ItiscommonlybelievedintheUnitedStatesthatschooliswherepeoplegotogetaneducation.Nevertheless,ithasbeensaidthattodaychildreninterrupttheireducationtogotoschool.Thedistinctionbetweenschoolingandeducationimpliedbythisremarkisimportant.
Educationismuchmoreopen-endedandall-inclusivethanschooling.Educationknowsnobounds.Itcantakeplaceanywhere,whetherintheshoweroronthejob;whetherinakitchenoronatractor.Itincludesboththeformallearningthattakesplaceinschoolsandthewholeuniverseofinformallearning.Theagentsofeducationcanrangefromareveredgrandparenttothepeopledebatingpoliticsontheradio,fromachildtoadistinguishedscientist.Whereasschoolinghasacertainpredictability,educationquiteoftenproducessurprises.
Achanceconversationwithastrangermayleadapersontodiscoverhowlittleheknowsofotherreligions.Peopleareengagedineducationfrominfancyon.Education,then,isaverybroad,inclusiveterm.Itisalifelongprocess,aprocessthatstartslongbeforethestartofschool,andonethatshouldbeanintegralpartofone’sentirelife.Schooling,ontheotherhand,isaspecific,formalizedprocess,whosegeneralpatternvarieslittlefromonesettingtothenext.
Throughoutacountry,childrenarriveatschoolatapproximatelythesametime,takeassignedseats,aretaughtbyanadult,usesimilartextbooks,dohomework,takeexams,andsoon.Theslicesofrealitythataretobelearned,whethertheyarethealphabetoranunderstandingoftheworkingsofgovernment,haveusuallybeenlimitedbytheboundariesofthesubjectbeingtaught.Forexample,highschoolstudentsknowthattheyarenotlikelytofindoutintheirclassesthetruthaboutpoliticalproblemsintheircommunitiesorwhatthenewestfilmmakersareexperimentingwith.Therearedefiniteconditionssurroundingtheformalizedprocessofschooling.