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Distinguishing school from real life is essential in understanding the contrasting aspects of these two realms.
Distinguishing School from Real Life: The difference between school and life is a clear one in respect of their ordinary meanings. Ordinarily, both terms are not like terms. However, the necessity for the comparison of school and life arises only in relation to the fact that both school and life are avenues for learning and experience; otherwise there would not be need for their express distinction and comparison.
What Schooling is all About
A school is a recognized and accredited institution of formal learning providing primary, secondary, tertiary education and other levels of academic pursuit. The school system offers an avenue for life to be lived and trained. Schools can be owned and managed privately or by any level of the government for the public, as long as it is duly recognized and approved upon meeting the requirement, and it remains so accredited so long as standards are maintained.
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Thus, appropriate authorities have the power to revoke an academic institution’s accreditation or approval where the standard is being compromised. This shows that school is highly regulated. Education has become a culture, a trend and a standard, and it is within the school that formal educations are acquired and implemented. The school curriculum is specifically structured to impart skills, ideas, experiences, knowledge and all that is necessary to live a fulfilling life. Life within the school may not be exactly the same with life outside the school. Of course it is not; it rater seems that school is a defined portion of life existing within life proper.
In school, there are trained supposedly qualified tutors employed and specifically saddled with the duty to fulfill the purpose of schooling which is to impart knowledge and ideas on pupils. The knowledge imparted is school is generally categorized into two stems which are sciences and arts.
The separability of both branches becomes clear and specific at a particular level of studies usually from secondary school level. But there are general fields that teach pupils the ability to interact with the society in an ideal manner. Learning within the school is not limited to academics only; it extends to life lessons proper, hence the need for any comparison necessitating distinction in the first place.
What Life is all About
Life is the totality of human existence. It is the widest and lengthiest scope of existence unlike school which has a particular scope and length of existence. Life continues to exist until it is terminated by death. As long as an individual continues to exist, living life is not by choice.
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It is an avenue where every living being is bound to participate. It is also an avenue where lessons are taught; lessons more practical and experiencing than that ever to be taught in school. Life compels an opportunity for people to interact, foster their purposes, experience things first or third hand, acquire knowledge and ideas, and so on.
Inasmuch as there are laws regulating every society, life generally does not prepare systematic avenue for learning; the system of learning is rather an informal one. Just like school, life is structured in stages but by nature. Here, stages ranges from childhood, teenage and adulthood. Adulthood then extends to old age. All these stages of life have expectations, lessons and implications.
Differences Between School And Life
1. School could not have existed if life was not in existence. Put in another way, life affords opportunity for school to exist. On the other hand, life would still be complete in the absence of school. School is merely a part of life in general and an avenue to make life a better one by imparting way of life, ideas, knowledge and experiences on the pupils which will help them in facing the real life outside school.
2. Lessons are learnt both in school and life generally, however, lessons learnt in school are formal. Learning in school occurs within a systematically organized and defined environment. The lessons taught in school are systematically organized as well.
In school, there exists a well defined syllabus which contains which and what fields and topics to be taught. There are specifically trained staff in school whose job is to help impart these knowledge and or facilitate the learning process. All these and more makes school an avenue for formal learning. On the other hand, lessons taught in life generally are through informal means.
In life, there are no defined and organized environments where lessons are taught. Life does not teach its own lessons intentionally; it is rather incidental that people learn lessons from life. Learning lessons is an integral part of one’s existence. One can either learn purposefully, through personal and third party experience, history, observation, and so on.
There are no formal tests nor assessments issued after life lessons have been taught or learnt, however, life can offer people some tests through which lessons are learnt. These are what make life lessons an informal one.
3. Lessons learnt in life tend to be more practical in nature. Life does not teach theorical lessons. Life lessons are learnt through observation, direct experience, ostentatious learning, third party experience, and so on. It follows therefore that life lessons are more impactful as expected from practical lessons. On the other hand, school teaches theorical based lessons.
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This does not mean that school does not teach practical lessons. Theories are usually the foundations of school curriculum even when practical are to be experimented. Theories form the basis first. The practical learnt in school are mere mockery of the real life practical and experience.
It follows therefore that the role of the school system is to prepare pupils for real life by giving them clues of what to expect and that which is expected from them. While life lessons are more of practical, school lessons are founded on theories.
4. Inasmuch as government policies in most countries have made compulsory the attendance of young persons to school of up to a particular stage, it does not extinguish the fact that practically speaking, school is optional. It is not compulsory to attend school and acquire lessons from school. Learning lessons from school is also optional, and school lessons are easily short-lived.
On the other hand, upon the existence of life, lessons beings. Getting life lessons is not optional. People are more readily to seek for pleasure as opposed to pain. So, when life teaches its lessons, in avoidance of pain, the victims or observers are bound to readjust. This also established the fact that life lessons are more impactful than school lessons.
5. Length of Time: the length of time at which school is had is either fixed or determinable. School does not last for lifelong. It is merely a period of time within which one acquires lessons which will be helpful to life in general. On the other hand, the length of life counts as long as one still alive, and lessons learnt in life are continuous. Life is longer that the specific years spent in school and the end of life is not fixed or determinable.
Conclusion
Most having been highlighted, the position of school and life can be said to be complementary. School tries to mock life lessons, and while in school, one is not precluded from receiving direct or third party lessons from life even within the school environment.
These lessons learnt from life can also be useful in the school, and this is what makes them complementary to each other. Lessons can be learnt from both institutions, but while one institution is wider ad lengthier, the other exists within one.
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