Education can be seen as a product or a process and considered in a broad sense or a technical sense. According to philosopher of education George F. Kneller,

In its broad sense, education refers to any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character, or physical ability of an individual...In its technical sense education is the process by which society, through schools, colleges, universities, and other institutions, deliberately transmits its cultural heritage--its accumulated knowledge, values, and skills--from one generation to another.

In popular discourse, use of the term education usually connotes the technical sense and is generally limited to the context of teachers instructing students. Teachers may draw on many subjects, including reading, writing, mathematics, science and history. Teachers in specialized professions such as astrophysics, law, or zoology may teach only a certain subject, usually as professors at institutions of higher learning. There is also instruction in fields for those who want specific vocational skills, such as those required to be a pilot. In addition to such formal and technical education there is an array of education, in the technical and broad sense, possible at the informal level, e.g., at museums and libraries, with the Internet, and in life experience.

The right to education has been described as a basic human right: since 1952, Article 2 of the first Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights obliges all signatory parties to guarantee the right to education. At world level, the United Nations' International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 guarantees this right under its Article 13. [wiki]