the take-off level of the previous generations is much lower than the current one; and the take off-level of the next generation will be much higher than the present one. When this is the case, teachers cannot profess but adapt – this is a prerequisite for teaching.
Not only schools, national boards of education must also ‘loosen’ their restrictions as well as set tighter ‘filters’ to get the cream for the teaching profession: to make a difference.

We must not only employ high quality manpower, but also equip them with effective and updated tools of assessment. There are theories of assessment which are different to theories for assessment. When this distinction is acknowledged, appropriate tools will be used, keeping in mind the variation in human learning as well. A mechanical load must be substituted with meaningful load of knowledge. When there is a lack of meaning in learning concepts, there will be induced a degree of complacency and a state of ‘burden’ of learning. Children alone are not culpable therefore for their ‘effortlessness’ in learning; we as adults need to share that responsibility.

Lower teacher student ratios, training on different problems of many types rather than training on different ways to tackle similar problems are few more ways to ensure that there is transfer of learning from the classroom to the real life. All of education must be geared towards ‘priming’ children for challenges in the unprotected world. Thus there must be tremendous thrust on even practical training and not theory alone. For instance, even a single math problem of multiplication can be taught using manipulatives rather just solving it the theoretical way, providing for transfer of learning.

Schooling is also an experience that shapes the personality of an individual. There are many issues of self esteem, self concept, identity, strengths, predilections, attitudes which children deal with even outside their awareness, i.e., unconscious of their baggage. In such a situation, balancing these variables is the key, not penalties and rewards for positive and negative behaviour. When penalized for something, fear is created, and it affects the individual as a whole- not just that element in isolation. Learning is a subset of the ‘whole’ individual and hence learning is threatened and not enhanced. Punishment is not the solution to excellence; discipline is. Discipline can be established through ways without damaging the child’s confidence in his abilities.

Education and learning are not as simple as black and white- they are compounds formed due to the unique interactions between culture, parentage, time, circumstances, genetics, society...and much more. The key is awareness and implementation. We as a society need to change our thinking on what education is because of both the changing trends and requirements of time and age. Unless schools and governments work in conjunction with each other, there may be little that could be achieved in terms of maximizing intelligence, knowledge, moral and social quotients- the cardinal quadrants that form education.