John Locke's Influence On Education
John Locke was a political figure and well known for his studies in medicine. Locke also was well educated in medicine. He was a key advocate of the observed approaches of the Scientific Revolution. During his final years John Locke wrote and published all of his most significant works. One of them was his “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” in which he advanced a theory of the self as a blank page, with knowledge and identity arising only from accumulated experiences. Locke made a perfect example: “Rejecting the divine right of kings, that societies form governments by mutual (and, in later generations, tacit) agreement. Thus, when a king loses the consent of the governed, a society may remove him—an approach quoted almost verbatim in Thomas Jefferson’s 1776 Declaration of Independence.” In the end Locke came up with a final answer from all of his studies that explained his work. Locke said “A child is a blank slate that is formed through experience.”2
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A child is a blank slate that is formed through experience.
This is true for everyone in this world. This fact cannot be changed no matter how hard we try. Our past determines our future outcome. In a NPR research program it was stated by Lee Raby, a psychologist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Delaware who led the study, ”that about 10 percent of someone’s academic achievement was correlated with the quality of their home life at age three. Later experiences, genetic factors and even chance explain the other 90 percent.”5 A child goes to school and because of that he becomes intelligent. Also the article explains why children are impacted through childhood and that becomes their future. Another theory suggests that an individual’s behavior, incentive to do well in life, and mental status can be guided by the child’s social environment. This social environment needs to correspond to the child’s psychological needs in order for the child to be
healthy.
Even negative or bad things in life affect who we are in the future. Marcia Stanton, MSW, included in her article, a paragraph from the ACE research showing how behavior in early stages of life affect us critically in the future. The ACE puts it this way, “The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE Study) is perhaps the largest study ever conducted looking at multiple forms of abuse and dysfunction in childhood. It examined the effects of growing up prior to age 18 in a household with: recurrent physical abuse, recurrent emotional abuse, sexual abuse, an alcohol or drug abuser, an incarcerated household member, someone who is chronically depressed, suicidal, institutionalized or mentally ill, mother being treated violently, one or no parents, emotional or physical neglect”6 and more. In the article it explained different ways of negative impact early in life changing children’s futures. It has been observed that abuse in childhood, particularly sexual abuse, causes obesity as well as emotional problems because of the trauma. The study also concluded that the trauma children experience causes them to cover their pain with smoking, alcohol, and/or substance abuse. If children experience violence in their home, a study headed by Carrie A. Moylan showed that they endure low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and social problems.3 These children are also prone to be bullied as children and/or to be bullies.
In Frankenstein4 by Mary Shelley, the monster experiences good feelings throughout his created life. Later this impacts him greatly for his understanding for his purpose of life, which is to either to live or to die. In the book, on page 72, the monster says to Frankenstein, “One day I was oppressed by cold, I found a fire which had been left by some wandering beggars, and was overcome with delight at the warmth I experienced from it. In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain. How strange, I thought, that the same cause should produce such opposite effects!” The monster doesn’t understand what warmth was, what pain was, or any sort of feeling until he actually experiencing it. When he experiences from a distance (holding his hands up to the fire), he feels joy because he is cold. However, when he goes farther into the fire and tries to touch the glowing embers that were giving him warmth, he got hurt. Thus, in the beginning experiencing joy and pain at the same time, he differentiates his feelings and to understanding about these two different things. Throughout the novel, he feels pain and happiness; pain because he perceives people hate him and happiness because he learns to bring satisfaction to himself at first and then to others by doing things for them. For example, on page 78, he brings lumber for the people because he wants to “assist their labours. I found that the youth spent a great part of each day in collecting wood for the family fire; and, during the night I often took his tools, the use of which I quickly discovered, and brought home firing sufficient for the consumption of several days.” After he does this, the girl in the cottage came out and was greatly astonished from seeing the pile of wood. The monster feels pleasure at doing things for others. In all these situations: the monster, the children who were abused, and the children who experienced a happy life, they were impacted by their emotions they felt from the time of the trauma or source of joy and throughout their lives. These past experiences became stepping stones to whom they were to become.
A child is a blank slate that is formed through experience.
This is true for everyone in this world. This fact cannot be changed no matter how hard we try. Our past determines our future outcome. In a NPR research program it was stated by Lee Raby, a psychologist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Delaware who led the study, ”that about 10 percent of someone’s academic achievement was correlated with the quality of their home life at age three. Later experiences, genetic factors and even chance explain the other 90 percent.”5 A child goes to school and because of that he becomes intelligent. Also the article explains why children are impacted through childhood and that becomes their future. Another theory suggests that an individual’s behavior, incentive to do well in life, and mental status can be guided by the child’s social environment. This social environment needs to correspond to the child’s psychological needs in order for the child to be
healthy.
Even negative or bad things in life affect who we are in the future. Marcia Stanton, MSW, included in her article, a paragraph from the ACE research showing how behavior in early stages of life affect us critically in the future. The ACE puts it this way, “The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE Study) is perhaps the largest study ever conducted looking at multiple forms of abuse and dysfunction in childhood. It examined the effects of growing up prior to age 18 in a household with: recurrent physical abuse, recurrent emotional abuse, sexual abuse, an alcohol or drug abuser, an incarcerated household member, someone who is chronically depressed, suicidal, institutionalized or mentally ill, mother being treated violently, one or no parents, emotional or physical neglect”6 and more. In the article it explained different ways of negative impact early in life changing children’s futures. It has been observed that abuse in childhood, particularly sexual abuse, causes obesity as well as emotional problems because of the trauma. The study also concluded that the trauma children experience causes them to cover their pain with smoking, alcohol, and/or substance abuse. If children experience violence in their home, a study headed by Carrie A. Moylan showed that they endure low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and social problems.3 These children are also prone to be bullied as children and/or to be bullies.
In Frankenstein4 by Mary Shelley, the monster experiences good feelings throughout his created life. Later this impacts him greatly for his understanding for his purpose of life, which is to either to live or to die. In the book, on page 72, the monster says to Frankenstein, “One day I was oppressed by cold, I found a fire which had been left by some wandering beggars, and was overcome with delight at the warmth I experienced from it. In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain. How strange, I thought, that the same cause should produce such opposite effects!” The monster doesn’t understand what warmth was, what pain was, or any sort of feeling until he actually experiencing it. When he experiences from a distance (holding his hands up to the fire), he feels joy because he is cold. However, when he goes farther into the fire and tries to touch the glowing embers that were giving him warmth, he got hurt. Thus, in the beginning experiencing joy and pain at the same time, he differentiates his feelings and to understanding about these two different things. Throughout the novel, he feels pain and happiness; pain because he perceives people hate him and happiness because he learns to bring satisfaction to himself at first and then to others by doing things for them. For example, on page 78, he brings lumber for the people because he wants to “assist their labours. I found that the youth spent a great part of each day in collecting wood for the family fire; and, during the night I often took his tools, the use of which I quickly discovered, and brought home firing sufficient for the consumption of several days.” After he does this, the girl in the cottage came out and was greatly astonished from seeing the pile of wood. The monster feels pleasure at doing things for others. In all these situations: the monster, the children who were abused, and the children who experienced a happy life, they were impacted by their emotions they felt from the time of the trauma or source of joy and throughout their lives. These past experiences became stepping stones to whom they were to become.