Summary No.

2: Analysis of Rousseau

Educational foundations

Nicolás Rodríguez León

Prof. Jorge Baxter

One of the most important ideas of Rousseau is that humans are good in their essence, but society
corrupts them. This idea of our natural good is the cornerstone of his philosophical thoughts towards
education. Given that we are all good at birth, but we are constantly exposed to all the evil that society
emanates we are being corrupted thus we become a plague. It is then necessary to avoid this
contamination by guiding children into good actions and valuable thoughts, education is the most
powerful instrument to cultivate goodness and happiness which leads to a better society. Although
polemical, he argued that happy people mean good people and conceptualized the idea of fun inside the
educational system. As child´s nature is curiosity, movement, and dynamism education should use fun as
an instrument towards learning valuables tools for life. Finally, Rousseau believed in the truth and so he
thought that absurd things should not be taught for children as they form wrong conceptions of life,
especially good and evil.

Rousseau´s idea that education should be fun is one of the most important aspects that I rescue from his
main ideas. One of the most important challenges in current Colombian education system is that
children feel obliged to attend school rather than enjoying the experience of education. In these times
of social convulsion, the most relevant tool to attack all these structural problems is education, as it
allows people to be critique and conscious. Many children in Colombia are exposed to harsh situations
such as violence and extreme poverty, making them especially vulnerable for becoming problematic
citizens in the future, but as Rousseau said we are all good in essence. Education should cultivate these
good values and show that it can be fun, making every time more and more children honestly like
education and becoming aware of their multiple benefits both in their personal and interpersonal
relationships. Rousseau’s ideas of showing the truth is one his most important ideas that once again
bringing it to the Colombian context, to show how things really are through education helps future
generations to be aware of Colombian problematics and actively work towards improvement.

Questions:

What is the best teaching ambient that ensures a fun education? What would Rousseau think of
traditional classrooms?

Who should be responsible for the role of teaching? If we are good by nature shouldn´t our parents
guide our process of education to avoid one´s corruption through the traditional educational system?