Naturalism: A

Philosophy
Reported by Joao Celestino

Short Recap
Jean-Jacques

Rousseau (1712-

1778) - veered back and forth

from a romantic perspective of
human nature to a rationalist
one.

Development

of human character
should follow nature. There are
two kinds of self esteem.
Amour de soi an intrinsic love of
being. Love of oneself which
leads to creation of values.
Amour propre or pride which is
created from selfishness. It seeks
to control and to dominate.

Heinrich

Pestalozzi (1746-1827)
used Rousseaus ideas but
retained a belief in a supernatural
God.

Herbert

Spencer (1820-1903)
Turned Darwinian evolutionary
theory into a sociology of
knowledge.

Beliefs
One

must look to nature and to

human nature, as part of the
natural order.
The key to understanding nature
is through the senses. Sensation
is the basis of reality
Natures processes are slow,
gradual, and evolutionary, our
education must be unhurried

Goals
What

do you feel are the goals?

Back to the Goals

To

create a philosophy different

from the old.
A new form of education for the
Enlightened generation.
Stop learning bookish information
and help children become more
active in their environment.

Education

is dependent on the
stage of the learner.
When they exhibit physiological
and psychological readiness is
when they are ready.

This

essentially meant more

people who were amour de soi
over amour propre and not the
other way around.

A Naturalist Curriculum
Not

the liberal arts and sciences

because they created people who
were aiming for power and
prestige.
Pedantic teachers taught these
subjects in the wrong way
making them highly verbal that
was remote from nature.
Civilized people in the wrong
way; Detracted human beings

Their

curriculum was based on

the readiness and needs of the
human being.
The childs nature, interests, and
needs provided the basis for the
curriculum.
Children learned what they
wanted and were ready to learn.

Human

experience was rich with

activity and these led to growth
and development.
Over mastery of a subject
matter, they saw learning as
resulting from activities, projects,
and problem solving.

Role of the Teacher

The

teacher should be permissive

and learn alongside their
students
An invisible hand that guides the
student. Ever-present.
A manipulator of the learning
environment of the child. The
child wont even know that
he/she is learning.
Must know about the

Methodology
Usees

nature as an educative

force.
The natural environment should
not be interfered with, rather, we
cooperate with its ebb and flow.

Encourage

learning through
exploration and interaction with
the environment.
The educator should not be in a
hurry to have the student learn.
Be patient, permissive, and
nonintrusive.
The discovery method
discovers knowledge rather than
have it taught to him vicariously

The

teacher must stand back and

let the student learn on his/her
own.
Find indirect strategies to teach
the child.
The teacher must not impose his
own ideas.

Overview
Learning

should originate with a direct

experience rather than verbal.
Childhood is an important stage in
development. The curriculum for instruction
should come from the child.
Childhood and adolescence are not one
piece but cumulative stages of development
that have their own readiness for learning
and appropriate learning exercises.
The school is not separate rather it is an
extension of the childs environment.