Childhoodhas its own ways of seeing, thinking and feeling; nothing is more foolish thanto try and substitute our way.                    ——Emile

Jean Jacques Rousseau——The Natural Child

Rousseau was born in 1712, but nine days after his birth, hismother died of puerperal fever (产褥热).  Although his fatherlacked parenting skills, despite a haphazard life, Jean-Jacques learned to readby 6years of age and by 7was reading the Greek(including works by Plato) andRoman classic.  He remembered reading athis father’s knee the novels that had belonged to his mother and the impactthat early reading had on his love of books and learning.

Rousseau was a Frenchphilosopher who wrote a number of works that continue to influence how weview young children and their education. Rousseau’s writings were reactions against the absolutist monarchy,closed economic systems, religious authoritarianism, and rigid socialstratification of his day.

1. Emile-Education and Child Rearing

In 1762 both TheSocial Contract and Emilewere published.  The SocialContract, which was intended to follow Emile ,appeared first,strengthening the misconception that the two works were independent of eachother.  The purpose behind writing Emilewas to counter challenges to his Discourse argument by showing that“man” is not originally evil and that it is the teaching and utilization of thesciences, not the possession of knowledge, that is at fault when an increase inknowledge corrupted a man.  Emileis “intended to provide an alternative basis for society, free of the flawsafflicting the present one, which mishandled the sciences and the arts to bluntand twist the searching soul of man.”

In Emile, half novel, half treatise, Rousseau outlinedhis main ideas on education according to nature, where children’s naturalattributes would be preserved by carefully controlling the environment.Previously, education and learning had been seen as filling the child withknowledge. Childhood was not even seen as a stage of human development.  Children were seen as miniature and imperfectadults.  Rousseau believed the opposite:that knowledge was there to be drawn out of the child. Emile would be separatedfrom corrupt society, in contact only with his tutor, to protect his natural goodness.

Emile’s model of learning was Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe,who lived on an island in harmony with nature, his survival dependent upon hisresourcefulness.  For Emile, knowledgewould be organized around utility and would focus on learning that hadimmediate relevance. Rousseau saw the child as the centre of the educativeprocess. The child’s potential was unrealized, and the child needed educationto foster growth and learning.  Educationwould therefore be the environment that would allow the child to reach hispotential, developing his talents and supporting his individual nature.  Education would protect the child from theoutside world.

2. The Uniqueness of Childhood-Origins of Child Study

Rousseau believed that children were not fully understood bythe adults who taught them. He pleaded for children to be seen as children.Children were, by nature, different from adults:  “Nature requires children to be childrenbefore they are men.” “Hold childhood in reverence... Give nature time to workbefore you take over her business.” “A prudent tutor will observe his pupilwell before he speaks his first word.” “I wish some trustworthy person wouldgive us a treatise on the art of child-study. This art is well worth studying,but neither parents nor teachers have mastered its elements.”

There could be no more eloquent set of statements on thevalue of observing children and appreciating childhood. Childhood needs to belived and not rushed. Children need to be children first. Rousseau thusinitiated the child study movement.

An important point is made by Rousseau in his series ofstatements about the three places from which education comes: nature, men, andthings. “The inner growth of our organs and faculties is the education ofnature, the use we learn to make of this growth is the education of men, whatwe gain by our experience of our surroundings is the education of things.” Theonly one we control is the education of men “and even here our power is largelyillusory.”

2.1 Stages of Development

In Emile, Rousseau proposed stages children would passthrough. Each stage would have distinct characteristics and patterns:

Infancy——first 5 years of life,

Childhood——5-12 years of age,

Pre-adolescence——12-15 years of age,

Later adolescence

Rousseau’s views of nonrestrictive child rearing in the earlyyears contrasted the prevalent practices in France at the time. Well-to-dofamilies gave up their children to wet nurses, had them dressed in constrictiveclothing and allowed little movement.

His stages may not fit our current theoretical conception,but his focus was on knowing that there were stages. Beyond this, Rousseauadamantly felt that a stage should not be seen as preparation for the nextstage. This would miss the whole point. In each stage the child was encouragedto live as fully as possible within that period. The best preparation for thenext stage was the complete development within the current stage.

2.2 “Negative” Education

Rousseau believed that children were born “good” and “free”: everything is good as it comes from the hands of themaker but degenerates when it gets into the hands of man.” He believed the aim ofeducation was to preserve this natural goodness of children and develop thechild’s potential.

Like Plato, Rousseau felt the child needed a good politicalstate in order to develop. But if the state was corrupt, then the child neededto be isolated from the environment. He solution to a corrupt state was“negative education”. The child was to be shielded from corruption until he orshe developed independence, judgement and understanding, qualities which wouldenable the child to cope with the distorting environment.

Though called “negative education”, Rousseau actually meantit in a positive framework: “I call a negative education one that tends toperfect the organs that are the instrument of knowledge before giving thisknowledge directly; and that endeavors to prepare the way for reason by theproper exercise of the sense.”          ——Emile

Since society was constantly changing, Rousseau stronglybelieved that adults could not predict what children would need to know in thefuture. Present needs were to be the guide for teaching.

2.3  Education of Girls

Rousseau’s view on the education of girls, traditional to theextreme, were explored through the character of Sophie in Emile. Hereducation would revolve around her dual wife and mother role: “The whole education of women ought to berelative to men.” “Women is made to please and to be dominated.” All theeducational principles for Emile were reversed for Sophie—her play would berestricted and interrupted, use of judgment was de-emphasized and extrinsicrewards were used in her education. Unlike Plato’s vision, in Rousseau’s view,a person’s sex did determine the nature of education and his or her place insociety:  “Sophie ought to be a womanas Emile is a man. That is to say she ought to have everything which suits theconstitution of her species and her sex in order to fill her place in thephysical and moral order.”   —Emile

Rousseau was Emile’s role as the reverse and complement ofSophie’s role. Emile would be the authority in the family, the decision maker,and the patriarch. Rousseau selected very different roles and traits for menand women though he also wanted to make sure Sophie had a childhood full ofplay, song, dance and the pleasures of being young.

Perhaps Rousseau’s lack of positive early experiences andlater turbulent relationships with women influenced these ideas; the tenor ofthe times would also have reflected these views on women. However they weredeveloped, Rousseau’s attitudes about educating women do make us contemplateour own views on the roles of women in society and in a family relationship.Rousseau was aware of more egalitarian views of women, but he chose to mirrorthe existing views around him.

2.4  Rousseau’s HurriedChild

Rousseau addressed what is now called “the hurried child”,one who is forced to grow up too quickly in an ever-changing and stressfulsociety. Early childhood professionals learn to value and appreciate thespecial nature of childhood and to plan experiences that meet the stages ofdevelopment instead of hurrying children into academic work or responsibilitiesearlier than appropriate: “Your first duty is to be humane. Love childhood.Look with friendly eyes on its games, its pleasures, its amiable dispositions.Which of you does not sometimes look back regretfully on the age when laughterwas ever on the lips and the heart free of care? Why steal from the littleinnocents the enjoyment of a time that passes all to quickly?  —Emile

Rousseau warned against premature instruction and stated theneed to focus upon children’s interests: “Nature wants children to bechildren before they are men.”  —Emile

2.5  Play

The recurring theme of children learning through play isreflected in Rousseau's writing. He wrote of the child: "Work and play are all one to him, his games are his work; heknows no difference.  He brings toeverything the cheerfulness of his interest, the charm of freedom, and he showsthe bent of his own mind and the extent of his knowledge."      —Emile

Rousseau saw no dichotomy between work and play; both wouldevolve naturally from daily living:  "they will only learn what they feel tobe of actual and present advantage, either because they like it or because itis of use to them."                        —Emile

3. The Natural Child

Rousseau inspired the whole future of education.  He was an ardent proponent of"naturalism," which to him meant abandoning society's artificialityand pretense.  A naturalistic educationwould permit growth without undue restrictions.

Rousseau focused on what the child was able to learn.  He was the forerunner of all child- centrededucation, believing that the child was naturally good and at the centre of thecurriculum.  He addressed individualdifferences, motivation, stages, learning styles---all of which are equallyimportant to our current understanding of children.

Rousseau re-focused education from what children should knowto what children were capable of learning. He was central in developing theconcept of "childhood" as a specific period.

Rousseau had no special credential to dispense educationaladvice.  A central belief of Rousseau’sphilosophy was that human nature is essentially good and education must allowthat goodness to unfold. According to Rousseau, people should live in a naturalstate without the corrupting influences or evils of society. In terms of early education,Rousseau believed that children are essentially good at birth and they shouldbe allowed to freely express their instincts and feelings. That is, a childshould be free from all unnatural restraints of objects such as clothing and should not be controlled throughpunishment. It was important to Rousseau that each individual fully develop hisor her own unique potential.

Rousseau believed that social and emotional adjustment weremore important than the accumulation of information or skills.  A major contribution by Rousseau was hisdescription as the natural characteristics of children at different age level.

思考：

1.What is “Negative” education?What’s your opinion？

       2. What’s natural education? What’s natural child?