As we know, we may have potential in some area that never gets developed. Here' training and education enter in, and there is a distinction between the two. Training relates to the teaching of specific skills. Education is broader and less specific; we learn things that relate to proficiency in future situations. Learning to type or mastering the specifics of mechanical drawing exemplify training. Learning anatomy or the principles Qf psychology are considered to be educational. We speak of both driver "training" and driver "education." The first, the speCifics of building up psychomotor habits, is training; what we learn about traffic laws and safety principles involves education. Many college programs, of course, combine training and education. "Career education." for example. is a balance between work-oriented training and academic preparation.
Many organizations give on-the-job training to the graduate of high school or college because in many instances an individual's educational experience seldom prepares him for a particular job. Most of us continue to get an education all our lives as we observe, read, study, and accumulate information. Sometimes we also need to be trained or retained in something. The artist or the engineer may learn some new technique, The businessman may take a course in com,puter programing for the purpose of education: someone else may take the course to become a programmer. Although somewhat artificial. the distinction between training and education is useful at times in relating our learning to our goals. We sometimes engage in continuing education because we want to know what is going on; we may seek a training program because some ways of doing things are better than others.
Toward Growth of Self-Confidence
When the clumsy youngster learns to ride a bike. and becomes prof1cient at it. some bit is ~ldded to his or her feeling of self· confidence. The artist who sells a painting and the author who gets a good book review finds his or her self-confidence enhanced. But what if the paintilig :;oes unsold and the book gets bad reviews?
Self-l:onfidenc:e comes througp self-understanding and rplates closely to what we do vvith our abilities and how we learn to work around our disabilities. It is also important to recognize that we all tell to slip back at times, to feel inferior to others. It is difficult to cont,.Dually keep our strong points it: mind; perhaps we shouldn't even expect to do so. Self-understand~ng, and hence self-confidence, comes, as CuI Rogers says, from "being open to experience.'.' This is the opposite of being defensive. Our personal self-evaluation is determined gradually as we come into contact with competition. One reason the adolescent has so much difficulty in de ,reloping a positive self-image is his tendency to compare himself with "the ide~." Girls who try to rate their own physh:al attractiveness may feel inferior when they use a cover girl as a model. Boys often make comparisons with adults and come off second best. As we become more sophisticated, we become more realistic; the loss of idealism is a price we come to pay. Perhaps this is one reason why older college students are found to be more cynical (or wise!) than younger ones.
One must learn to trust his own experiences. He must be able to separate his real self from some role he may be playing. Although we are all influenced by early experiences, behavior is not irrevocably set. One of the beneficial effects of college experience is that it makes us aware of new possibilities for change and growth. Self-understandine is aided by both training and education, but it is still difficult to acnieve. It. is easier to understand another person's motives thnn our own.
Gaining self-confidence demands that we start somewhere. The college setting offers opportunity in the competitive environment of the classroom. Here we can always find room for improvement. "Learning to learn" has a payoff not only in the acquisition of good study habits but also in its contribution to the growth of selfconfidence.
