A New Way to Educate Children Essay -- Papers

A New Way to Educate ChildrenRousseau lobbies against an educational system that tries to teach children thoughts and facts before such time, as they would make use of them. He believes that a child should not neglect those studies, which meet his present needs, in order to learn that which he may acquire in later years. He claims that experience and emotion are our real teachers, thereby reinforcing the theory that a child should not be amend in matters which are not pertinent to their current station in life. He contends that a child should remain in complete ignorance of those ideas which are beyond his grasp (p686). In essence, Rousseau argues that the healthy spontaneous impulses of children were being repressed by the adult demands for emotional restraint, intellectual precision and social treaty as abdicated by the social and educational practices of his time.Rousseau constructs a theory of education, starting with the influence of the childs natural environment, whi ch should prevail over the influence of society and social institutions. Rousseau advocates allowing children to grow and develop naturally, in direct opposition to the prevailing methods of teaching. Children should be encouraged to develop their faculties through experience. This forms the basis for his fundamental principle of education. Rousseau argues that to be of use to a child, a concept must be relevant to his age. Rousseau promotes involving the student in hands-on learning experiences, as opposed to the more traditional methods of instruction. Children pay little heed to oral explanation, nor do they remember them in his opinion. He stresses the importance of discovery as a learning tool. Ideas that seem difficult at the ... ...nlightenment was that nothing was accepted on faith or face value and he expected no less from his students, he would demonstrate his teachings and not expect them to accept just a verbal description. Rousseau stressed that feeling and sen timent were two very important factors in the motivation of humankind. He emphasizes the need to live and develop in conformity with Nature. The child must be raised in a rural rather than an urban environment, so that he may develop in perseverance with nature rather than in opposition to it. A childs character will mature in harmony with nature if that childs natural curiosity is allowed to develop unhindered by the corruption of society. All of Rousseaus educational theories had roots in the enlightenment of the 18th century.BibliographyA business relationship of Western Civilization, McKay J.P. et al, Houghton, 1999