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Introduction to Institution

 

Educational institution is in common usage by which we call a school or college an institution. People working in offices refer to them as "our institution". There is a phenomenon in the society where such institutions are sometimes more gross and physical and at other times less physical and subtle.

House and home are such words.

A house is a physical building; a home is a subtle concept. School and education are equally so.

A building can stand for a school, but education is a concept.

In this subject, we want to distinguish between Organisation and Institution.

A school is an organisation; education is a national institution.

Railways are an organisation; transport is an institution.

Courts are organisations; law is an institution.

An organisation is centrally administered through the authority above coming down through a hierarchy.

An institution is not thus centrally administered. The values of an organisation accepted by the individuals of a nation and honoured in its observation creates an institution such as a festival like Christmas.

An organisation has rules that are enforced; an institution has customs that are honoured.

In the chain beginning with an act and ending with consciousness, an organisation occupies the fourth place and an institution fifth place.

Act - Activities - System - Organisation - Institution - Culture - Custom - Usage - Consciousness.

Over the centuries an organisation matures into an institution.

An organisation is to be controlled; an institution is self-sustaining.

An organisation is partial; an institution is universal.

An organisation is physical; an institution is subtle.

An army is an organisation; its traditions are subtle values.

Elections are conducted by the government; festivals are celebrated by the people.

Market is an organisation; trade is an institution.

To keep this distinction for the purposes of discussions within the four corners of this subject, Social Development is helpful in creating clarity and essential in developing the ideas into operative principles. This is not a distinction now existing in the language, confirmed by the standard dictionaries, but we do need such  well-marked distinctions as definitions of varying concepts. Every subject enjoys its own vocabulary known as its jargon or parlance. A subject to organise itself into science needs a basic philosophy, well developed principles, developed into operative powers and the field over time should have developed procedures, strategies, custom, and usages for that to be established in the social milieu.



story | by Dr. Radut