HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' is a 1693 treatise on the education of gentlemen written by the English philosopher
John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". Considered one of ...
. For over a century, it was the most important philosophical work on
education in England Education in England is overseen by the United Kingdom's Department for Education. Local government in England, Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and State-funded schools (England), state ...
. It was translated into almost all of the major written European languages during the eighteenth century, and nearly every European writer on education after Locke, including
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
, acknowledged its influence. In his ''
Essay Concerning Human Understanding ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'' is a work by John Locke concerning the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. It first appeared in 1689 (although dated 1690) with the printed title ''An Essay Concerning Humane Understand ...
'' (1690), Locke outlined a new
theory of mind In psychology, theory of mind refers to the capacity to understand other people by ascribing mental states to them (that is, surmising what is happening in their mind). This includes the knowledge that others' mental states may be different fro ...
, contending that the mind is originally a ''
tabula rasa ''Tabula rasa'' (; "blank slate") is the theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content, and therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception. Epistemological proponents of ''tabula rasa'' disagree with the doctri ...
'' or "blank slate"; that is, it did not contain any
innate idea Innatism is a philosophical and epistemological doctrine that the mind is born with ideas, knowledge, and beliefs. Therefore, the mind is not a '' tabula rasa'' (blank slate) at birth, which contrasts with the views of early empiricists such ...
s at birth. ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' explains how to educate that mind using three distinct methods: the development of a healthy body; the formation of a virtuous character; and the choice of an appropriate academic curriculum. Locke wrote the letters that would eventually become ''Some Thoughts'' for an aristocratic friend, but his advice had a broader appeal since his educational principles suggested anyone could acquire the same kind of character as the aristocrats for whom Locke originally intended the work.


Historical context

Rather than writing a wholly original philosophy of education, Locke, it seems, deliberately attempted to popularise several strands of seventeenth-century educational reform at the same time as introducing his own ideas. English writers such as
John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or m ...
, John Aubrey,
John Eachard John Eachard (1636?7 July 1697) was an English divine and satirist, noted for his humorous descriptions of the contemporary clergy. From Yoxford in Suffolk, he was educated at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, of which he became master in 16 ...
, and
John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and politica ...
had previously advocated "similar reforms in curriculum and teaching methods," but they had not succeeded in reaching a wide audience. Curiously, though, Locke proclaims throughout his text that his is a revolutionary work; as Nathan Tarcov, who has written an entire volume on ''Some Thoughts'', has pointed out, "Locke frequently explicitly opposes his recommendations to the 'usual,' 'common,' 'ordinary,' or 'general' education." As England became increasingly
mercantilist Mercantilism is an economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports for an economy. It promotes imperialism, colonialism, tariffs and subsidies on traded goods to achieve that goal. The policy aims to reduc ...
and secularist, the humanist educational values of the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
, which had enshrined
scholasticism Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelian 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism emerged within the monastic schools that translat ...
, came to be regarded by many as irrelevant. Following in the intellectual tradition of
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
, who had challenged the cultural authority of the
classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
, reformers such as Locke, and later Philip Doddridge, argued against
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
and
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
's decree that "all Bachelor and Undergraduates in their Disputations should lay aside their various Authors, such that caused many dissensions and strives in the Schools, and only follow
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...
and those that defend him, and take their Questions from him, and that they exclude from the Schools all steril and inane Questions, disagreeing from the ancient and true Philosophy ic" Instead of demanding that their sons spend all of their time studying Greek and
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
texts, an increasing number of families began to demand a practical education for their sons; by exposing them to the emerging sciences,
mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, and the modern languages, these parents hoped to prepare their sons for the changing economy and, indeed, for the new world they saw forming around them.


Text

In 1684, Mary Clarke and her husband Edward asked their friend John Locke for advice on raising their son Edward Jr.; Locke responded with a series of letters that eventually became ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education''. But it was not until 1693, encouraged by the Clarkes and another friend, William Molyneux, that Locke actually published the treatise; Locke, "timid" when it came to public exposure, decided to publish the text anonymously. Although Locke revised and expanded the text five times before he died, he never substantially altered the "familiar and friendly style of the work."Tarcov, 79. The "Preface" alerted the reader to its humble origins as a series of letters and, according to Nathan Tarcov, who has written an entire volume on ''Some Thoughts'', advice that otherwise might have appeared "meddlesome" became welcome. Tarcov claims Locke treated his readers as his friends and they responded in kind.


Pedagogical theory

Of Locke's major claims in the ''
Essay Concerning Human Understanding ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'' is a work by John Locke concerning the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. It first appeared in 1689 (although dated 1690) with the printed title ''An Essay Concerning Humane Understand ...
'' and ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'', two played a defining role in eighteenth-century educational theory. The first is that education makes the man; as Locke writes at the opening of his treatise, "I think I may say that of all the men we meet with, nine parts of ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their education." In making this claim, Locke was arguing against both the Augustinian view of man, which grounds its conception of humanity in
original sin Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 ...
, and the Cartesian position, which holds that man innately knows basic logical propositions. In his ''Essay'' Locke posits an "empty" mind—a ''
tabula rasa ''Tabula rasa'' (; "blank slate") is the theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content, and therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception. Epistemological proponents of ''tabula rasa'' disagree with the doctri ...
''—that is "filled" by experience. In describing the mind in these terms, Locke was drawing on
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
's '' Theatetus'', which suggests that the mind is like a "wax tablet". Although Locke argued strenuously for the ''tabula rasa'' theory of mind, he nevertheless did believe in innate talents and interests. For example, he advises parents to watch their children carefully to discover their "aptitudes," and to nurture their children's own interests rather than force them to participate in activities which they dislike—"he, therefore, that is about children should well study their natures and aptitudes and see, by often trials, what turn they easily take and what becomes them, observe what their native stock is, how it may be improved, and what it is fit for." Locke also discusses a theory of the self. He writes: "the little and almost insensible impressions on our tender infancies have very important and lasting consequences." That is, the " associations of ideas" made when young are more significant than those made when mature because they are the foundation of the self—they mark the ''tabula rasa''. In the ''Essay'', in which he first introduces the theory of the association of ideas, Locke warns against letting "a foolish maid" convince a child that "goblins and sprites" are associated with the darkness, for "darkness shall ever afterwards bring with it those frightful ideas, and they shall be so joined, that he can no more bear the one than the other." Locke's emphasis on the role of experience in the formation of the mind and his concern with false associations of ideas has led many to characterise his theory of mind as passive rather than active, but as Nicholas Jolley, in his introduction to Locke's philosophical theory, points out, this is "one of the most curious misconceptions about Locke." As both he and Tarcov highlight, Locke's writings are full of directives to seek out knowledge actively and reflect on received opinion; in fact, this was the essence of Locke's challenge to innatism.


Body and mind

Locke advises parents to carefully nurture their children's physical "habits" before pursuing their academic education. As many scholars have remarked, it is unsurprising that a trained physician, as Locke was, would begin ''Some Thoughts'' with a discussion of children's physical needs, yet this seemingly simple generic innovation has proven to be one of Locke's most enduring legacies—Western child-rearing manuals are still dominated by the topics of food and sleep. To convince parents that they must attend to the health of their children above all, Locke quotes from
Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the '' Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...
's ''Satires''—"a sound mind in a sound body." Locke firmly believed that children should be exposed to harsh conditions while young to inure them to, for example, cold temperatures when they were older: "Children houldbe not too ''warmly clad or covered'', winter or summer" (Locke's emphasis), he argues, because "bodies will endure anything that from the beginning they are accustomed to." Furthermore, to prevent a child from catching chills and colds, Locke suggests that "his ''feet to be washed'' every day in cold water, and to have his ''shoes'' so thin that they might leak and ''let in water'' whenever he comes near it" (Locke's emphasis).Locke, ''Some Thoughts'', 12. Locke posited that if children were accustomed to having sodden feet, a sudden shower that wet their feet would not cause them to catch a cold. Such advice (whether followed or not) was quite popular; it appears throughout John Newbery's children's books in the middle of the eighteenth century, for example, the first best-selling children's books in England. Locke also offers specific advice on topics ranging from bed linens to diet to sleeping regimens.


Virtue and reason

Locke dedicates the bulk of ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' to explaining how to instill virtue in children. He defines virtue as a combination of self-denial and rationality: "that a man is able to ''deny himself'' his own desires, cross his own inclinations, and purely follow what reason directs as best, though the appetite lean the other way" (Locke's emphasis). Future virtuous adults must be able not only to practice self-denial but also to see the rational path. Locke was convinced that children could reason early in life and that parents should address them as reasoning beings. Moreover, he argues that parents should, above all, attempt to create a "habit" of thinking rationally in their children. Locke continually emphasises habit over rule—children should internalise the habit of reasoning rather than memorise a complex set of prohibitions. This focus on rationality and habit corresponds to two of Locke's concerns in the ''
Essay Concerning Human Understanding ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'' is a work by John Locke concerning the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. It first appeared in 1689 (although dated 1690) with the printed title ''An Essay Concerning Humane Understand ...
''. Throughout the ''Essay'', Locke bemoans the irrationality of the majority and their inability, because of the authority of custom, to change or forfeit long-held beliefs. His attempt to solve this problem is not only to treat children as rational beings but also to create a disciplinary system founded on esteem and disgrace rather than on rewards and punishments. For Locke, rewards such as sweets and punishments such as beatings turn children into sensualists rather than rationalists; such sensations arouse passions rather than reason. He argues that "such a sort of ''slavish discipline'' makes a ''slavish temper''" (Locke's emphasis). What is important to understand is what exactly Locke means when he advises parents to treat their children as reasoning beings. Locke first highlights that children "love to be treated as Rational Creatures," thus parents should treat them as such. Tarcov argues that this suggests children can be considered rational only in that they respond to the desire to be treated as reasoning creatures and that they are "motivated only yrewards and punishments" to achieve that goal. Ultimately, Locke wants children to become adults as quickly as possible. As he argues in ''Some Thoughts,'' "the only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it, into which a young gentleman should be entered by degrees as he can bear it, and the earlier the better." In the ''
Second Treatise on Government ''Two Treatises of Government'' (or ''Two Treatises of Government: In the Former, The False Principles, and Foundation of Sir Robert Filmer, and His Followers, Are Detected and Overthrown. The Latter Is an Essay Concerning The True Original, ...
'' (1689), he contends that it is the parents' duty to educate their children and to act for them because children, though they have the ability to reason when young, do not do so consistently and are therefore usually irrational; it is the parents' obligation to teach their children to become rational adults so that they will not always be fettered by parental ties.


Academic curriculum

Locke does not dedicate much space in ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' to outlining a specific curriculum; he is more concerned with convincing his readers that education is about instilling virtue and what Western educators would now call critical-thinking skills. Locke maintains that parents or teachers must first teach children ''how'' to learn and to enjoy learning. As he writes, the instructor "should remember that his business is not so much to teach he childall that is knowable, as to raise in him a love and esteem of knowledge; and to put him in the right way of knowing and improving himself." But Locke does offer a few hints as to what he thinks a valuable curriculum might be. He deplores the long hours wasted on learning
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
and argues that children should first be taught to speak and write well in their native language, particularly recommending '' Aesop's Fables''. Most of Locke's recommendations are based on a similar principle of utility. So, for example, he claims that children should be taught to draw because it would be useful to them on their foreign travels (for recording the sites they visit), but poetry and music, he says, are a waste of time. Locke was also at the forefront of the
scientific revolution The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transforme ...
and advocated the teaching of
geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
,
astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...
, and
anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having i ...
. Locke's curricular recommendations reflect the break from scholastic
humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...
and the emergence of a new kind of education—one emphasising not only science but also practical professional training. Locke also recommended, for example, that every (male) child learn a trade. Locke's pedagogical suggestions marked the beginning of a new
bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. ...
ethos that would come to define Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.


Class

When Locke began writing the letters that would eventually become ''Some Thoughts on Education'', he was addressing an aristocrat, but the final text appeals to a much wider audience. For example, Locke writes: "I place ''Vertue'' icas the first and most necessary of those Endowments, that belong to a Man or a Gentleman." James Axtell, who edited the most comprehensive edition of Locke's educational writings, has explained that although "he was writing for this small class, this does not preclude the possibility that many of the things he said about education, especially its main principles, were equally applicable to ''all'' children" (Axtell's emphasis). This was a contemporary view as well; Pierre Coste, in his introduction in the first French edition in 1695, wrote, "it is certain that this Work was particularly designed for the education of Gentlemen: but this does not prevent its serving also for the education of all sorts of Children, of whatever class they are." While it is possible to apply Locke's general principles of education to all children, and contemporaries such as Coste certainly did so, Locke himself, despite statements that may imply the contrary, believed that ''Some Thoughts'' applied only to the wealthy and the
middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...
(or as they would have been referred to at the time, the "middling sorts"). One of Locke's conclusions in ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' is that he "think a Prince, a Nobleman, and an ordinary Gentleman's Son, should have different Ways of Breeding." As Peter Gay writes, " never occurred to him that every child should be educated or that all those to be educated should be educated alike. Locke believed that until the school system was reformed, a gentleman ought to have his son trained at home by a tutor. As for the poor, they do not appear in Locke's little book at all." In his "Essay on the Poor Law," Locke turns to the education of the poor; he laments that "the children of labouring people are an ordinary burden to the parish, and are usually maintained in idleness, so that their labour also is generally lost to the public till they are 12 or 14 years old." He suggests, therefore, that "working schools" be set up in each parish in England for poor children so that they will be "from infancy hree years oldinured to work." He goes on to outline the economics of these schools, arguing not only that they will be profitable for the parish, but also that they will instill a good work ethic in the children.


Gender

Locke wrote ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' in response to his friend Edward Clarke's query on how to educate his son, so the text's "principal aim", as Locke states at the beginning, "is how a young gentleman should be brought up from his infancy." This education "will not so perfectly suit the education of ''daughters''; though where the difference of sex requires different treatment, it will be no hard matter to distinguish" (Locke's emphasis). This passage suggests that, for Locke, education was fundamentally the same for men and women—there were only small, obvious differences for women. This interpretation is supported by a letter he wrote to Mary Clarke in 1685 stating that "since therefore I acknowledge no difference of sex in your mind relating ... to truth, virtue and obedience, I think well to have no thing altered in it from what is rit for the son" Martin Simons states that Locke "suggested, both by implication and explicitly, that a boy's education should be along the lines already followed by some girls of the intelligent genteel classes." Rather than sending boys to schools which would ignore their individual needs and teach them little of value, Locke argues that they should be taught at home as girls already were and "should learn useful and necessary crafts of the house and estate." Like his contemporary Mary Astell, Locke believed that women could and should be taught to be rational and virtuous. But Locke does recommend several minor "restrictions" relating to the treatment of the female body. The most significant is his reining in of female physical activity for the sake of physical appearance: "But since in your girls care is to be taken too of their beauty as much as health will permit, this in them must have some restriction ... 'tis fit their tender skins should be fenced against the busy sunbeams, especially when they are very hot and piercing." Although Locke's statement indicates that he places a greater value on female than male beauty, the fact that these opinions were never published allowed contemporary readers to draw their own conclusions regarding the "different treatments" required for girls and boys, if any. Moreover, compared to other pedagogical theories, such as those in the best-selling conduct book ''The Whole Duty of a Woman'' (1696), the female companion to '' The Whole Duty of Man'' (1657), and Rousseau's '' Emile'' (1762), which both proposed entirely separate educational programs for women, Locke's ''Some Thoughts'' appears either more egalitarian, or more unbodied.


Reception and legacy

Along with Rousseau's '' Emile'' (1762), Locke's ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' was one of the foundational eighteenth-century texts on educational theory. In Britain, it was considered the standard treatment of the topic for over a century. For this reason, some critics have maintained that ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' vies with the ''
Essay Concerning Human Understanding ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'' is a work by John Locke concerning the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. It first appeared in 1689 (although dated 1690) with the printed title ''An Essay Concerning Humane Understand ...
'' for the title of Locke's most influential work. Some of Locke's contemporaries, such as seventeenth-century German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Leibniz, believed this as well; Leibniz argued that ''Some Thoughts'' superseded even the ''Essay'' in its impact on European society. Locke's ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' was a runaway best-seller. During the eighteenth century alone, ''Some Thoughts'' was published in at least 53 editions: 25 English, 16 French, six Italian, three German, two Dutch, and one Swedish. It was also excerpted in novels such as Samuel Richardson's '' Pamela'' (1740–1), and it formed the theoretical basis of much children's literature, particularly that of the first successful children's publisher, John Newbery. According to
James A. Secord James Andrew Secord (born 18 March 1953) is an American-born historian. He is a professor of history and philosophy of science within the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, and a fellow of Christ's Coll ...
, an eighteenth-century scholar, Newbery included Locke's educational advice to legitimise the new genre of children's literature. Locke's imprimatur would ensure the genre's success. By the end of the eighteenth century, Locke's influence on educational thought was widely acknowledged. In 1772 James Whitchurch wrote in his ''Essay Upon Education'' that Locke was "an Author, to whom the Learned must ever acknowledge themselves highly indebted, and whose Name can never be mentioned without a secret Veneration, and Respect; his Assertions being the result of intense Thought, strict Enquiry, a clear and penetrating Judgment." Writers as politically dissimilar as
Sarah Trimmer Sarah Trimmer (''née'' Kirby; 6 January 1741 – 15 December 1810) was a writer and critic of 18th-century British children's literature, as well as an educational reformer. Her periodical, ''The Guardian of Education'', helped to define the e ...
, in her periodical ''
The Guardian of Education ''The Guardian of Education'' was the first successful periodical dedicated to reviewing children's literature in Britain. It was edited by 18th-century educationalist, children's author, and Sunday school advocate Sarah Trimmer and was publish ...
'' (1802–06), and Maria Edgeworth, in the educational treatise she penned with her father, ''
Practical Education ''Practical Education'' is an educational treatise written by Maria Edgeworth and her father Richard Lovell Edgeworth. Published in 1798, it is a comprehensive theory of education that combines the ideas of philosophers John Locke and Jean-Jacqu ...
'' (1798), invoked Locke's ideas. Even Rousseau, while disputing Locke's central claim that parents should treat their children as rational beings, acknowledged his debt to Locke. John Cleverley and D. C. Phillips place Locke's ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' at the beginning of a tradition of educational theory which they label "environmentalism". In the years following the publication of Locke's work, Etienne Bonnot de Condillac and Claude Adrien Helvétius eagerly adopted the idea that people's minds were shaped through their experiences and thus through their education. Systems of teaching children through their senses proliferated throughout Europe. In Switzerland,
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (, ; 12 January 1746 – 17 February 1827) was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach. He founded several educational institutions both in German- and French-speaking ...
, relying on Locke's theories, developed the concept of the "object lesson." These lessons focused pupils' attention on a particular thing and encouraged them to use all of their senses to explore it and urged them to use precise words to describe it. Used throughout Europe and America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, these object lessons, according to one of their practitioners "if well-managed, cultivate Sense-Perception, or Observation, accustom children to express their thoughts in words, increase their available stock of words and of ideas, and by thus storing material for thinking, also prepare the way for more difficult and advanced study." Such techniques were also integral to Maria Montessori's methods in the twentieth century. According to Cleverley and Phillips, the television show
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...
is also "based on Lockean assumptions—its aim has been to give underprivileged children, especially in the inner cities, the simple ideas and basic experiences that their environment normally does not provide." In many ways, despite Locke's continuing influence, as these authors point out, the twentieth century has been dominated by the "
nature vs. nurture Nature versus nurture is a long-standing debate in biology and society about the balance between two competing factors which determine fate: genetics (nature) and environment (nurture). The alliterative expression "nature and nurture" in English h ...
" debate in a way that Locke's century was not. Locke's optimistic "environmentalism," though qualified in his text, is now no longer just a moral issue – it is also a scientific issue.Cleverley and Phillips, Chapter 2.


See also

*
Philosophy of education The philosophy of education is the branch of applied philosophy that investigates the nature of education as well as its aims and problems. It includes the examination of educational theories, the presuppositions present in them, and the arguments ...
*''
Of the Conduct of the Understanding ''Of the Conduct of the Understanding'' is a text on clear and rational thought by John Locke, published in 1706, two years after the author's death, as part of Peter King's ''Posthumous Works of John Locke''. It complements Locke's ''Some Thought ...
''


Notes


Bibliography

*Bantock, G. H. "'The Under-labourer' in Courtly Clothes: Locke." ''Studies in the History of Educational Theory: Artifice and Nature, 1350–1765''. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1980. . *Brown, Gillian. ''The Consent of the Governed: The Lockean Legacy in Early American Culture''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001. . *Brown, Gillian. "Lockean Pediatrics." ''Annals of Scholarship'' 14.3/15.1 (2000–1): 11–17. *Chambliss, J. J. "John Locke and Isaac Watts: Understanding as Conduct." ''Educational Theory as Theory of Conduct: From Aristotle to Dewey''. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987. . *Chappell, Vere, ed. ''The Cambridge Companion to Locke''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. . *Cleverley, John and D. C. Phillips. ''Visions of Childhood: Influential Models from Locke to Spock''. New York: Teachers College, 1986. . *Ezell, Margaret J. M. "John Locke’s Images of Childhood: Early Eighteenth Century Responses to Some Thoughts Concerning Education." ''Eighteenth-Century Studies'' 17.2 (1983–84): 139–55. *Ferguson, Frances. "Reading Morals: Locke and Rousseau on Education and Inequality." ''Representations'' 6 (1984): 66–84. *Gay, Peter. "Locke on the Education of Paupers." ''Philosophers on Education: Historical Perspectives''. Ed. Amélie Oksenberg Rorty. London: Routledge, 1998. . *Leites, Edmund. "Locke's Liberal Theory of Parenthood." ''Ethnicity, Identity, and History''. Eds. Joseph B. Maier and Chaim I. Waxman. New Brunswick: Transaction Books, 1983. . *Locke, John. ''The Educational Writings of John Locke''. Ed. James L. Axtell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968. . *Pickering, Samuel F., Jr. ''John Locke and Children’s Books in Eighteenth-Century England''. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1981. . *Sahakian, William S. and Mabel Lewis. ''John Locke''. Boston: Twayne, 1975. . *Simons, Martin. "What Can't a Man Be More Like a Woman? (A Note on John Locke's Educational Thought)" ''Educational Theory'' 40.1 (1990): 135–145. *Tarcov, Nathan. ''Locke's Education for Liberty''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984. . * Yolton, John. ''John Locke and Education''. New York: Random House, 1971. . *Yolton, John. "Locke: Education for Virtue." ''Philosophers on Education: Historical Perspectives''. Ed. Amélie Oksenberg Rorty. London: Routledge, 1998. .


External links

* *
Free full text of ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education''
at Bartleby.com
First edition of ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' at Internet Archive

John Locke at Project Gutenberg
{{Authority control 1693 books 1693 in England Books about education History of education in England Philosophy of education Works by John Locke