Compare And Contrast Locke And Rousseau On Early Education

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Let us take our minds back to focus on this essay. After reading the article “Locke and Rousseau on Early Education”, I realize that these two philosophers are unusual. They invested a lot of time, effort in childhood education. However, they have different views and methods on educating children on early childhood education (0-8 years of age). John Locke and Jean Rousseau were both well- known European philosophers who believe children love freedom and power. It was the most important ways to raise children. Although they have similar viewpoints but they take different directions on their views. Their theories on educating children have lasted throughout history and have been beneficial for the way we teach young children nowadays.

In this section, I will like to compare these two philosophers‟ views. First of all, their conceptions of natural inclinations are different. Locke disagrees on naturalism while Rousseau disagrees on the use of habits and social conventions for the education of young children. Locke believes that humans are born without innate ideas and gradually acquired knowledge through experience and external environment. He fostered an idea of “tabula rasa” which believes the child is born neutral not evil. Rousseau, on the other hand, believes that children are born with their natural instincts and minimize the obstacles of civilization and let them explore life, learn by themselves and face obstacles by knowing what is wrong and what is right. Children