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Education and Schooling
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It is commonly believed in the United States
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that school is where people go to get an education.
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Nevertheless,
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it has been said
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that today children interrupt their education to go to school.
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The distinction between schooling and education
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implied by this remark is important.
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Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling.
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Education knows no bounds.
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It can take place anywhere,
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whether in the shower or on the job;
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whether in a kitchen or on a tractor.
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It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools
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and the whole universe of informal learning.
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The agents of education can range from a revered grandparent
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to the people debating politics on the radio,
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from a child to a distinguished scientist.
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Whereas schooling has a certain predictability,
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education quite often produces surprises.
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A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover
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how little he knows of other religions.
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People are engaged in education from infancy on.
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Education, then, is a very broad, inclusive term.
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It is a lifelong process,
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a process that starts long before the start of school,
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and one that should be an integral part of one’s entire life.
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Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process,
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whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next.
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Throughout a country,
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children arrive at school at approximately the same time,
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take assigned seats, are taught by an adult,
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use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on.
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The slices of reality that are to be learned,
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whether they are the alphabet
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or an understanding of the workings of government,
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have usually been limited by the boundaries of the subject being taught.
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For example,
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high school students know
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that they are not likely to find out in their classes
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the truth about political problems in their communities
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or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with.
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There are definite conditions
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surrounding the formalized process of schooling.