Education and Self-Education in Modern Societies

Abstract

Modern social and intellectual evolution has undermined the conditions on which education was based: the groups to which an individual is to belong are no longer predetermined and are so rapidly changing that preparation for membership is impracticable; second, the relation of educator to educand is becoming too loose for the former to influence much the latter; third, uniformity of personal type is now less needed than creative individuals; and, finally, the old methods of enforcement and repression have become obsolete and no new ones have been discovered. Anyway, it is impossible to shape the fluid personality of youth forpredetermined ends by the use of ready means. Education can be efficient only when applied to the mature and settled. But there is another process which has been neglected both by pedagogical and sociological reflection: self-education. This is not a mere compromise between education and spontaneous development: it is personal development, consciously directed and controlled by the developing individual himself. Even a superficial survey of the material at hand for a closer study of this process leads to the conclusion that while the mental and moral capacity for self-education varies with individuals, it also depends upon social factors. A thorough investigation of those factors should be undertaken to form a basis for an efficient social technique in this line.