To educate ….or to instruct? Available to Purchase

The similarity in meaning given in general use to ‘education’ and ‘instruction’ is not apparent from their Latin roots. In practice, of course, the original distinction may not always apply: an exercise intended to be ‘education’ often becomes the learning of facts that is commonly ‘instruction’. But the intended difference is clear enough. Education involves the learner contributing significantly to his own development, even though he might be assisted by a tutor; instruction tends to be the passive reception of data and method (techniques) to meet a specific target. This difference lies behind the feeling that education is a luxury provided for the individual's own growth, whereas instruction — for economic reasons — serves only the practical necessities of a particular training situation.