There is much controversy over the definition of certain terms across disciplines. Education, learning, training, and development are just a few of these concepts that pose a challenge to underpin and define. Despite this, scholars have made several postulations of these terms to develop a conceptual framework and provide an understanding of their meaning. The following definitions are thence not set in stone especially as they have been defined in different ways.
Collins Dictionary (n.d.) defines education, training, and development as:
Education- “The act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life”.
Training- “The process of bringing a person, etc to an agreed standard of proficiency, etc by practice and instruction”.
Development- “The act or process of growing, progressing, or developing”.
Meanwhile, learning has been defined as “the act or process of acquiring knowledge or skill” (dictionary.com, n.d.).
These meanings make it easy to pinpoint the similarities and slight differences of the concepts.
Regarding their similarities:
All of the concepts entail some sort of process such that an individual may have to go through an educational, learning, development, or training process at some point in their life.
Meanwhile, the interrelation between education, training, and learning is that they all involve the impartation of knowledge etc., the acquisition of knowledge, or both.
Development I.e., behavioral change, perspective shift, etc., is often described as the result or outcome of one’s education, training, or learning. Garavan (1997) puts it nicely specifically stating that “learning is better seen as the overarching concept under which formal ‘education’ and ‘training’ take place, with ‘development’ as the resulting outcome of these pursuits” (as cited in Masadeh, 2012, p. 65).
As it pertains to their differences:
Education involves both teaching and learning or the impartation and acquisition of knowledge. It is mainly associated with academia.
Training is mainly job-related, or organization oriented. McLeod and King (1996) described training in an organizational light specifically noting that it is “any activity or course, either formal or informal (e.g. on-the-job) which has helped you to acquire the knowledge and skills to do your job” (as cited in Masadeh, 2012, p. 64).
The overall growth of an individual is the main focus of development.
Learning deals primarily with the acquisition of knowledge, skills etc.
The visual above sums up the relationship between these terms quite nicely.
Each section of the diagram provides the definition and differences of each concept, and the intersection highlights the key similarities of all of the terms. Overall, it clearly demonstrates the fact that these terminologies share commonalities and overlapping meanings in various contexts despite the fact that they have been defined in different ways. Masadeh (2012) concluded that “though their meanings are closely interrelated, it can be misleading to simply use these terms synonymously, as is often done” (p. 66). Therefore, the precise definitions of each term help bring clarity especially when they are being used in the academic context.
That’s a wrap for this week’s conversation on education, learning, training, and development. As always, I look forward to engaging with you and viewing your perspectives in the comments.
Yours truly,
Krista
MDE student
University of Maryland Global Campus
University of Maryland Global Campus | UMGC
References
Development. (n.d.). Collins dictionary. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/development
Education. (n.d.). Collins dictionary. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/education
Training. (n.d.). Collins dictionary. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/training
Learning. (n.d.). Dictionary.com. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/learning
Masadeh, M. (2012). Training, education, development and learning: what is the difference?. European scientific journal, 8(10). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279480522_TRAINING_EDUCATION_DEVELOPMENT_AND_LEARNING_WHAT_IS_THE_DIFFERENCE