什麼是教育

發生於學校或類似學校環境中（正式教育）或大千世界裏的學習，以傳承社會的價值觀與所累積的知識。原始文化中鮮少有正式教育，兒童從他們的環境和活動中學習，而他們身邊的成人則扮演着教師的角色。在比較複雜的社會中，有較多知識必須傳遞下去，需要比較精緻而足夠的傳承方式－－學校和教師。正式教育的內容、持續性和受教者，隨着文化和時代而有巨大的差異，因此產生所謂教育哲學（philosophy of education）。有些哲學家，例如洛克（John Locke），把個人視為一張白紙，可在其上書寫知識；另一些哲學家，例如盧梭（J.-J. Rousseau），則把人性天賦狀態視為本身可取，所以儘量不加以干預，這個觀點常被非正統教育（alternative education）採用。亦請參閲behaviourism、Dewey, John、elementary education、higher education、kindergarten、lyceum movement、progressive education、public school、special education、teaching。

education

Learning that takes place in schools or schoollike environments (formal education) or in the world at large; the transmission of the values and accumulated knowledge of a society. In primitive cultures there is often little formal education; children learn from their environment and activities, and the adults around them act as teachers. In more complex societies, where there is more knowledge to be passed on, a more selective and efficient means of transmission—the school and teacher—becomes necessary. The content of formal education, its duration, and who receives it have varied widely from culture to culture and age to age, as has the philosophy of education. Some philosophers (e.g., John Locke) have seen individuals as blank slates onto which knowledge can be written; others (e.g., J.-J. Rousseau) have seen the innate human state as desirable in itself and therefore to be tampered with as little as possible, a view often taken in alternative education. See also behaviorism, John Dewey, elementary education, higher education, kindergarten, lyceum movement, progressive education, public school, special education, teaching.