Some Thoughts Concerning Education

Some Thoughts Concerning Education is a 1693 treatise on the education of gentlemen written by the English philosopher John Locke. For over a century, it was the most important philosophical work on education in England. It was translated into almost all of the major written European languages during the eighteenth century, and nearly every European writer on education after Locke, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau, acknowledged its influence. In his Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), Locke outlined a new theory of mind, contending that the mind is originally a tabula rasa or "blank slate"; that is, it did not contain any innate ideas at birth. Some Thoughts Concerning Education explains how to educate that mind using three distinct methods: the development of a healthy body; the formation of a virtuous character; and the choice of an appropriate academic curriculum. Locke wrote the letters that would eventually become Some Thoughts for an aristocratic friend, but his advice had a broader appeal since his educational principles suggested anyone could acquire the same kind of character as the aristocrats for whom Locke originally intended the work. John Locke, the English philosopher considered to be the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers, never married or had children. Despite this, in 1684 his friends Mary and Edward Clarke asked him for advice on how to raise their son. In response, Locke composed a series of letters to them that outlined his philosophy of education. In 1693, encouraged by the Clarkes and by his friend William Molyneux, he compiled the letters into a single treatise. This treatise, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, went on to become the most influential works in educational philosophy in England for over a century, and was so influential on society as a whole that some critics consider it to be equally as important as his Essay Concerning Human Understanding. The Thoughts went through at least fifty-three editions in the eighteenth century alone, and inspired a movement for childhood education then-unheard of in Europe, ultimately resulting in the popularization of Victorian public schools. In the Thoughts, Locke advocates a practical education for a child consisting of exposure to foreign languages, gentle introductions to topics like reading and mathematics through game-like approaches, physical training and exercise, and rhetoric, all delivered by a competent and dedicated tutor. He placed the instillation of a sense of virtue as one of the most important parts of a complete education. Education was to be administered through gentle encouragement focused on the child’s natural interests, and tempered with both shame and a feeling of awe for the parent. He argues that much of a child’s social education is received at a very young age from their peers and the society around them; thus, controlling the societal influences around the child is of paramount importance. All of this was starkly opposed to the then-common theory of education through rote repetition, enforced with beatings. Some Thoughts Concerning Education’s influence continues to the modern day, where its principles and techniques are embraced by Montessori-style education, and even television shows like Sesame Street.