INFORMAL EDUCATION: ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY HOME AND PEER GROUP

INFORMAL EDUCATION: ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY HOME AND PEER GROUP

Vishnu Sasidharan (No. 82, English)

INTRODUCTION

            Education is a lifelong process from birth to death, so it is a continuous process. Education aims at bringing about changes of behavior of the students according to the different needs. Achievement or performance in any task being the academic need in the educational setting, all the contributing for this achievement should be taken care of in the total educational system.

            The ultimate aim of the education is the total development of the individual. The examination system has many limitations in ensuring that education succeeds in fulfilling its ultimate aim. It focuses only on cognitive learning out comes and completely ignores the non-cognitive aspects which are a vital component of human personality.

            There are many socializing agencies of education. They may be informal, non-formal and formal. These agencies have an important role in the relam of education. From family and the school and as a social animal it requires from the society also. From these agencies, three of them have same role. But in the case of informal agencies, home, peer group and the community are the major factors. Informal education is that education is not formal and it is not from an authorized resource. In this type of education there is modification of the behavior of the learner, but no conscious efforts are made for it. All social institutions exist for the betterment and improvement of the individual. The individual is the architect of his own destiny. Education therefore, must care for the complete development of the individual.  

AGENCIES OF EDUCATION

            There are three major agencies for the education. They can be classifies as informal, formal and non-formal agencies. The first kind of classification refers to the formal agencies and the other formal agencies of late, in between the non formal institutions are pre-conceived and pre-planned. They are developed as a result of some of the needs of the society. The school, the college and the universities come under this category. They are governed by rules and regulations. They may be statutory in some cases. They have a legal order of their own.

            The non-formal agencies are simply out-of-school institutions. They stand in between the formal and informal.

            The informal agencies of education are formed in the natural course of development of the society. They are neither pre-conceived nor-preplanned. They are not governed by any regular code or regulations. The family, the church, the community and the state come under this category. Man’s education begins at birth; before he can speak or understand, he is learning. Experience precedes instruction. His learning goes right up to his death. It is continuous process. Education comes to us from nature, form men or from things, school is only a small part of environment which helps us to learn. There are several other forces acting on an individual and his education. Press, mass media, church or other religious agencies, friends, libraries, satellite or computer system also play their role in the education of a child.

INFORMAL EDUCATION

            Education for which no formalities are observed is known as informal type of education. In this type of education, there are no, pre-determined aims, no definite curriculum, no well thought methods of teachings, no qualifies and trained teachers and no definite place of education. Here education is received by the company of friends that is in the peer group or relatives, community etc. whatever as education is received plays a very important and significant role in the life of the educand. In this type of education, there is modification of the behavior of the learner, but no conscious efforts are made for it. Whatever is learnt here is not preplanned. It is rather incidental. Here neither the teacher nor the learner is conscious of the process of teaching learning. For example a person goes to the play ground, for physical exercise and there comes across someone who tells him very good ways of utilizing leisure time. Surely in this situation one acted as a teacher and the listener was a student but none of them was conscious of the fact that the process of teaching learning occurred informally. In this way through our daily routine of life, teaching learning may take place and we are quite unaware of it. This type of education is known as informal education. It is a casual type of education which is received through daily experiences and activities.

            The informal agencies of education are formed in the natural course of development of the society. They are neither pre-conceived nor pre-planned. They are not governed by any regular code or regulations. The family the church or any religious institutions, the community and the state come under this category. Through the religious organizations come under informal agencies of education, they become formal institutions, when they run educational institutions of their own. In the socializing agencies of education the informal education is in the out of school system, or other any institutions. The branches of informal education are mainly the home, the peer group, and the community as a whole the state also.

FEATURES OF INFORMAL EDUCATION

·         Informal education is incidental, incidental, indirect and spontaneous. There is no conscious effort involved it.

·         It is not pre-planned and structured.

·         There are no specialized agencies to impart this education.

·         There are no formal ends and objectives. In this type of education, there is no prescribed time table and curriculum.

·         There are no examinations and awarding of certificates.

·         Is it lifelong education. It continues throughout life.

·         In other words, it takes place through daily activities and experiences.

AGENCIES OF INFORMAL EDUCATION

In any country there are many socializing agencies of education. They may be formal, non-formal and informal. The formal agencies such as school, colleges and universities, non-formal agencies like, church, mass media etc. and informal agencies like home, peer group and the community. In this community as a whole include the society, itself. Where informal agencies the home, the peer group and the community played an important role. The social systems are mutually dependent. The school is dependent on the state for its finances. The state is dependent on the community for its revenue. The home is dependent on the community and the state its existence and its security.

Informal agencies of education like home, peer group and the community as a whole the heart of the society. Home is the fundamental unit of the social structure. From there the child get his first lesson for his life. Then from his peer group and to the community, or to the society at last as a social animal. Educations from any authorized institutions like school, college have a structure of their own. With in that area it provides a wider canvas for the pupils. But as in the case of informal learning, it get from anywhere at the society. The child acquires knowledge or, share his views to his parents or his friends. The sharing and classification of ideas led a vast study about the matter. Informal learning sometimes may be bad or good. This type of education may result into learning sometimes wrong or bad. That is negative education and that may create some problem. The family, peer group and the community are the important agencies of informal education. 

FAMILY

            It is a well-known fact that the family is atypical informal agency of education. It has been and to large extent still remains the main educational agency of mankind. We call it as informal agency because, there is no fixed schedule of teaching, no time table, no formal syllabus and very little formal teaching.  Atmosphere without any affection and atmosphere with too much of affection are both as dangerous to a child at school as at home. A good home gives a good start in life. The root of the human life is the home. This is the institution around which all the other institutions revolve and for which they ultimately exist. Home is the great school of character and citizenship. From family child will derived his first habits, his ideas of the world and perhaps more important than these, his first standards of conduct. Family lays foundation for the physical, mental, moral, emotional, social and spiritual growth of the child. When we think of that transmission of knowledge from one generation to another, it is clear at once that the family is always one of the fundamental agencies of education in society. Before the establishment of schools, parents were responsible for the education of their children. The child also develops qualities like love sympathy, and sensitiveness to the needs of others. There is much emotional learning also.

EDUCATIONAL FUNCTIONS OF FAMILY

·         Renders good nourishment and healthy habits physical as well as mental.

·         Caters to the varied needs of the child at various stages of development.

·         Helps to develop desirable interest and attitudes in the child.

·         Provide opportunities for recreation, vocational interest, development of skill etc.

·         Training in democratic work, which leads to inculcation of dignity of labour.

·         Give affection, sense of belongingness and security to the child.

·         Basis of democratic principles should be laid down at home.

·         The family provides opportunities for the exercise of the senses.

·         Social learning takes place in the home by imitation and assimilation.

·         It helps them to develop harmonious adjustment with surrounding civilization.

·         It encourages the formation of worthy home membership.

·         Family life helps in the acquisition of language, aesthetic skills, sex, education, married life and its roles, parenthood, childcare and conformity with traditions and customs and so on.

PEER GROUP

Peer group education in ‘out-of-school education’ is relevant for youth organizations, youth services, youth agencies and youth and social work in general. The aim to give young people the responsibility for the education of other young people can be achieved by the continuity of the out-of-school sector. The challenge to the adults in out-of-school education is the step by step retreat out of peer group education programmes. Working towards loss of ‘control’ and allowing for action alongside the structured programmes of organization, agencies and services. Peer group education programmes can reach out to a winder public than only to the “members” of the organization and institutions and can therefore bring about synthesis and enrichment.

Peer group forms an important informal and socializing agency with which the individual comes into contact during the early childhood, later childhood, and adolescence. The members of the peer group may be classified as infant peers, childhood peers and adolescence peers. The peer groups are the activity groups of young children, which also play the educational role of informal agency in their own way. They are the associations formed spontaneously for the purpose of recreation or play or such other common mutual interests. They are formed without the interference of elder generation. The peer groups can be classified into two primary groups such as play groups, gangs etc, and secondary groups such as youth clubs, youth leagues, youth association etc.

EDUCATIONAL INFLUENCE OF PEAR GROUP

·         Peer group help the child to develop leadership qualities.

·         Child learns group values such as co-operation, tolerance, accommodation and team spirit.

·         It helps the child in the development of rational conscience and scale of values.

·         It provides experience to play various roles in groups, which enables to develop leadership qualities.

·         Inculcation of desirable social attitudes and habits of mutual co-operation.

·         Its helps to equip the young people efficiently and effectively for future.

COMMUNITY

            Community is an important informal and active agency of education. Just as the family and the school have a great influence upon the child, much in the same way the community also modifies the behavior of child, through social contacts, group activities and group dynamics in such a way that he begins to participate in all the desirable activities of the community of which he is an integral part. It is why we still hear the saying that children of a community develop as the adults of that community wish them to become. In fact, the child does not develop in the environment of his family alone. The environment of the community also moulds and modifies the behavior of the child according to its ideas, ideals and goals.

            Every community has its various needs and glaring problems. When these needs are met and problems solved, the standard of community rises higher and higher. This progress goes on gradually and continually on the contrary, a community which is unable to provide right type of education to its members, it remains cramped up and stagnant with the result that its progress is blocked and stunted. In other words a community tries to mould education according to its social, economic and political needs or aspirations. This is an ongoing and continuing process. The school run by a community is therefore called a miniature of society. In short, the community as an agency of education influences its children both formally and informally. Each community influences the education of the child form all aspects as well as informally. It influences on a child’s influence on physical, mental, social, cultural, character and moral development. Also in his or her political ideas can be mould by this, as a social animal.

QUALITIES OF COMMUNITY AS AN AGENCY OF INFORMAL EDUCATION

            Community tries to influence the education of its children in both formally and informally.

·         Community education is meaningful. It is applicable in any learner belonging any age level.

·         Informal education provided by community, emphasizes the principle of utility. According to this principle education emphasizes upon those ideals which are useful to the individual as well as to the community itself.

·         Community education gives real life experiences to the children through the peer group, or youth clubs etc.

·         Community education emphasizes upon the principle of activity. Instead of simply hearing the lectures, children learn effectively by doing and manipulating things and processes.

·         The community imparts its cultural heritage to the children, as an agency of informal learning.

·         The community creates consciousness in children about their rights and duties and thus develops in them those qualities and capacities which make them active and dynamic citizens.

·         The community bestows upon children the capacity to think creatively and constructively. This makes them responsible and self-reliant citizens.

The community provides many informal devices and materials to children for their developed in various aspects of personality. Radio, mass media, libraries are the various and varied devices of influence the development of children of the community.

CONCLUSION

The informal agencies of education are formed in the natural course of development of the society. They are neither pre-conceived nor pre-planned. Formal education is classroom based, provided by trained teachers. Informal education happens outside the classroom, in after school programs, community based organizations, museums, libraries or at home. In general classrooms have the same kids and the same teachers every day. After school programs are often drop-in so attendance is consistent, as it leadership. Informal education programs need to complete an activity each day because a difference group of kids could be in attendance every day, as in their meetings in youth clubs, or in their peer group.

Classroom – based teachers have a certain level of training in educational philosophy, effective teaching strategies, classroom management and content. But in informal educational programs provides by contrast, vary in experience and knowledge about the society, and also teach or acquire group management also.

An additional benefit of developing materials for informal educational settings are that may be useful to parents at home, as in the part of home as an active agency of informal education. And or to adult learners who are looking to expand their knowledge level at the platform of their peer group, either for their own enrichment or to increase their career options. Later it reflects on the society by its citizens, there can be acquired through the same community itself also.

REFERENCES

T.Paul Varghese (1967) Philosophical and Sociological foundations of education, Allied printers, India, Trichur, Kerala.

T.C. Thankachan, (2007 -5^th edition 2012) Philosophical and Sociological bases of education, V Publishers, Kottayam- Kerala.

NR. Sworoop Saxena (2001) Philosophical and Sociological foundations of education Meerut: Surya publication.

K.V. Eapen (1997) Teacher and Education in Indian Society, Kollett Publications – Kottayam, Kerala.