ABSTRACT
In the UK, Bildung is one of the more obscure educational concepts. In the Continental European tradition of education, Bildung is by comparison one of its key ideas. In its contemporary use, Bildung's emphasis on human dignity, self-cultivation and formation underscores the function of education as being something above and beyond the acquisition of basic skills and qualifications. In this sense, Bildung aligns with the notion that education is first and foremost a matter of development. Bildung foregrounds the development of human qualities that are informed and enriched by such things as general knowledge, creativity, an appreciation of art and culture, the aesthetic and the spiritual. The promotion of such things as creativity, culture, the spiritual and the aesthetic, as part of the wide educational knowledge-base of Bildung is echoed in the educational aims of a number of countries.
