ABSTRACT
In reflecting, in the past, on the sort of term that ‘education’ is I have usually likened it to ‘reform’. Reforming people involves putting them in the way of experiences that, it is thought, will make them better. There is thus the idea of a family of processes whose principle of unity is the contribution to the very general end of being better. This is a very formal notion because ‘better’ has to be interpreted in terms of the valuations of the person using the term and a great number of processes might bring about the desired end. ‘Education’, I have argued, is a similar term, but more complex. It is similar because it suggests a family of processes whose principle of unity is the development of desirable qualities in someone. There are many processes, too, which might contribute to bringing about these valuable qualities and ‘Valuable’ would have to be interpreted in terms of the valuations of the person, or group of people, using the word. ‘Aims’ of education are attempts to specify more precisely what these desirable qualities are, e.g. critical thought, integrity of character, being creative, and the like.
