BLOCK II

Jean Jacques
Rousseau UNIT 4 CRITIQUE OF LIBERAL
EDUCATION*
Structure
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Criticism of Liberal Education
4.3 Rousseau’s Idea of Education
4.4 Rousseau’s Concept of Natural Education
4.5 Rousseau’s Concept of Negative Education
4.6 Rousseau’s Aim for Education
4.7 Rousseau’s Framework of Curriculum
4.8 Rousseau’s Methodology for Teaching
4.9 Rousseau’s Views on Discipline
4.10 On the Role of Teacher
4.11 On Women’s Education
4.12 Rousseau’s Contribution to Education
4.13 Criticism
4.14 Let Us Sum Up
4.15 References
4.16 Answers to check your progress Exercises

4.0 OBJECTIVES
The aim of this unit is to familiarize you with Rousseau’s ideas of education.
After studying this unit, you should be able to:

 Understand Rousseau’s contribution to education

 His concept of Negative Education
 His concept of Natural Education

*
Dr. Mithila Bagai, Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Maitreyi College,
University of Delhi

54
 Critique of Liberal
4.1 INTRODUCTION Education

Born in Geneva in 1712, Jean Jacques Rousseau has been hailed as a great
thinker. He was one of the thinkers along with Thomas Hobbes and John Locke
who enunciated the Theory of Social Contract. Rousseau was born in a divisive
society where the ordinary citizens were fighting for their rights from the
aristocrats. The society was also up against the ill practices of the Church and the
conservative ideals of Catholicism that had declared the stringent code of living
according to the sacred scriptures. The French people wanted to embrace the
values of Protestantism where the individual is dignified for his hard work and
merit rather than the class he was born in. The adverse social circumstances of
Rousseau shaped his political thought and he talked about the General Will for
governing society.

Rousseau’s famous statement that Man is born free, but everywhere he is in

chains emphasizes the importance of freedom in the life of the individual. To
explain his theory of General Will, he elaborates on the State of Nature. Rousseau
says that the man born in the state of nature was happy, free, jovial and satisfied.
He had very less interaction with his fellow beings and did not conceive of his
future as the nature fulfilled all his minimum needs. He was neither a social nor a
political being. He just wanted to avoid pain and prevent harm to others. There
was equality in access of resources and no hierarchy, exploitation, suppression
and oppression. Man in the state of nature was also governed by two very
important qualities: Freedom of Will and Perfectibility. Under Freedom of Will,
man is in full control over himself and does not possess any vices of lust, revenge,
jealousy and hatred. This liberty allowed him to attain spirituality of his soul.

The second quality of man is that of perfectibility. This innate desire to be perfect
pushes man to better himself. He wants to improve upon his faculties and advance
upon his civilization. Therefore, he leaves a state of peacefulness, contentment
and happiness that existed in the state of nature and moves towards mastering
himself and improving upon society. When a man moves out of the secured state
of nature, he becomes an insecure and a fearful man. He starts thinking about his
future and accumulates property for his survival. Men with different capabilities
cause the unequal accumulation of property. This leads to inequality where the
society gets divided between the rich and the poor. The rich further fear for the
safety of their property from the attack by the poor. Laws are then formed because
natural law did not exist to deal with the unequal access of resources in the state
of nature. These laws legitimize the inequality in society and protect the property
of the rich. The poor also accepts his destitute condition. The government that is
formed is also not neutral. The people in the government are also governed by
their infinite passions and greed and their laws are not moral. Rousseau thus
laments that man in order to perfect himself and advance upon his society, enters
into a miserable state of wretchedness, insecurity, fearfulness and inequality
where the rich and poor struggle for acquiring more resources. The man enters
into a civil society from where he can’t now return to his state of nature. 55
BLOCK II To rectify the moral decline in civil society, Rousseau proposes moral education.
Jean Jacques
Rousseau Moral education will create virtuous citizens that will help in building the moral
order in society. Rousseau also proposed to inculcate the values of nationalism so
that all the citizens can think alike in the interests of their society and the General
Will can be more easily obtained without much of conflict.

Rousseau wanted the governance of the society on the basis of the General Will.
The laws of the society formed on the General Will will give priority to the
interests of the community. Welfare of the society will be important rather than
the advancement of personal interests. Members under the influence of Particular
Will will focus on increasing their greed, private property and self-interests at the
cost of the others. The concept of General Will will inculcate the virtues of self-
pity, generosity, sympathy and empathy. This will make man more
compassionate, humble and generous towards each other. Laws and government
formed on these values will lead to the formation of moral society. Therefore,
Rousseau famously remarked that Man has to be forced to be free. Rousseau
believed that society would be free if it follow the rules and regulations made on
General Will. Rousseau highlighted that education will help in shaping the
General Will and getting rid of the particular and selfish interests of people. But
he was in favor of only moral education for attaining a free and equal society. He
was against the liberal education that promoted the ideas of modernity and
deprived the individual of his true self. Rousseau’s idea of education was to
inculcate the noble qualities of honesty, integrity, peacefulness, contentment and
happiness. Rousseau wanted to create a virtuous citizen that will facilitate the
formation of society on General Will. The education that will not get rid of the
vices in the individual is a useless system of education and it will create only
disharmony in society. Rousseau despised liberal education. He was in favor of
moral education that instilled the individual with virtues, physical strength at the
earlier stage in his life and knowledge at the later stage.

4.2 CRITICISM OF LIBERAL EDUCATION

Rousseau was born to a mother who died just a few days after his birth and lost
his father at a tender age. He led a life of a vagabond and travelled across Europe.
He was self-educated as he learnt from his own experiences, observations and
adverse social circumstances. Based on his learning and experience; he professed
a system of education that allowed a man to remain in his natural form. He said
education should be such that inculcate virtues in a child. The child should
become a virtuous and a responsible citizen. Education for aggrandizing its own
self-interest is a deterrent for society. Liberal Education has deprived the
individual of his real self. In the state of nature, men preserved their fundamental
emotions of self-pity and do not harm others. But when they entered the civil
society, the basic civility was reduced to jealousy, envy, revenge, obsession and
consumerism. The modern education has reduced humanity to machinery. The
social interaction is based on greed and self-interest. The liberal education has
56 taught the child that the source of knowledge is external. On the other hand,
internal knowledge has been completely sidelined. It has taught that the Critique of Liberal
Education
knowledge of books written by great scholars was the only true source of
knowledge and the child is not capable of forming his own opinion and thought.
The liberal education has made the child a depraved individual. It has devoided
him of independent thinking and decision making capabilities. In liberal
education, the teaching is not based on the capabilities of the child. Rather same
books and teachings are given to all the children. This has created homogeneity
and marred the diversity in society. Liberal education has weakened the trust and
confidence in the innate abilities of the child. It imposes knowledge of the
external world on the undeveloped, naïve minds and does not allow creative
talents to flourish. This knowledge of the external world causes the child to attach
and trust the outside world. They start believing that the external world is more
powerful and correct in their thought, opinions and actions. This enfeebles the
faculties of mind of the child. The desire to be connected with the outside world
increases. This diverts their concentration from developing their own individual
and distinct personality. This initiates the race for unlimited acquisition of
material goods and property. People with different capabilities acquire different
assets and private property. It gives rise to inequality in society. Therefore, liberal
education sowed the seeds of inequality, first, by giving unequal education to
children with different capabilities and second, by preaching unhealthy
competition, greed, envy and jealousy regarding the possessions of others. The
modern liberal education has enchained and enslaved the minds towards
materialism. The horde for material goods deviates man from the virtues of
nobility, generosity, humanity, goodness and equality, leading to the creation of a
depraved society. Liberal education alienates a man from himself, as he no longer
feels attached and integrated with his mind, body and soul. Modern education
does not focus on the integrated development of the child. A child is not
connected even to his environment and nature. He feels alienated from nature.
Rousseau says nature is a great teacher. But liberal education does not make any
attempt to connect the child with the nature. This deprives the child of his
naturalness and he ends up being an artificial man connected to outwardly desire.
He does not remain a natural man. Rousseau says the biggest tragedy of the
society is to deprive the individual of his natural behaviour that will lead to
natural order and harmony in society. By promoting and instilling artificiality in
the child, the state and society do not remain natural constructs. They devise ways
to sustain inequality so that their authority does not get challenged. Liberal
Education aids in the legitimization of inequality in society. Therefore, Rousseau
developed the modern theory of education that focused on the development of
physical well-being and mental and emotional health. Rousseau ensured in his
work Emile that the child remained in close touch with nature. He firmly believed
that nature, things and men were the teachers of the child. At a later stage, when
the child grows up he will be reading language, religion, philosophy, arts and
literature.

57
BLOCK II
Jean Jacques Check Your Progress Exercise 1
Rousseau Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
ii) Check your progress with the model answer given at the end of
the unit.
1. Why did Rousseau criticize liberal education?
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4.3 ROUSSEAU’S IDEA OF EDUCATION

Rousseau has creatively developed his ideas on education through his fictional
work Emile. The book narrates a story of a boy named Emile and a girl Sophie
and the kind of education they undertake for the purpose of building a moral and
just society.

After Plato, Rousseau is regarded as a significant scholar who has exhaustively

worked upon the system of education. Plato talked about the ancient education
system and Rousseau is regarded as the father of modern education. He has
advanced the idea of Negative Education. Negative education dismisses the
authority of a teacher and allows the child to develop his nascent mind and values
through his own autonomous discovery. Rousseau is of the idea that the teacher
should not bombard the child with the knowledge and skills according to some
pre-determined curriculum. Rather the child should remain free in discovering his
own ideas and values himself. The basic objective of Rousseau’s education is that
man should be free to protect and develop his natural goodness and does not get
dominated by the will of others. He was of the view that man was a noble savage
in the state of nature and did not possess any ill feelings of passions, lust and
revenge or did not engage in any conflict. But when man decides to move to civil
society to advance himself and develop his faculties, he becomes competitive,
conflictual, selfish and develops a distrust towards other beings. Rousseau wanted
to protect the natural goodness in a man and prevent him from getting corrupted
by society. Rousseau states “Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the
Author of Nature; but everything degenerates in the hands of man”.

4.4 ROUSSEAU’S CONCEPT OF NATURAL

EDUCATION
He emphasized ‘Return to Nature’ to reform the society. He said the answers to
all the evils lie in nature. He was in favor of giving a natural education to the
child. A child should be left free to develop his innate capabilities, instincts, pure
emotions, compassion, empathy in nature and not be burdened with political and
58 social institutions, traditions and norms. A child who is kept away from the
corrupt society and is in consonance with nature will be free from unbridled Critique of Liberal
Education
passions, greed, prejudices, feeling of revenge and will develop a personality that
will take care of the needs of his fellow beings and contribute to General Will.
Particular Will will not develop in a child who in his early years is refrained from
is modern schooling. He professed non-social education that is preventive in
character. A child who is nourished and taught in nature, according to Rousseau,
automatically becomes a natural man. The child learns better when he is in close
contact with mountains, streams, trees, sunshine and animals.

Rousseau writes, “Education is no longer a procedure, artificial, harsh, dull,

unsympathetic and repressive of all inclinations. It is on the other hand an organic
growth, it is a development from within”.

In Emile, Rousseau says that there are three sources of education of a man –
Nature, Things and Men.

The education from nature aids in development of natural powers in a child. And
education from things and men helps in acquiring knowledge and gaining
experience from the social environment.

4.5 ROUSSEAU’S CONCEPT OF NEGATIVE

EDUCATION
Rousseau’s education was negative in character. He firmly believed that
education should not be in terms of teaching virtues or truth (which form a part of
positive education). Rather education should be provided in such a way that the
heart and mind of the child is protected from corrupt influences and the vices in
society.

The key aspects of Negative Education are:

1. He did not believe that child should spend time in intensive reading and
studying of books. Rather he should spent time in playing all day,
hopping, jumping, running and being with nature and leave him free to
acquire knowledge at the right time.
2. Rousseau said “I hate books. They are a curse to children. They teach us to
talk only that which we do not know.” He was against learning from
books. He doubted the efficacy of books. A child should learn from his
own experience and through his own efforts.
3. He was against any formal lessons in the class and treated it as an
educational waste.
4. He was not in favor of any habit formation. He said that the best habit of
the child is not to have any habit at all. A child should form natural habits.
5. He wanted that children should study amidst nature and remain away from
corrupting influences of society. It is only when their reasoning and
judgment get developed in nature that they should come in contact with
society. 59
BLOCK II 6. He emphasized that child will learn right and wrong from the
Jean Jacques
Rousseau consequences of his actions. He forbade any moral teaching for children.
7. Rousseau wanted a free and positive discipline. He wanted that child
should learn from his own actions. In Emile, he said that if a child falls
from a tree, then let him learn from his pain on how best to climb the tree.
8. He debunked the current practice of education as it was against the natural
powers of the child.

Check Your Progress Exercise 2

Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
ii) Check your progress with the model answer given at the end of
the unit.

1. What has been the idea of education for Rousseau?

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4.6 ROUSSEAU’S AIM FOR EDUCATION

“To live is not merely to breathe. It is to act, to make use of our organs, senses,
our faculties and of all those parts of ourselves which gives us the feeling of our
existence”.

Rousseau’s primary aim for education was to restore man to his natural goodness.
He wanted man to attain the fullest natural growth so that he can lead a balanced,
harmonious, enjoyable, useful and natural life. He underlined the importance of
physical development because a healthy and a strong child is necessary for a
healthy mind. The natural form of education will also allow the integration of the
child with his mind and body and he will be able to feel and train his bodily sense
organs to acquire knowledge and skills. Rousseau’s education was comprehensive
in including social, moral and spiritual values in the child. He focused on the
intellectual development and training of the child for meeting any crisis or
challenges in future life.

4.7 ROUSSEAU’S FRAMEWORK OF CURRICULUM

The curriculum has been devised according to the developmental stages of the
child.

In the first stage when the child is an infant and till the age of five, Rousseau
enunciates the physical and emotional development for the child. He is
completely against the provision of artificial or positive education to the child. He
stood for complete freedom for the child.
60
In the second stage, when the child is between the ages of 5 and 12, the education Critique of Liberal
Education
has to be negative in character. Rousseau wanted the free development of the
organs of the child and exercises for his senses. Training of the senses will
develop his faculty of reasoning and judgment. The child should be learning from
his experience designed according to his wishes and interests. Verbal lessons are
not to be given and the child will not be instructed in any language, history and
geography. There should be complete freedom of physical movement, simple diet
and light clothing.

In the third stage when the child is between 12-15 years, Rousseau suggests
natural science, physical science, transportation, banking, trade, mathematics
geography, history, manual and industrial training etc as the subjects for study.
The objective was to arouse the curiosity of the child in acquiring knowledge.
Rousseau dedicates this short period in intellectual development that paves the
way for the next stage.

In the fourth stage when the child has become an adolescent and is between 15-20
years, he emphasizes the training of heart because mind, body, senses, and heart
constitute the whole man. Therefore he recommends moral, social and religious
education for building a control over passions. He proposes study of language,
religion, philosophy, arts and literature for developing an aesthetic sense and
inculcating the values of spirituality and morality.

In this stage, he is also in favor of reading biographies so as to impress the tender

minds. For understanding the complex web of relationships, he includes the study
of politics, society, history, economics and travel. Rousseau also includes physical
training for keeping the mind and body healthy.

Rousseau highlighted the importance of sex education that constituted of the

moral exhortations on chastity and a dispassionate explanation of the mystery
behind creations in the world.

4.8 ROUSSEAU’S METHODOLOGY FOR

TEACHING
Rousseau criticized the use of books and verbal language in delivering education
to the child. Since he talks about natural education, he was in favor of learning
from experience, activity and nature.

He suggested the following methods.

1. Learning by Doing

Rousseau highlighted that learning by doing is the best teacher and words
should only be fallen back upon when doing is not possible. He was against
the use of books as books stifle the creative growth in the child.
61
2. Direct Experiences of the Child
BLOCK II Experience will give the child first hand knowledge and also permanent to
Jean Jacques
Rousseau knowledge.

3. Play-way Method

This provides a sense of joy to a child while learning.

4. Heuristic Method

In this method, the child is put in the role of the discoverer. The objective is to
make the child inquisitive for self-making and self-inventing his own
apparatus. In this way, he will learn mathematics, social relations, morality,
history and geography.

5. Morality to be taught by example

Morality cannot be taught through lectures. It is to be learned by experience.

The child should be given every opportunity to learn virtues.

6. Social Participation for teaching Social Relations

Child will learn and give importance to social relations by engaging with
different relations and lectures will not help in it.

7. Learning from concrete things or objects

He castigated the cramming method of learning. Learning has to be done

through concrete objects or things.

Check Your Progress Exercise 3

Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
ii) Check your progress with the model answer given at the end of
the unit.

1. Discuss Rousseau’s curriculum and methodology for teaching.

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4.9 ROUSSEAU’S VIEWS ON DISCIPLINE

Rousseau was against the punitive method for inculcating the values of discipline.
He said that punishment is not the correct way of disciplining children. He
insisted that the child should be left alone. He should have the full freedom to
62 develop his innate qualities. The child should be left to nature where he learns,
makes mistakes and learns from nature the correct way of leading life. Nature is a Critique of Liberal
Education
great teacher, Rousseau says.

4.10 ON THE ROLE OF TEACHER

Rousseau has given a secondary role to the teacher. Child should have the
complete freedom to learn from nature, men and things and no value or
punishment should be imposed on him. Teacher’s role is that of a motivator where
he understands the capacities and psychology of the child and encourages him for
self-discovery, self-innovation and pursuit for knowledge. The teacher has to be a
friend, guide and philosopher.

4.11 ON WOMEN’S EDUCATION

Rousseau talks about women’s education in the last part of his book Emile by
focusing on the imaginary girl named Sophie. He was of the view that women
should not receive same education as that of men. They are not to be considered
as having the same character and temperament as of men. He said, “Women are
the chaste guardian of the morals and the sweet security for our peace”. He
suggested that the education of women should be relative to a man’s as woman is
made to please the man. He did not believe in the separate individuality and
identity of women. Her identity and existence is related to man. He prescribed a
repressive and passive training for women. A woman’s education should be in
consonance with the preservation and sustenance of family values. He suggests
education of ethics, religion, in place of science and mathematics as Rousseau
considered women to be inferior in abstract reasoning than men. He was not in
favor that women should gain knowledge; rather they should develop manners
and politeness to achieve her life’s aim. Literacy education will not help in her
fuller development.

4.12 ROUSSEAU’S CONTRIBUTION TO

EDUCATION
William Boyd appreciated the work of education written in Emile as the most
considerable book ever written on the education system. He said Rousseau
preferred unbridled freedom for the child, had immense faith in his natural
tendencies, gave regard to his goodness and respected his individuality and
emphasized the recreational activities and play way method for the learning of the
child. His theory on education is a strong protest of the traditional system of
education that is premised on cramming, top down learning method and
imposition of external knowledge.

Lord Morley remarked that Emile is a seminal work by Rousseau on education.

He said the education enunciated by Rousseau has given a sense of dignity to
parents. Morley said it seemed that the education pedagogy of Rousseau has
admitted floods of air and light into the tightly closed schoolrooms and nurseries.
63
BLOCK II Rousseau’s theory of education is also categorized as the forerunner of modern
Jean Jacques
Rousseau psychology. He emphasized the understanding the psychology of a child by giving
importance to individual differences, growth and learning by developing his own
judgment and reasoning. He underlined the importance of paedo-centric education
than subject centric. It implied that education has to be child centric that caters to
the needs and demands of children. Rousseau is heralded as the first great
educator who gave the child his rightful place. He firmly believed that child has
his own way of thinking, feeling, behaving and it is foolish if we impose a
thought process and behaviour on them. We deprive them of their originality. We
produce homogenous beings where diversity finds no place. Rousseau believes
that society is lazy in not recognizing the specific talent or capacity of the child
and making learning a one-sided process. He wanted the learning to be a two-
sided process where child converses with nature, men and things and not only
with the teacher. Rousseau had firm belief in the innate goodness of the child and
wanted to bring out the best. He upheld the view that childhood should be loved.
He wanted the emancipation and discovery of the real capabilities of the child.

Rousseau was also complimented for learning from objects or things rather than
books as it perpetuate rote learning.

He also gave the modern concept of free and positive discipline. He criticized
punishment as a method of correcting the child as it obstructs child’s original
thinking and intellectual interests. He said that every teacher is a learner, as they
have to study and assess the mind of a child, their habits, likes and dislikes,
moods and mentalities.

Rousseau is commended for instilling the values of community and its prosperity
in the child. He emphasized how the child should live in a society. He wanted to
eliminate the ideas and values that perpetuate social inequalities. Therefore, he
highlighted the sociological tendency in modern education. One also finds the
same link between education and society in Mahatma Gandhi’s theory of
education (Nai Taleem).

Rousseau’s theory has also been commended for being scientific as it links
education to observation and experience.

4.13 CRITICISM
Though Rousseau’s work Emile has been heralded as the greatest work on modern
education, his views on the education of women have come under severe
criticism. Rousseau believed that women should not get the same education as
men. He did not consider women to be equal in character and temperament to
men. He also said that he would prefer a woman as his wife who is gullible rather
than a woman with intellect who would act like a president in the house. Such
harshness of Rousseau towards women has earned severe ire from feminists.
Mary Wollstonecraft has severely attacked Rousseau in Vindication of the Rights
64 of Women and said that if the job of the woman is only to please the man, then the
society is at a very low level of reasoning. She says that the woman, whose role is Critique of Liberal
Education
confined only to homes and family, is not able to develop complete affection and
a fuller sense of public responsibility. She cannot participate as a virtuous and a
vigorous citizen. Wollstonecraft opines that a woman who earns her living also
earns self-respect and dignity. She demands the same kind of education for
women as Rousseau gives to men. She maintained that educating women and
developing her virtues no way hinders her role as a mother and wife. She rather
says that meek wives will end up being foolish mothers. She argues that women
should be empowered not to rule over men, but to have power over their own
selves. Women need to be given an equal opportunity to develop themselves as
rational creatures so that they can also become successful professionals.

Apart from the feminist criticism of Rousseau’s theory of education, he is also

criticized on other vital aspects. His concept of negative education has not gone
down well with educationists. They believe that children will not be able to
inculcate positive virtues in negative education that will make their life enriched
and substantial. His theory of discipline is also challenged, as the critics believe
that the child will not be able to develop positive discipline by just leaving him
free.

Rousseau’s denial of any useful knowledge available in books is also questioned,

as the books are a treasure house of knowledge. Books contain a lot of important
information, events, opinions and insights that give a broad picture of the world.
Absolute freedom is a utopian philosophy because the present educational system
and the larger population of students do not permit attention to each child. Also,
the secondary role accorded to teacher is also not possible because the child needs
some guide, mentor in his life for positive directions.

Rousseau has been compared with Plato. It is said what Rousseau stands for
modern education, Plato is for ancient education. His concept of education and
freedom is a guide for many educators across the world.

1) Discuss Rousseau’s curriculum and methodology for teaching.

Check Your Progress Exercise 3

Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
ii) Check your progress with the model answer given at the end of
the unit.

1. Critically analyze Rousseau’s theory on education.

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BLOCK II
Jean Jacques 4.14 LET US SUM UP
Rousseau
The unit gives the reasons for criticizing liberal education. It says that liberal
education creates an alienated man who is isolated from his environment, his
family and friends and also from himself. The child is taught within four walls
away from nature and he is not able to develop a natural bond. Liberal education
has enslaved the minds of men and pushed them for material greed to an extent
that they have forgotten their virtues and ended up as a depraved animal. Liberal
education has sowed the seeds of inequality and created a hierarchical and an
unfair society that privileges the powerful and the strong. Laws made by men also
institutionalizes the inequality. Rousseau professes moral education so that the
child instills the values of generosity, humility and of cooperation.

Rousseau through anhis fictional work narrates the story of a boy and girl and
devises an education system for each so that they are able to lead a fulfilling life.
He puts forth the idea of negative education where the child develops his own
mind and is not dependent on the teacher. He also wanted to impart natural
education where the child develops his talents in natural environment.

Rousseau devises an education system according to the developmental stages of

the child. In the first stage when the child grows up till the age of 5, he advises
only physical and emotional development for the child. In the second stage, when
the child is between the ages of 5 and 12, he recommends negative education
where the child trains his senses to develop judgment and reasoning. He says
there should be complete freedom of physical movement, simple diet and light
clothing. In the third stage when the child is between 12-15 years, Rousseau
emphasized intellectual development and suggested natural science, physical
science, transportation, banking, trade, mathematics geography, history, manual
and industrial training etc as the subjects for study. The objective was to arouse
the curiosity of the child in acquiring knowledge. In the fourth stage when the
child has gained adolescence and is between 15-20 years, he emphasizes the
training of heart because mind, body, senses, and heart constitute the whole man.
Therefore, he recommends moral, social and religious education for building a
control over passions.

The pedagogy adopted for Rousseau’s system of education is to learn from

experience and observation. He suggested positive discipline rather than
punishment for correcting the behaviour of the child.

In the last part of the book in Emile, he writes on the kind of education that has to
be imparted to women. He prescribes a passive and a repressive training for them.
He suggests education of ethics and religion that is helpful for the sustenance of
the family values.

Rousseau has earned immense criticism for his idea of education for women from
Mary Wollstonecraft in her book Vindication of Rights of Woman. She says that
66
woman who is confined to homes cannot participate as a virtuous and a vigorous Critique of Liberal
Education
citizen.

Rousseau’s negative and natural education concept has also been criticized.
Rousseau’s system of education has been appreciated widely and he has been
regarded as the father of modern education.

4.15 REFERENCES
 Jha, Shefali. (2018). Western Political Thought – From Ancient Greeks to
Modern Times. Noida. Pearson India Education Services Pvt Ltd.

 Mukherjee, Subrata & Ramaswamy, Sushila. (2011). A History of

Political Thought - Plato to Marx. New Delhi: PHI Learning.

 Nelson, Brian R. (1996). Political Thought - From Socrates to the Age of

Ideology. Illinois: Waveland Press.

 Strauss, Leo & J Cropsey. (1987). History of Political Philosophy.

University of Chicago Press.

4.16 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress Exercise 1
1. Your answer should highlight the following points:
 Education to be based on experience and learning
 Source of Knowledge not to be external but internal.
 It sows the seeds of inequality and deprives him of his naturalness.

Check Your Progress Exercise 2

1. Your answer should highlight following points
 Concept of Natural Education
 Concept of Negative Education

Check Your Progress Exercise 3

1. Your answer should highlight following points
 Discuss the curriculum devised according to the Developmental stages of
the child
 Various methods for teaching

Check Your Progress Exercise 4

1. Your answer should highlight following points 67
BLOCK II
Jean Jacques
 Feminists perspective
Rousseau  Educationists perspective

68