This document details the importance of education in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a critical discussion point and contextual argument for the OCR English Literature and other exam board assessments.
AO3 – USEFUL CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION LINKED TO EDUCATION
AND NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE
JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU ON EDUCATION/ CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(1700s)
The noblest work in education is to make a reasoning man, and we
expect to train a young child by making him reason! This is
beginning at the end; this is making an instrument of a result. If
children understood how to reason they would not need to be
educated.” –Rousseau, Emile.
Rousseau’s philosophy isn’t concerned with imparting information
and concepts, but rather with developing the pupil’s character and
moral sense; the child will then be able to practice self-mastery and
virtue in spite of the un-natural and imperfect society he may have
to live in.
The hypothetical boy in Rousseau’s ‘Emile’ is raised in the
countryside (healthier and more natural) under the guardianship of
a tutor who will guide him through various learning experiences.
This idea is called ‘natural consequences’; children learn through
right and wrong through experiencing the consequences of their
acts rather than physical punishment.
Rousseau separates childhood into stages:
o Up to age 12, guided by emotions and impulses
o 12-16, development of reason
o 16 onwards development into an adult (applying what has
been learnt)
JOHN LOCKE: ‘AN ESSAY CONCERNING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING’
(1690)
An essay concerning the foundation of human knowledge and
understanding.
He describes the mind at birth like a blank sheet of paper, filled
later through experience
He was one of the key founders of ‘empiricism’
Essentially, Locke did not believe in the concept of ‘nature’,
favouring ‘nurture’: ‘If we attentively consider new born children, we
shall have little reason to think that they bring many ideas into the
world with them… by degrees afterwards, ideas come into their
minds.’
There are no innate ideas; everything is derived from experience
EPISTEMOLOGY (introduced in 1800s)
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