Work

Work is part and parcel of life and we cannot think of life without work. Bob Greene said, "Work is a mysterious thing; many of us claim to hate it, but it takes a grip on us that is so fierce that it captures emotions and loyalties we never knew were there." Rising from sleep in the morning, brushing teeth and taking a bath, cooking and eating food, wearing cloth and reading newspaper are also kinds of work. Work is not done merely by the body, but it also includes the thinking process. So, two broad categories of work are :

1.       Physical work : In physical work, our body limbs are more active.

2.       Mental work : In mental work, our brain is more active than the physical limbs.

It should be amply clear to us that both body and brain are intricate components of work, and no work can be done without the other. Even when we do a physical work, say wearing a shirt or digging a pit, we cannot do this without applying some degree of the brain. Same is the case with mental work; we cannot write a letter or article without using our hand. Thus, both body and brain are integral parts of the process of work.

Work is defined in different ways in different subjects; for example, in physics, work is deemed to be done when a force acting on a body displaces it through a certain distance. While the scope of work comprises almost all aspects of our daily life in the context of self, society and universe; however, for the purpose of our study as part of education, we need to limit its scope to those activities which are aimed at inculcating in students the qualities and skills which put him on the path to earning a livelihood while proving himself/herself for the greater cause of progress of the self, society, nation and world. For example, craft education is one way in which students can be prepared to take part in personal and national life to bring about all-round progress. Thus, we can define work in different ways. Let us begin with the dictionary meaning of work :

"Work is an activity directed toward making or doing something."

Some dictionaries also define work as "a product produced or accomplished through the effort or activity of a person or thing".

For the purpose of education, work can be defined as follows :

"Work is an activity which involves mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result."

Thus, a work a task or a series of tasks to be undertaken for a particular purpose. When it comes to its purpose under 'work education', it means inculcating the skills and qualities in students by which the purpose of work education can be accomplished. The purpose of work education is to help students to grow into able citizens who are able to earn their livelihood through socially useful and meaningful occupation.  The effect of work can be short-term or long-term. Some tasks result into immediate results; for example, when you dig a pit, it is dug as soon as the work is finished. On the other hand, when you learn a skill, the task is not fully accomplished unless you have tested it under a practical situation, because there might be certain aspects which require to be updated OJT (on the job).

Thus, for the purpose of work education, we can define 'work' in a more specific manner, as follows :

"Work is a distinct set of activities and skills which a child is provided so that he can make use of them during the course of performing educational, social and economic activities inside and outside the scope of classroom, and which would enable him to learn and understand scientific principles and procedures involved in different types of tasks."