John
Jean-Jacques
A R E S E A R C H S T U D Y
C O N D U C T E D B Y :
S H E L B Y P A R K E R
&
S A R A H W I L L I N G H A M

A MONTESSORI SCHOOL WILL REFLECT
ROUSSEAU’S PHILOSOPHY OF LEARNING
AND EDUCATION.
A N D
A TRADITIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOL WILL
REFLECT A COMBINATION OF LOCKE AND
ROUSSEAU’S PHILOSOPHIES.


Investigate the ideas of John Locke and Jean Jacques
Rousseau

Identify common themes found between their philosophies

Compare and contrast common themes

Observe children, educators and the environment in a classroom

Analyze the collected information

Determine which theorist’s principles are dominant in contemporary education environments.

John
Locke
August 29, 1632 –
October 28, 1704
A.K.A
The Father of
Learning Theory
Primary Text:
Some Thoughts
Concerning Education
&
An Essay Concerning
Human Understanding
 At 14, he entered Westminster School.
 In 1652, he attended Christ Church, in
Oxford where he received his B.A and
M.A

He never married and had no children.
 Thoughts on knowledge: derives from external world

Jean-Jacques
Rousseau
June 28, 1712 –
July 2, 1778
A.K.A
The Father of
Developmental Psychology
Primary Text:
Emile
 He received no formal education past the age of 13.

In 1732, he began to self-educate.
 He had one son, and possibly 4 other children, but he gave them all away.

Thoughts on knowledge: derives from innate ideas and nature’s inner promptings.


Purpose of Education

Role of Child

Role of Educator

Educational Environment

Rewards and Punishments

Curiosity

Innate Ideas

Common Themes John Locke
Purpose of Education Self Control, Socializing Process,
Formation of Character
Role of Child
Role of Educator
Educational
Environment
Rewards and
Punishments
Curiosity
Innate Ideas
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Personal Developmental Process, in accordance with biological timetable
A blank slate for the educator to write on. His mind is impressionable.
Develop their pupils’ natural capacities to their limit.
Learns in accordance with biological timetable, result of internal influences
Truthful, hands off, does not make any attempt to affect child’s decisions.
Social settings where children learn by associations, repetition, and imitation. Here they gain experiences.
Praise and flattery as rewards and disapproval as punishments.
A child’s curiosity should be directed by education.
Removal of child from society, child follows innate curiosity and desire to learn
Children experience the natural consequences of his own acts or behavior
A child’s natural curiosity should guide its educational process.
No innate ideas, tabula rasa, ideas derive from experiences
Knowledge derives from innate reason and ideas

Montessori School
 The focus is on the child’s making the conscious decision to decide what subject they want to focus on. It is the focus of the child’s decision making and will power to pursue the activities he or she desires.
Public School



During their math lesson, the students were learning in order to solve problems in everyday life.
The lesson plan placed emphasis on connecting the activities to something in reality.
Main goal: to be able to solve real life problems.
ROUSSEAU LOCKE

Montessori School

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When a child finished a project, he cleaned it up and chose a new project.
The children are allowed to talk freely.
The majority of the children work diligently.
All extremely eager to answer questions.
Use each other as a scaffold to learn.
As time went on, interactions between the children became more social.
The children were directing each other on how to sit around the carpet, to get into a circle.
LOCKE & ROUSSEAU
Public School

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
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Children were often told to be quiet.
One student was helper of the day. He/she would pass out papers and pencils.
The children need some prompting from the teacher to start and complete their work.
The children would assist the teacher in answering the warmup questions.
LOCKE

Montessori School

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Teacher promoted children to work.
Teacher called up two children at a time. She appeared to be giving them some sort of skill assessment.
When the learning was directed by the teacher the group was much louder, as if they were trying to compete with each other to get to the right answer.
Teacher leaves open ended questions yet directs them to the answer through visual tools and carefully stated questions.
LOCKE & ROUSSEAU
Public School

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For the first 15-20 minutes the teacher didn’t say much to the students, it seemed like they were rather independent.
Teacher asked guiding questions.
Teacher made sure the students stayed on track.
Teacher was the center of focus as she went over the warm-up worksheet with the students.
Teacher kept controlled pace of activities. “C’mon lets get started”
LOCKE

Montessori School

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Child centered room there is no front of the room the tables aren’t directed in any certain direction.
Child treat environment well.
Close doors to bathrooms, turn off lights and wash hands all without any prompting.
Five stations some children are at the tables. Some children working on the floor.
Everything is child size.
ROUSSEAU
Public School

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The white board was the center, focus of the room.
Chairs and desks were child sized.
Desks were set up in groups of four.
Every wall was covered with visual learning aids.
There were lockers in the back of the classroom for students to keep their personal belongings.
There was a reading loft and library.
Different materials were placed throughout the classroom for the students to use at appropriate times.
LOCKE

Montessori School




One boy said to another, “I like your work area!” He answered enthusiastically: “Thank you!”
Teacher: “I’m impressed!” verbal affirmations
Students were talking – teacher threated that if they continued to talk, they’d have to get back to work.
Teacher made an announcement that everyone must get back to their seats, but the students didn’t listen, so she turned off the light to “warn” them.
LOCKE
Public School

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During a math game, who ever won received a piece of candy.
If the children did something they weren’t suppose to, the teacher would put their name on the board.
They competed for prizes.
If they didn’t complete something, they would have to continue to work on it while others got to move on to more exciting activities.
LOCKE

Montessori School


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The children were initially intrigued by our presences. They occasionally glanced at us but then immediately return to their activities. The teacher did not say anything to the students when they were obviously curious about us.
One child asked if “Christopher learned capital letters?” to another child, because he has to learn “those things first” in order to learn his capital letters.
One girl made rounds of the room, in order to see what others are doing.
ROUSSEAU
Public School



The children were curious about us, but the teachers told them to stop paying attention to us.
They asked a lot of random questions that the teacher wouldn’t answer if they strayed from the topic.
The teacher gave the children math manipulatives and allowed them to do what they wanted with them.
LOCKE & ROUSSEAU

Montessori School
Public School
ROUSSEAU
5 Rousseau
3 Locke
LOCKE
6 Locke
1 Rousseau

A MONTESSORI SCHOOL WILL REFLECT
ROUSSEAU’S PHILOSOPHY OF LEARNING
AND EDUCATION.
A N D
A TRADITIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOL WILL
REFLECT A COMBINATION OF LOCKE AND
ROUSSEAU’S PHILOSOPHIES.

Our hypothesis was false.
The Montessori school exhibited nearly an even number of
Locke and Rousseau principles. Whereas the traditional public school was Locke dominant.
Public
School
Montessori
School
(Nurture)
(Nature)

H O W D O C H I L D R E N C O N D I T I O N E D T O A
C E R T A I N E N V I R O N M E N T A C T I F T H E Y A R E
P L A C E D I N A D I F F E R E N T E N V I R O N M E N T ?
I S O N E E N V I R O N M E N T B E T T E R T H A N T H E
O T H E R ?
D O P A R E N T S C H O O S E C E R T A I N
E N V I R O N M E N T S F O R T H E I R C H I L D R E N
A C C O R D I N G T O T H E N E E D S O F T H E C H I L D
O R A C C O R D I N G T O T H E I R O W N
P R E F E R E N C E O F E D U C A T I O N A L M E T H O D ?