Saturday, September 12, 2009
Group Discussion 2: Locke and Education
Locke's noteworthy essay, "Some Thoughts Concerning Education," was widely read in 1693 and continued to serve as an influential piece in Protestant America, where it became a principle guide on how to breed children. In what ways does this essay provide insight into the 18th century education system? In what ways are these teachings still relevant today?
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3 comments:
Locke's essay anticipates, with interesting prescience, some of the flaws of operant conditioning. This stance--in contrast with many of his contemporaries and indeed a majority of behavioral psychologists throughout much of the 20th century--advocates a more natural system of learning, especially as it relates to language acquisition. Locke suggests "that the yet pliant organs of speech might be accustomed to a due formation of [language]" in the early stages of life (227). This mirrors more recent critiques of behaviorism and conditioning, like Chomsky's theories of universal and generative grammar. Locke's concept of the tabula rasa (as espoused in "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" (1690)), however, doesn't fit neatly with later theories of innate abilities for language acquisition.
I enjoyed reading Locke's essay particularly because of his view on punishment, or the lack thereof and as Andrew mentioned, language acquisition.
I agreed with this passage and believe it was a move in the right direction at this time:
"Beating them, and all other sorts of slavish and corporal punishments, are not the discipline fit to be used in the education of those who would have wise, good and ingenuous men."
I think Locke's emphasis on how to appropriately guide children without giving them treats and not beating them shows that there was harsh punishment just as you can't give your child a sweet treat to keep them motivated.
In terms of language acquisition, I found the passage on learning Latin to be relevant today. My elementary school started teaching Latin in first grade a few years after I left (and went to middle school). The option to take Spanish or French was not available to 4th grade so children were learning Latin for 3 years before that. Locke believed it to be essential then and I think at least for my school district, it was given more emphasis as learning tool to help other areas of education.
Locke portrays the idea that the current form of education is creating "generations of tame inactive children... who will become useless to himself and others" (225). He argues that the type of punishment that was currently being used in eighteenth century education was actually impeding the process that teachers, tutors, and parents were striving for with their children. "This sort of correction naturally breeds an aversion to that which it is the tutor's business to create a liking to" (224). Locke then goes on to provide a specific example of how to remedy this educational problem, he states, "Latin is no more unknown to a child when he comes into the world, then English: and yet he learns English without master, rule, or grammar" (228). This concept of education could be relevant to present-day school system. For example, we still enforce such boundaries upon our students in the quest to learn foreign languages and other areas of study. Alternatively, we could be utilizing Locke's theory of integrated education where the focus would not be solely on the mechanics of the study but the actual usage.
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