Idealism, Education and Development: The Nigerian Experience

Abstract

Education developed from the human struggle for continual existence and enlightenment and may be formal or informal. The process of informal education includes all the agencies outside the formal school system which influence the child experience or learning. Informal education can be found at home, in the church or mosque, market and in the farm, among other places. Formal education, on the other hand, refers to the process by which teachers instruct the learners or students in courses of study within a school. And by this process the child is mentally developed to cope with the challenges of life. Here, we show that there cannot be any meaningful development in a given society without education. The development of the individual in the society results in the development of the society. Thus, education is used in developing man who will take his rightful place in the society. It generates the needed manpower, and such manpower builds the society. For no nation can progress beyond the knowledge of her manpower. But for any nation’s education to achieve its best result in the society, it has to be directed by sound philosophies. To this end, the philosophy of education is crucial in national development. In this paper therefore, we shall examine idealism as a philosophy of education and how it affects development in Nigeria.

Keywords: Idealism, development, education, informal education, formal school system.