Life Experience, Values and Education

Abstract

The paper deals with the contemporary problems of education – its functions, mission, humanistic essence and need for the understanding of value. Education is not only school training or getting competences at the highest educational institutions. It is understood as a life experience, where cognition, judgement and practical activity come together in one complex. Nowadays the most popular systems of education are structured on the model based mainly on pragmatism, professionalism, information, technology, to which philosophers are trying to attach moral and cultural dimensions, but their views do not carry much weight. The author agrees with R. Dahrendorf that we need empathetic education and with P. Kemp that educational institutions today are transformed more and more into commercial institutions, that universities try to sell knowledge, people are educated for competition, while cultural and moral education are considered useless. Therefore the author argues for the development of cultural and moral education at all levels of education starting from childhood up to life long learning. Teaching and practising of philosophy must be returned to the curricula more widely because philosophy is able to explain values, teach morals, cultivate critical, creative and caring thinking and develop personalities.