Difference between Education and Learning?

"It has always been my opinion that 'education' is something people do to you, whereas 'learning' is something you do for yourself," – Joichi Ito, 2013 Director of MIT Media Lab

Nothing disappoints me more than a young person telling me he has given up learning because the education system told him he was a bad student. 

No individual is a bad student. I wanted to understand what was the difference between Education and Learning. Insights here - 

I googled Education to find a definition. 

"The process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university"

Systematic Instruction and School and University stood out for me. 

Then I googled Learning. This is what I got -

"The acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study or by being taught."

Acquiring Knowledge and Skills and Being Taught were words that stood out for me. 

How did we learn as little children?

All of us seemed to have gotten by just well, until we were five or six years old where we learned most things ourselves. This included walking, speaking, eating and all of life’s most important and basic skills.

This was definitely learning. But then we gave someone else the responsibility to educate us and a majority of the time take no responsibility ourselves. When you have no control over what you are learning for 10 years of your life, you are completely dependent on the curriculum set by the central board of education for your learning outcomes.

Finding a subject that interests you

We must do all we can to find a subject we are interested in and customize all the learning we do at school and at home to that field. If we do not do so, we are merely being educated and not learned.

Some students are lucky if the subjects they like are available at school. But it becomes harder for the students that opt for more varied subjects like sports, music, writing etc.

You do not have courses for these subjects in all schools. 

So as a student what do we do now?

We explore. Find creative ways to get access to best information in the field we are passionate about. We find a way to learn and not merely educate ourselves. We find a way to make Learning Beautiful again.

Let us Learn Together

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