Learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, morals, beliefs, habits, and personal development, is facilitated by education. Education began as a means of passing along cultural knowledge from one generation to the next. Today's educational objectives increasingly include new concepts such as learner liberation, critical thinking about offered material, modern-day skills, empathy, and complicated vocational skills.

According to UNESCO, there are three main learning environments. Formal education takes place at educational and training facilities, is usually supervised by a teacher, and is normally structured by curricular goals and objectives. Formal education is compulsory in most regions until a specific age, and is usually separated into educational stages such as kindergarten, primary school, and secondary school. Nonformal learning can be used in conjunction with or instead of formal education. It is frequently held in community-based, workplace-based, or civil society-based settings, and is arranged according to educational arrangements, but in a more flexible manner. Finally, informal settings occur in everyday life, in the family, and any event that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or behaves, whether unintended or purposeful, may be deemed educational. In practise, there is a continuum between highly structured and very informalized learning, and informal learning can take place in any of the three environments. Homeschooling, for example, might be classed as either nonformal or informal, depending on the structure.

Teaching, training, storytelling, conversation, and guided study are all examples of educational methods that can be used in any situation. The term pedagogy refers to the teaching methodology. A wide range of philosophies, ideas, and empirical research agendas underpin education.

There are movements for educational reforms, such as enhancing the quality and efficiency of education to make it more relevant to students' lives and efficient problem solving in today's or tomorrow's society, or for evidence-based education techniques. Some states and the United Nations have acknowledged the right to education. [a] Global activities are aimed at reaching Sustainable Development Goal 4, which advocates for universal access to high-quality education.