Role of Education: Harnessing the Potential of Learners for Social

Development

Ruchi Sharma

Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal, India

Keywords: Education, Social Development, Skill Enhancement, Social Transformation, Teachers’ Training.

Abstract: Educational institutions play crucial role in lifelong learning and in the development of a cohesive society. In

order to enable learners to act as a catalyst for social transformation, the current paper attempts to explain the

role of education in preparing the learners for social development. The proposed 4E’s model is suggested

based on literature review. The dimensions of the proposed 4 E’s model are 1) equal opportunities for

education to everyone 2) embracing of diverse cultural backgrounds 3) enhancing learners’ skills 4)

expediting teachers training and development. The 4 E’s approach emphasizes on the importance of education

in fostering learners’ empowerment and integration in order to build a sustainable future. It is argued that the

aim of learning should not just be about getting the degree or finding a job rather it should be about the

learner's overall development. To achieve this, the formal education must implement concrete strategies that

focus attention on the self growth along with contribution towards building a cohesive society.

1 INTRODUCTION

“If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in

terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years,

teach the people.” – Confucius

In today’s scenario, the fast pace of changes are

resulting into challenges which are beyond human

predictions. In these times of uncertainties, the role of

education becomes important in developing the future

oriented knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that

enables learners to become active, responsible and

engaged citizen. The younger generation is the

foundation of world’s future as they consist of one

quarter of the total world’s population. In India the

young generation is one of the most vulnerable

groups (Arora, et al., 2015). The youngsters are seen

as the leader of tomorrow but they are frustrated and

angry due to lack of proper education, guidance and

mentoring. The tension faced by them leads to the

depression which further results into feeling of

sadness and hopelessness, moodiness, eating

disturbances, sleep disturbance, substance abuse, and

lack of participation in social life, lack of enthusiasm,

energy or motivation. As a result, they overreact to

criticism, lack of concentration, restlessness,

agitation, suicidal thoughts, indulge in abusive

behavior, and increase in self criticism and conflicts.

Education acts as a tool to fight this negativity as it

develops a learner in terms of his/her self awareness

thus enlightening him/her spiritually. Certainly well

planned education system can help our younger

generation to deal these problems in constructive way

and to remain focused on living a meaningful life

(UNESCO, 2021).

2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objective is to explore and comprehend the

impact of education on social development while also

evaluating its role in empowering the younger

generation. The aim extends to proposing

comprehensive strategies that facilitate the overall

development of learners, encompassing various

aspects crucial to their growth and well-being.

2.1 Methodology

In order to develop the proposed 4E’s model 120

published articles related to the research area from

various databases like SCOPUS, Researchgate and

Google scholar were reviewed and out these reviewed

papers ten articles were selected. Based on the

872

Sharma, R.

Role of Education: Harnessing the Potential of Learners for Social Development.

DOI: 10.5220/0012517200003792

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR 2023), pages 872-876

ISBN: 978-989-758-687-3

findings of these selected articles the concept of the

4E’s model has been developed.

2.2 Proposed Model: 4E’s

India can become global superpower by educating its

younger generation in constructive way. Educational

institutions play important role in the lifelong

learning process and in building a cohesive society in

which the different perspectives of fellow human

beings are valued thus ensuring inclusive and

sustainable future for the humankind. The present

paper focuses on the role of education in integrating

and empowering the younger generation to play

active role in social development and promoting a

sustainable future.

E =Equal Opportunities for Education to

Everyone

E = Embracing of Diverse Cultural Backgrounds

E= Enhancing Learners’ Skills

E =Expediting Teachers Training and

Development

Figure 1: Proposed 4E’s Model.

Education helps learner in framing the futuristic

vision as well as develops understanding about values

and ethics which are considered to be the strong

foundation of sustainable social development. As

rightly said by Yousafzai (2013) “One child, one

teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.”

The education empowers the learners to actively

participate in self-development as well as to play

active role in social transformation for accomplishing

the goal of social development. According to Mann

(1855), "Education, then, beyond all other devices of

human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions

of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery."

It strengthens learners’ abilities to be resilient and to

survive the unpredicted challenges by harnessing the

opportunities. No doubt, the learners of today are the

key agents of social development and the future of our

society. Therefore, it is essential that the learners need

to be equipped with the competencies to contribute

for the future as change agents.

3 EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR

EDUCATION TO EVERYONE

The younger generation is the most valuable asset of

the society. It is necessary to empower them by

building their capabilities and making opportunities

accessible to them. Nelson Mandela stated that

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you

can use to change the world." It is essential to provide

educational opportunities to everyone especially

people surviving in vulnerable situations. These

vulnerable situations can be due to social conflicts,

discrimination, poverty, and lack of awareness or the

emergencies created by pandemics or natural

disasters. The government needs to ensure to

facilitate the administrative policies so that the

citizens can have access to the educational

opportunities. The educational institutions should

make their admission process more socially

integrative and need to acts as mentors rather than

merely playing the role of service provider and should

refrain from branding the education as a product

accessible to only well to do segment of the society.

The provision of accessible learning resources is

essential. It enables marginalized and disadvantaged

learner to access quality education and thus

empowering them to overcome systemic challenges.

In Indian society it is a harsh reality that gender

discrimination still continues to be a big social

problem. The irony lies in the fact that patriarchal

social norms act as a barrier for women to progress.

This had negative impact on women’s financial

status, education, health and access to opportunities.

Women are deprived of economic decision making

and are dependent on men. For the development of

society provision of equal opportunities for each

individual is essential irrespective of their gender,

caste and creed. Many initiatives have been taken by

government but yet a lot needs to be done. Equal

access to all the resources for everyone need to be

ensured. The attitudinal changes need to be

undertaken to overcome gender discrimination. The

education should promote democracy, respect for

human rights and social justice in an accessible

learning environment to cater the learning and social

needs of every one (NEP, 2020).

Role of Education: Harnessing the Potential of Learners for Social Development

873

4 EMBRACING OF DIVERSE

CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS

The main role of education is to build inclusive

societies. Education should not be promoted only to

create professionals for fulfilling the demand of labor

market but education can acts as a base to cultivate

the values for social cohesion and can harness the

potential of young citizens to construct inclusive

societies. The pedagogies and learning materials need

to be inclusive and should promote diversity. To

avoid marginalization the stereotypes need to be

avoided by including different narratives and

perspectives. There are various social changes

happening at a fast pace in the contemporary society,

the cause of these changes varies like technology,

social media, globalization, migration, etc. From

individualism the societies are transforming towards

pluralism (Sciortino, 2021) thus inculcating the sense

of universal belongingness impacting the perceptions,

attitudes and behaviors of the learners by challenging

the prejudices and fears is essential.

The educational institutions need to be careful in

their planning and implementation of educational

programs and policies to foster respect and mutual

understanding among learners. In educational

institutions proper career guidance should be

provided, the cultural barriers needs to be removed

and the cases of harassment need to be dealt strictly.

It is essential to integrate democratic competencies in

the curriculum so as to promote democratic values

and active citizenship. By facilitating interaction and

developing relationships, the learners understand

their role in the society. Inclusive education also

fosters understanding and appreciation of diverse

cultures, promoting social cohesion and harmony

within communities. Education can act as a tool for

empowering the learners to transform the society

(Broom, 2015). By instilling principles such as

empathy, compassion, tolerance and respect for

diversity, education nurtures a sense of social

responsibility. When educated learner are involved in

consistent interactions and channels of

communication then the probability of enhancing

adaptive capacities increases ultimately shaping a

more equitable and democratic society.

Education helps in fulfilling professional

requirements although the tangible results may or

may not be instant. The education should equip the

learners with the skills to become responsible and

active citizens. It should make them competent not

only to face the global competition but also to

discover untapped opportunities and find solutions to

the problems thus engaging in playing active role to

create sustainable future. Employability is a key

outcome of education and training to instill skills,

knowledge and competencies of workers. In India

extensive employability skill training initiatives have

started. These need to be framed to tackle the problem

of unemployment and to meet the changing market

demands. The employment strategy needs to take care

of institutional support for learner employment. It

should be focused on reshaping or transforming the

human capabilities, life skills, attitudes and mindset.

The entrepreneurial spirit should be nurtured to

empower the learners to develop innovative solutions

and to create employment opportunities. If

undertaken in a planned and systematic way it will

have far reaching impact on social development. The

education provided should enhance employability

skills among the learner but at the same time the

education programs should not be limited only to the

enhancement of employability skills but articulation

of theory and practice is required for nurturing

learner’s cognitive, meta-cognitive, social, emotional

and technical skills to form the foundation upon

which they can engage in shaping communities for

social development. The development of

competencies needs to be based on the combination

of knowledge, skills and values to empower the

learners to promote social cohesion, human values

and sustainability.

The training and development need not only be

limited to the enhancement of professional

knowledge, skills and expertise for effective

curriculum delivery but also teachers need to be

sensitized towards the diverse cultural backgrounds

of learner so as to make the learning in the classrooms

more impactful. The teachers need to go through self

analysis so as to understand and be aware of their own

biases and stereotypes, this analysis is important to

keep a check for not transferring these to the learners.

The flexibility should be given to teachers to align the

curriculum as per the present times requirement and

adapt to the individual learning needs. The teachers

need to be technologically trained (OECD, 2016) to

use participatory methodologies while imparting

education so that the learners’ voices and concerns

are heard and addressed appropriately. As quoted by

William Arthur Ward cited in Fred (2010) “The

mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains.

The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher

inspires.”

The teachers need to be aware of the teaching

pedagogies should not merely focus on the

transmission of knowledge but it should aim to create

learning environment in which learners can develop

their self learning skills. The learners need to be at the

PAMIR 2023 - The First Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies- | PAMIR

874

centre of their own learning process and responsibly

involved in their own learning. As stated by Greek

writer Kazantzakis: “True teachers are those who use

themselves as bridges over which they invite their

learners to cross; then, having facilitated their

crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to

create their own.” The training of innovative

pedagogical approaches is essential to promote the

effective learning taking place in and beyond

classrooms. In addition to discipline based knowledge

the focus should be on interdisciplinary, collaborative

learning, leveraging technology-enabled learning and

fostering peer collaboration and mentoring. The

learning process need to support each and every

learner to nurture his/her competencies in

collaboration with teachers in a supportive learning

environment. The learner needs to be involved in the

development of the curriculum so as to have the sense

of ownership and responsibility during the

implementation process. The teachers should be

trained to support learners to be an independent

thinker, lifelong learner and communicate with others

in meaningful ways. The interaction between teacher

and learner should equip learners with knowledge,

skills, cooperative attitude to play active role in social

development. The teachers need to be motivated and

supported for doing their assigned role responsibly

and also it should be ensured that their rights are

protected.

To make 4E’s model effective monitoring and

evaluation of educational programs is essential. A

robust mechanism of monitoring and evaluation is

required so as to measure the impact of educational

programs. The assessment of impact should look

deeply into the efforts integrating the holistic

interventions for successfully accomplishing the

learning outcomes. The educational goals cannot be

achieved if the involvement of family and community

is not made mandatory. The evidence based programs

need to be increased so as to monitor and evaluate

effectively the engagement and involvement of the

learners. This will result in improved learner learning

outcomes and contribute to the overall advancement

of the education system.

5 CONCLUSION

Education plays important role in today’s volatile and

complex world in harnessing the potential of learner

for social development. It empowers the learners by

enhancing their capabilities and opening the door for

opportunities. The purpose of education is to provide

learners with the necessary knowledge and skills to

actively participate in their own personal growth as

well as achieving social development through societal

transformation. Educated citizens contribute

meaningfully to the society and also act as catalyst in

initiating positive social change and paving way for

social development (UNESCO, 2020). It is clearly

evident that there are many challenges which need to

overcome so as to enable the social transformation for

creating a positive impact in the society. In this

transformative process education acts as a catalyst in

unlocking the potential of learners by equipping them

with necessary skills, knowledge and values. The

active engagement of learner in the rapidly changing

complex societies is possible only when the learners

are educated. The illiteracy leads to various social

problems like population explosion, poverty, crime,

etc. The prevailing negative forces needs to be dealt

to give access to the right to education so that the

learner can effectively craft their own opportunities

for self growth and social development. A viable

strategy to eradicate social problems is through the

provision of access to educational opportunities

enabling the learners to play key role as social change

agents. The learning process should focus on the

development of employability and life skills. Public

and private institutions should initiate technical and

skill oriented educational programs. By streamlining

teachers’ training and development programs the

growth and effectiveness of teachers can be

expedited. The mechanism needs to be developed so

as to ensure accountability and developing each

learner as an engaged citizen shaping the future of

society. The education should enable learners to

apply knowledge, skills and empathy to real-life

problems and situations and should have the

confidence to transform the society to ensure a

sustainable future for humanity. Policy makers should

ensure that effective policies are framed and are

implemented for the promotion of education in all the

segments of the society so that each person can

develop existing competencies and acquire new skills

to face the future challenges in social development.

The research article highlights the necessity to make

efforts to maximize the potential of the learners so

they can become active agents of positive change for

fostering inclusive and sustainable society. It is

through the transformative power of education that

we can unlock the full potential of learner and shape

a bright future for all.

The limitation in the current study is that the 4E’s

are developed in a continuous process of reading and

reflection but the qualitative analysis of text material

is not done. The future studies should perform

Role of Education: Harnessing the Potential of Learners for Social Development

875

qualitative coding of the text material so as to explore

new findings.

REFERENCES

Arora, S.K., Shah, D., Chaturvedi, S., Gupta, P. (2015).

Defining And Measuring Vulnerability In Young

People. Indian Journal of Community Medicine

.40:193-197.

Broom, C.(2015). Empowering Students: Pedagogy That

Benefits Educators And Learners. Citizenship, Social

and Economic Citizen.14(2):79-86.

Fred H. L.(2010). The True Teacher. Texas Heart Institute

Journal. 37(3):334–335.

Kazantzakis, N. World Teachers Day . Retrieved 27

January2023, from

https://handsofferinghope.org/blog/world-teachers-

day.

Mann, H. (1855).“The Necessity of Education in a

Republican Government,” Lectures on Education:117-

162.

National Education Policy NEP. (2020), Retrieved 24

March .2023 from

https://www.mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/

nep/ NEP_Final_English.pdf .

Nelson Mandela. In Ratcliffe, S. (Ed.), Oxford Essential

Quotations. : Oxford University Press. Retrieved 27

January. 2023, from

https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/

9780191843730.001.0001/q-oro-ed5-00007046.

Sciortino, G. (2021). A Blueprint for Inclusion: Talcott

Parsons, the Societal Community and the Future of

Universalistic Solidarities. The American

Sociologist.52:159-177.

UNESCO.(2020). Vocational Education First: State of the

Education Report for India 2020. New Delhi: UNESCO

Regional Office UNESCO.(2021). State of the

Education Report for India 2021: No teacher No class.

New Delhi: UNESCO Regional Office.

Yousafzai, Malala (2013). I Am Malala : The Girl Who

Stood Up For Education And Was Shot By The Taliban.

New York, NY: Little, Brown, & Company.

PAMIR 2023 - The First Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies- | PAMIR

876