How does education pass a society’s knowledge and values from one generation to the next?

Education serves as the primary mechanism for socialization, the process by which a society transmits its culture, knowledge, and values to new generations to ensure continuity. Because humans are born with few instincts, they must learn how to function within their specific sociocultural system through both formal and informal means.12

Formal and Informal Education

• Formal Education: This involves intentional, systematic efforts to transmit specific knowledge, beliefs, and ideals. While often associated with schools, it also includes structured rites of passage, such as puberty rites, confirmation, or Bar Mitzvah, which provide explicit instruction in ethical codes and tribal lore.1
• Informal Education: This occurs constantly through family and community life. It is often unobtrusive, shaping a child’s values through storytelling, myths, and daily interactions where certain traits are modeled as heroic or villainous.31

Through these processes, society reproduces its social organization, shaping individuals to fit specific roles while reinforcing the collective identity and moral framework of the group.31