Knowledge and Education

by Yuvi - December 18, 2020

Knowledge, curriculum and language across the curriculum

Knowledge and Education

Knowledge is inherent in man; no knowledge comes from outside; it is all inside; What we say a man “knows”, should, in strict psychological language, be what he “discovers” or “unveils”; what a man learns is really what he “discovers”, by taking the cover off his own soul which is a mine of infinite knowledge.

-Swami Vivekananda.

Education is limited. It is what a person needs to live. It defines the way you spend your life.

Knowledge is like that infinite balloon which can be stretched forever. It isn’t counted in basic need. Knowledge is like water that satisfies our soul’s thirst.

1. Education is a formal process while knowledge is an informal experience.
2. Education is acquired through the formal institutions like school, colleges and universities, whereas knowledge is gained from the real life experiences.
3. Education is taught by the teachers to the students while knowledge is gained by itself or is self driven.
4. Education is a process of learning and one comes to know various facts, ideas and theories, while knowledge is the application of these facts and theories. There are no set guidelines for it.

Knowledge is a product.

Education is the process to build that product.

The more a person educates himself, the more knowledgeable the person becomes. And the more knowledgeable a person becomes, the more he will be capable to educate himself better and deeper.

Knowledge v/s Education

There is not much difference between knowledge and education as both are correlated to each other. In fact one leads to another. The primary difference between the two is that education is formal process whereas knowledge is informal experience. Education is acquired through the formal institutions like school, colleges and universities, whereas knowledge is gained from the real life experiences. Hence education is a process of gaining knowledge for some useful application whereas knowledge is facts acquired from good education, peers, consultations and extensive reading.

Another difference between the two is that education is taught by the teachers to the students while knowledge is gained by itself or is self driven. Education is a process of learning and one comes to know various facts, ideas and theories. While on other hand knowledge is the application of these facts and theories. There are no set guidelines for it. Education has a predefined set of rules, regulations and curriculum whereas knowledge has no such boundaries. It can come from teacher, parents, friends, painful moments of life, joyous moments, children etc. Hence it is not taught but acquired by self efforts.

Both knowledge and education are synonyms but still has a borderline difference between them. Knowledge is gained from life experiences and age while education is learned from the books and may never be experienced. Knowledge is related to facts whereas education is related to learning, critical thinking and knowing oneself. Education grows with age whereas knowledge has no such growth rate, even a child can be more knowledgeable than an adult. One has to follow a system to be educated whereas knowledge can be gained without following any such systems.

Lastly the difference between knowledge and education is that knowledge is a noun which is gained through experience and education. It is about understanding a particular fact or an event. It includes the raw information, understanding the matter and developing ones skills related to the matter having appropriate resources. One can have medical, scientific or commercial knowledge whereas education cannot be defines into small spheres, it is on the whole a complete system with facts related to age group and a person. It is rather more specific and defined.

Hence, education helps in imparting ones culture and tradition from one generation to another. It helps an individual to realize the self potential and talents. It is related to different fields of learning and teaching such as computer science, sociology, linguistic etc. Many theories are linked with education psychology. Knowledge helps these traditions to grow for the betterment of society and not the selfish motto. We can distinguish between the good and bad and follow the customs selflessly.

Summary:

1. Education is a formal process of gaining knowledge whereas knowledge is informally acquired through experiences.
2. Education needs institutions for learning while knowledge has no boundaries.
   3. Education has a defined set of rules and curriculum whereas knowledge has no such limitations.
   4. Education is learned from books and grows with age while knowledge is free to be acquired from surroundings and has no age limit.
   5. Knowledge is information while education is a source of getting it.

Knowledge and Education

“Knowing a great deal is not the same as being smart; intelligence is not information alone but also judgment, the manner in which information is collected and used” Dr. Carl Sagan

“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.” Samuel Johnson

“Data is not information, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not understanding, understanding is not wisdom.” Clifford Stoll

“In your thirst for knowledge, be sure not to drown in all the information.” Anthony J. D’Angelo

Education

“Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire.” William B Yates

“Education is the best provision for old age.” Aristotle

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela

“Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities — that’s training or instruction — but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed.” Thomas More

“An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don’t.” Anatole France

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

Aristotle

“Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.” B. F. Skinner

“The mere imparting of information is not education.” Carter G. Woodson

“The information is in the people, not in your head.” Edward T. Hall

“An educated person is one who has learned that information almost always turns out to be at best incomplete and very often false, misleading, fictitious, mendacious – just dead wrong.” Russell Baker

“The educated do not share a common body of information, but a common state of mind.” Mason Cooley

“The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.” Herbert Spencer

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Derek Bok