Key Difference – Education vs Experience
Between education and experience, a clear difference can be understood although both are essential for life. People believe that there is no substitute for experience, and the great debate between education and experience continues. But all your education can go for a toss if you do not apply common sense. There are people, especially employers who prefer experience over education. At the same time, there is no dearth of people in favor of education who place education above experience. These are the people who dare those who favor experience to place their fingers inside a power point just for the sake of experience. Why not add to their experience if it is so important in life. Do we learn about the dangers of electricity and fire only after experiencing mishaps? NO. We learn all about them from the knowledge we gain from school. Through this article let us examine the key differences between education and experience.
What is Education?
First let us pay attention to education. Education can be defined as the process in which intellectual and moral instruction is provided to the students. Education is extremely important as it allows the individual to expand his horizons. It is true that experience is also of value yet one cannot deny the fact that it is education that prepares us for tricky situations in life.
When you have a wide base of knowledge, you are confident of surmounting all day to day difficulties in life much more than a person who has had no education and relied merely on his experience. Can anyone rely on someone posing as a doctor if he does not possess a degree confirming he has got all the education necessary to be prescribing drugs to patients? But yes, there are jobs and tasks that rely solely on experiences such as those of an electrician, plumber, carpenter, a cook and similar other menial jobs.
What is Experience?
Experience refers to the practical involvement in an activity, event, etc. or the knowledge and skills gained over time. Experience provides us with a special edge over others when engaging in tasks. It gives us a practical knowledge that cannot be gained through education.
You can learn all about water, its chemical properties, and physical properties, but you cannot tell its taste unless you have finally tasted it yourself and quenched your taste. In the same way, you do not understand the value of money and keep on spending your pocket money until it is time to earn yourself. You can be told all about a machine and its part and also about its operation. You may be an engineer but perhaps an operator of a machine knows more about a machine than you as he has the first-hand experience of the features of the machine as he operates it day in and day out. Similarly, you can be told everything about a car and its parts such as its brakes, clutch, and accelerator but you can get the real experience only when you drive it yourself.
In conclusion, it can be said that both education and experience are necessary for life though formal education gives one a head start that is necessary to succeed in future endeavors.
What is the Difference Between Education and Experience?
Definitions of Education and Experience:
Education: Education can be defined as the process in which intellectual and moral instruction are provided to the students.
Experience: Experience refers to the practical involvement in an activity, event, etc. or the knowledge and skills gained over time.
Characteristics of Education and Experience:
Focus:
Education: Education provides a theoretical knowledge.
Experience: Experience gives practice.
Preparation:
Education: Education prepares one to face all situations in life.
Experience: Experience only makes it easier later on.
Image Courtesy:
1. Constitutional Reliability of Tamilnadu Council By Tcodl (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
2. “US Navy 030227-N-9403F-006 Machinery repair aboard USS Abraham Lincoln CVN 72” by U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Airman Jason Frost. [Public Domain] via Wikimedia Commons
