Education

during the
Age of
Naturalism
 Notable figures
during this age of
Naturalism
 Jean-Jacques
Rousseau
On his
book, Emile, Rousseau
outlines the process of
an ideal education
through a hypothetical
• a Genevan intellect and writer
boy of the titular name,
from twelve years of age • He believed that there was one
to the time he marries a developmental procedure
woman. Critics said this
common to man; it was a built-
work of his
foreshadowed most in, natural process which the
modern system of main behavioral manifestation
education we have now.
is curiosity.
JOHANN FRIEDRICH HERBART
(May 4, 1776 – August 14, 1841)

A German philosopher, psycholo

gis and founder of pedagogy as
an academic discipline.

FOCUS:
- Educate, Manage and Discipline

The purpose of education is to

serve the individual
 Herbart also came out with the
five formal steps to teaching now
known as the HERBARTIAN
METHOD of Teaching with the
following step:

Preparation

Comparison and
Abstraction

Generalization and
Application.
JOHANN HEINRICH PESTALOZZI
January 12, 1746 – February 17, 1827)

A Swiss philosopher and educational

reformer who exemplified
Romanticism in his approach.

FOCUS:
- Social Education: Learning
through experimentation
- Learning is for everyone

Pestalozzi believed that teaching is more

effective if it proceeds from concrete to abstract,
hence the use of actual and real objects that
involve most of the senses.
 FRIEDRICH WILLIAM AUGUST FROBEL
April 21, 1782 – June 21, 1852

German pedagogue, a student

of Pestalozzi who laid the foundation for
modern education based on the
recognition that children have unique
needs and capabilities.

FOCUS:
- Pre-school Education, emphasized that
children should be educated from 3-4 years old
- Founded “KINDERGARTEN” ( Father of
Kindergarten)
- Emphasized the used of actual objects
which could be manipulated by the
learners (Educational Toy)
- He too recommended the use of play and
songs and discovery of games suited for the
grades.
NATURALISM
TO THE 20 TH

CENTURY
NATURALISM
The most influential movement of the 18th century was the development
of the doctrine known as naturalism.

Stands for education in accordance with nature

It means the application of natural laws to the educational process.

To educate according to nature could mean education in accordance with

human development
 AIMS
2 3
All restrictions and discipline should
In developing the
be done away with so that the child
theory of learning,
could grow and enjoy the things that
Rousseau
interested him.
emphasized the
necessity or the
child to be free to
develop according 1
to his own natural Naturalism aimed at the preservation of the
impulses. natural goodness and virtue of the individual
and the formation of a society based upon the
recognition of the natural individual rights.
 TYPES
• Under naturalism, training should not be for definite vocation
as a definite social position or class. A pupil had to be made
adaptable to changing times.
• Naturalism stood for democratic and universal type of
education.
• Rousseau said that education was a basis natural right and,
therefore, every one should be educated in the same way.
• Naturalism emphasized physical education and health training.
• Rousseau advocated moral training through natural punishment
which meant that learning came as a result of the natural
consequences of one’s acts.

• Intellectual education was the development of sense

discrimination, free expression and acquisition of knowledge
through natural curiosity.

• Religious education should be postponed until the child could

understand what was bad through nature and not through
rituals and dogmas.
CONTENT
• The curriculum consisted of activities and interests manifested by
the child in the process of growing up.
• Education was to be the natural unfolding of the in the process of
growing up
• Education was to be the natural unfolding of the child’s potential to
meet his natural needs.
• Instead of books and the traditional 3 r’s, Rousseau favored the
informal exercises of the senses, the muscles, and the tongue.
• “ Robinson Crusoe” was the only desirable textbook because it
portrayed the natural conditions of simple living.
• The development of the senses was obtained through counting,
measuring distances, weighing objects, and singing.
• He had exposure to agriculture and carpentry to develop his
practical judgement.
 AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATION
– Naturalism emphasized the duty of parents in the education of a
child by protecting him from artificial society
– Parents should help develop the child’s inherent qualities.
Education should follow the natural stages of development of the
child.
– There were four stages:
1. Infancy,
2. Childhood,
3. Boyhood and
4. Adolescence.
• During the stages of infancy, from birth to five, the child was
involves, basically, in the growth of his body, in motor activities,
sense perception, and feeling.
• Consequently, the child had to be free from restraint and the body
hardened by actual participation in the nature.
• The child acted naturally and experience was directly the result of
his actions.
• This made him realize what he could do or could not do.
• This should be accomplished without external compulsion or
authority.
– From five to twelve, the stage of childhood, Rousseau advocate a
negative, laissez-faire approach, “do nothing and allow nothing
to be done.”
– His idea was let the child develop as his inner nature
demanded.
– He was to avoid books, emphasized games.
– Let experience be the only teacher.
– From twelve to fifteen, the age of reason, big changes were
bought about, now education by human agencies should begin.
The child’s natural desire to learn should be developed. The
child would then recognized the usefulness of knowledge.
– Rousseau recommended “ Robison Crusoe”: as an example
of making his own materials for use in his study.
– In the social stage, from fifteen to twenty, a perception of
human relations arose.
– Sex impulses appeared to be strong at this stage, and
reason had to check the sexual desires and channel them
to more desirable outlets.
– He should develop an ethical point of view, strive for
spiritual inspiration, and cultivate the aesthetic side of
his life.
 METHODS

– The main contribution of naturalism to the educational

method was its on making the child the center of the
education process.
– The child in nature should determine the process.
– The child in the nature should determine the processes
and techniques of teaching.
– Education should never hamper nor restrain the child’s
natural capacity and interests.
Rousseau established three modern principles of
teaching

1.The principle of growth,

2.The principle of pupil activity
3.The principle of individualization
DEVELOPMENTALISM TO THE PRESENT
• According to the developmentalists, education aimed to unfold the
natural capacities of the child and this development was influenced by
methods used by schools to retard or enhance this development.
• There were many theories and educators associated with
developmentalism
 LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN EDUCATION
– Teacher Education – update one’s learning
– Education in post graduate education
– Multiple Intelligences
– Capital Punishment banned in schools
– High school became 4 years
– 12 years Mandatory education
– Education starts at 66 months (5.5 yrs. of age)