Some+Thoughts+Concerning+Education

= = Christian Education Home Page =Some Thoughts Concerning Education=

Although not a Christian educator, [|John Locke's] educational [|1693] treatise //Some Thoughts Concerning Education// was a philosophy changing work that has affected many Christian educators of today. 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 child's mind was a //[|tabula rasa]// or "blank slate"; that is, it did not contain any [|innate ideas]. //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 allowed women and the lower classes to aspire to the same kind of character as the aristocrats for whom Locke originally intended the work.

Christian educators of today will be faced with the aftermath of Locke's philosophy and its effects on the secular school system. As students leave the public schools and enter into the Christian school realm, teachers will need to be prepared to teach secularized students using a Biblical philosophy.

**Sources**

 * 1) Wikipedia.org
 * 2) Google Books