Social Awareness and Education- How both Correlate?

Social awareness is consciousness shared among people in a community. According to Karl Marx, people enter into economic, or productive, relations with one another through this social consciousness which they acquire through their interaction with other people. People have to consciously develop social awareness in order to become fully productive citizens in the world.

What is Social Awareness?

The definition of social awareness has undergone a vast change over the centuries. Initially, it was considered that social awareness was simply the awareness of the right of others to speak out or to be heard, the right to be treated as a person rather than just an employee or an object. But that was only a superficial view of social awareness.

The essence of social awareness is much deeper. People must realize that they are members of communities and that they share in a common destiny and thus a common consciousness and moral values.

How it Develop?

To develop social awareness is a lifelong process that is never completed. It requires constant effort on our part, because our surroundings change very rapidly. We are constantly bombarded with messages that teach us to live according to the norms of a community. In such circumstances it becomes difficult for one to understand social norms on their own. If we want to develop social awareness, we need to learn to listen carefully to what is being said around us.

Important Aspect of the Social Awareness

People in the past used to believe that morality was a subjective or personal concept. This belief has been replaced by the philosophy of social justice, which sees morality as a collective concept that has to be shared by all those who share in a given society.

The most important thing in all this is the need to respect the views and moral values of others. This is very important because if you do not respect them, you cannot respect others.

The same is true of the need to respect ourselves. If we do not respect ourselves then no one else will respect us and we will not be able to respect the society in which we live.

The importance of Education

The importance of education in developing social awareness can never be underestimated. If you live in a community where there is a shortage of education, then you will find that most people do not practice social awareness.

The lack of education means that most people have a distorted view of life and they fail to see the bigger picture. They have no conception of the value of the common good.

Education helps to build such a conception of life in everyone and thus in all those who share the society. Education is the key to making a community a truly socially conscious one.

People should be taught to share their opinions and their feelings about the society in which they live. If people do not share their thoughts and their feelings about a given situation, they will never be able to build an honest opinion. Instead of using logic to analyse the situation, they will resort to emotions and a lot of manipulation. Such behaviour always leads to failure.

Examples of Social Awareness

For instance, instead of thinking that if a neighbour is rude, angry and abusive, you can just ignore him or her, you should be taught to form an opinion about him or her and form an opinion about the person. And express your opinion to others through social conventions.

Then you should take the initiative to tell them that you have formed your own conscience about that person, and your opinion, in other words that you will not tolerate it anymore. This is a good way to start building a community of conscientious people.

Conclusion

Social consciousness also means that you have to develop the self-esteem that people have to respect you for who you are. Otherwise, you will not get anywhere. Social consciousness is the basis of a community where each and every member are respected. When people respect you, they will be willing to do anything for you.