FILAMER CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

AUTONOMOUS STATUS - CHED

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Tel. No. (036) 6212-317 Fax No. (036) 6213-075
Website: http://www.filamer.edu.ph/

EDUCATION 403
Philosophical, Historical and Legal Foundation of Education

RICHARD G. ESICO DR. EXEQUIEL A. CALIMUTAN

Reporter Propesor

JEAN JACQUES RUSSEAU

 He was born on the 28th of June in 1712 in Geneva, Switzerland and died on 2nd of July, 1778 in France.
 The idea of education is visible in his famous novel named Emile.

Rousseau’s Philosophy of Education

• Education according to nature of child
• Education according to different stages of child
• Education from nature, man and things
• Education a process of guidance
• Negative Education

Education according to nature of child

Rousseau believes that education is the only remedy to shun the evil influences of society. According to
him, the nature of the child should determine the nature of teaching rather than a logical order of subject
matters, which is suited only to the adult mind. He emphasizes the dictum that the child should be treated as child
not as an adult. Hence, the child should be provided with real, vital and concrete experiences.

Education according to different stages of child

In his book Emile, he regards Emile as an imaginary male child, and divides his scheme of education
according to his different stages of growth. According to him, childhood has its own way of seeing, thinking and
feeling. There is time for every kind of teaching and we ought to recognize it.

Education according to different stages of child

The different stages of child are infancy (0-5 years), childhood (5-12 years), adolescence (12-15
years) and youth (15-18 years). Hence, the construction of curriculum and the methods of teaching
should be in accordance with the different stages of the child.

Education from nature, man and things

Education from nature means the internal development of our organs as a consequence of our
relationship with our physical environment. Education from things is the acquisition made by our own
experiences with the objects which surround us. Rousseau says that harmony in education is possible by
subordinating the education of men and things to that of nature because we have no control over nature.

Education a process of guidance

Rousseau believes that education is the process of guidance by the teacher, but it is not
instruction by the teacher. According to him, the art of teaching consists in making the pupil wish to
learn. His concern is to educate the child to live his life.
 Negative Education

Rousseau was the first man to stress on negative education. he states, “the most dangerous period
in human life lies between birth and the age of 12.
Negative education is the preparation against the social condition in which the child lives. it
consists not at all in teaching virtue. But it shields the child’s heart from the vices and his mind from
errors. Negative education is aimed at building the learning process based on the natural capacity of the
child along his or her growth.