The term education can be applied to primitive culture only in the sense of enculturation, which is the process of cultural transmission. A primitive person, whose culture is the totality of his universe, has a relatively fixed sense of cultural continuity and timelessness. The model of life is relatively static and absolute, and it is transmitted from one generation to another with little deviation. As for prehistoric education, it can only be inferred from educational practices in surviving primitive cultures. The purpose of primitive education is thus guide children to become good members of their tribe or band.
Historically all cultures and societies have provided some form of “education”, formal and informal. Whether we are discussing informal education of a demonstration variety or the highly ritualized and formal mechanisms of a doctoral program in the United States, all systems of education operate implicitly or explicitly with a set of pedagogical objectives. In a broad sense the overall goals of education, formal and informal, are to transmit the skills, competencies, and values that the specific culture deems necessary to assure the maintenance of the society.
