Forms, Functions and

Importance of
Education in the
Society
Specific learning Objectives:

1. Define education;
2. Trace and describe the educational system of the
Philippines;
3. Give the functions and importance of education in
the society; and
4. Evaluate how education functions and affects
society.
WHAT IS EDUCATION?
• Education is the social institution through
which society provides its members with
important knowledge, including basic facts, job
skills, and cultural norms and values.
• Education is the acquisition of knowledge,
habits, skills, and abilities through instruction
and training or through self-activity.
• It is systematic training of the moral and
intellectual faculties of the mind. It is the
process of transmitting to the young, the vital
cultural heritage of a group.
Types of Education
 FORMAL EDUCATION
• This refers to the hierarchically structured,
chronologically graded educational
system from primary school to the
university, including programs and
institutions for full time technical and
vocational training.
• At the end of each level,
the learners must obtain
certification in order to
enter or advance to the
next level.
 NON-FORMAL EDUCATION
• It refers to any organized educational
activity outside the established formal
system to provide selected types of
learning to a segment of the population.
 Non-formal education enables a student to
learn skills and knowledge through
structured learning experiences. A student
learns his/her values, principles, and beliefs
and undergoes lifelong learning.
• Example: Vocational Education
 INFORMAL EDUCATION
• It is a lifelong process whereby every
individual acquires from daily
experiences, attitudes, values, facts, skills,
and knowledge or motor skill from
resources in his or her higher
environment.
• It offers alternative learning opportunities for the out
of school youth and adults specifically those who are
15 years old and above and unable to avail
themselves of the educational services and programs
of formal education. It reaches out to citizens of
varied interests, demographic characteristics, and
socioeconomic origins and status. Its primary
objective is to provide literacy programs to eradicate
illiteracy.
 Special Education
• Special Education refers to the education of
persons who are physically, mentally,
emotionally, socially, or culturally different from
socalled “normal” individuals, such that they
require modification of school practices to
develop their potential.
• SPED aims to develop
the maximums potential
of the child with the
special needs to enable
him/her to become self-
reliant and take
advantage of the
opportunities for a full
and happy life.
 Functions of
Education in the
Society
PRODUCTIVE CITIZENRY
• Education systems enable citizens to be
productive members of a society, as they are
equipped with knowledge and skills that could
contribute to the development of their
society’s systems and institutions.
This highlights the importance of formal and non-
formal education in the development of oneself
and the society. Being a productive citizen
requires critical thinking. One must have the
ability to understand his or her duties and be able
to respond to them by making decisions.
 SELF-ACTUALIZATION
Education develops one’s sense of self. As a huge part
of the discovery process of oneself, education
encourages having the vision to become self-actualized.
Moreover, it enables one to see your strengths and
maintain them. It enables one to determine weakness
and adjust to them. This helps one reach full potential
and establish oneself as a
• whole.
 According to Abraham Maslow,
self-actualization is the highest form of
human need. It was defined as “to
become more and more what one is, to
become everything that one is capable
of becoming.”
1. Physiological needs - these are biological
requirements for human survival, e.g. air, food,
drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep. If
these needs are not satisfied the human body
cannot function optimally.
2. Safety needs - protection from
elements, security, order, law, stability,
freedom from fear.
3. Love and belongingness needs -the need for interpersonal
relationships motivates behaviour

Examples include friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance,

receiving and giving affection and love. Affiliating, being
part of a group (family, friends, work).
4. Esteem needs - which Maslow classified into two
categories:
(i) esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery,
and independence) and
(ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others
(e.g., status, prestige).
Maslow indicated that the need for respect or
reputation is most important for children and
adolescents and precedes real selfesteem or dignity.
5. Self-actualization needs - realizing personal
potential, selffulfillment, seeking personal growth
and peak experiences.