Some Thoughts Concerning Education

A work by John Locke about education.

In the influential essays included in this volume, the renowned English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) advocated a more "modernized" course of education. Focusing on the curriculum, the stimulation of children's interests and imagination, and the function of play, he showed how to instill virtue and morality in children, rather than merely pumping them full of information and facts. From the ineffectiveness of physical punishment to the best methods of teaching foreign languages and table manners, these essays comprise an enlightened view of childhood and education that revolutionized educational theory. Locke stressed the teaching of rational thinking, moral dependability, and social grace in the classroom, with the aim of helping students to not only reflect but take action. Locke's writings on education are enlightening reading for philosophy students, teachers, and for anyone interested in educational reform.

Offers two complementary works, unabridged, in modernised, annotated texts. Suitable for classroom use, this title provides an introduction, a note on the texts, and a select bibliography.

Presents an online version of "Some Thoughts Concerning Education," an education manual written by English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704), published online as part of the History of Education site of the University of Nijmegen.

Locke's Education for Liberty presents an analysis of the crucial but often underestimated place of education and the family within Lockean liberalism. Nathan Tarcov shows that Locke's neglected work Some Thoughts Concerning Education compares with Plato's Republic and Rousseau's Emile as a treatise on education embodying a comprehensive vision of moral and social life. Locke believed that the family can be the agency, not the enemy, of individual liberty and equality. Tarcov's superb reevaluation reveals to the modern reader a breadth and unity heretofore unrecognized in Locke's thought.

John Locke, the English philosopher considered to be the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers, never married or had children. Despite this, in 1684 his friends Mary and Edward Clarke asked him for advice on how to raise their son. In response, Locke composed a series of letters to them that outlined his philosophy of education. In 1693, encouraged by the Clarkes and by his friend William Molyneux, he compiled the letters into a single treatise. This treatise, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, went on to become the most influential works in educational philosophy in England for over a century, and was so influential on society as a whole that some critics consider it to be equally as important as his Essay Concerning Human Understanding. The Thoughts went through at least fifty-three editions in the eighteenth century alone, and inspired a movement for childhood education then-unheard of in Europe, ultimately resulting in the popularization of Victorian public schools. In the Thoughts, Locke advocates a practical education for a child consisting of exposure to foreign languages, gentle introductions to topics like reading and mathematics through game-like approaches, physical training and exercise, and rhetoric, all delivered by a competent and dedicated tutor. He placed the instillation of a sense of virtue as one of the most important parts of a complete education. Education was to be administered through gentle encouragement focused on the child’s natural interests, and tempered with both shame and a feeling of awe for the parent. He argues that much of a child’s social education is received at a very young age from their peers and the society around them; thus, controlling the societal influences around the child is of paramount importance. All of this was starkly opposed to the then-common theory of education through rote repetition, enforced with beatings. Some Thoughts Concerning Education’s influence continues to the modern day, where its principles and techniques are embraced by Montessori-style education, and even television shows like Sesame Street. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.