Education
The word education comes from the Latin educere — meaning “to lead out of ignorance.” In essence, education is anything that expands our knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) and helps us grow intellectually or personally.
As John F. Rekes, PE, CIH, CSP, explains:
“Education is a process through which learners gain new understanding, acquire new skills, and/or change their attitudes.”
Broadly speaking, education includes any experience or act that shapes an individual’s mind, character, or physical ability. Technically, it is the method by which a society intentionally passes on its collective knowledge, skills, and values from one generation to the next.
Training
Rekes defines training as a specialized form of education focused on developing or improving specific skills. While it incorporates educational principles and theories, its primary goal is performance — enabling learners to apply what they’ve learned to real-world tasks.
As noted in Occupational Hazards (August 1999),
“The goal of training is for learners to be able to do something new or better than before.”
Key Difference
Education can be successful even if learners only gain understanding without immediate skill application. However, training is only effective when participants can demonstrate new or improved KSAs — showing they can perform tasks safely, accurately, and efficiently.