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Locke And Rousseau 's Influence On Education

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Education has been ever developing since the inception of the first schools. The early theorists believed that children were mini adults. Children were treated the same as their adult counterparts. They were given jobs at early ages, and dressed the same as their parents. This belief, that children were just little adults, was called Preformationism. Though this may seem like an antiquated idea, aspects of Preformationism are still scene in today’s society. “We often lapse into the same thinking today, as when we expect young children to sit still for hour, or when we assume that their thinking is the same as ours” (Crain 5). Clearly there was the need for new theories, which would better explain child development and education. This is where Locke and Rousseau come in.
John Locke, a British philosopher, focused on the role of social environment and experiences in education. Locke believed that children’s minds were blank slates. Meaning we are not born with any innate notions or abilities. Locke consider the mind “to be...white paper void of all characteristics, without any ideas.” (Crain 7) The mind is very pliable and ready to accept new information. Locke believed children learned in four ways, the first of which is associations. What this means is that we simultaneously think of two things and associate them. For example if you get sick after eating at McDonalds, you might feel stomach pain every time you see one. The next way is repetition, or doing something several

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