According to Locke, What Is Good Education?

Vanessa Smith Arruda

Midterm Exam

According to Locke, what is good education?

According to Locke, moral education is more important than other kinds of education. A good education should be enjoyable. According to SparkNotes, the goal of education, in his view, is not to create a scholar, but to create a virtuous man. Locke believes that education should create a person who obeys reason instead of passion. Locke stresses the importance of habit and example in education, while downplaying the role of rules at the same time. This is because children do not normally understand rules, which is why teaching by rules is counterproductive. Habit and example bypass the weaknesses of childhood by utilizing instinct in place of memory and reflection. Because of the importance of example, Locke views it as crucial that the child spends most of his/her time with a tutor or parents. This is crucial to a child having a good education because Locke believes in the importance of the individuals in a child’s life. In order for a child to have a good education Locke believes that each child should be given liberty and pride in their learning. The desire for liberty is especially important in Locke’s idea of education. Liberty here does not mean a complete absence of restraint, but it does entail a sense of independence in the actions of the child. Children want to show that their actions come from themselves and that they are free. Free to learn independently.

What is the banking model of education?

The banking model of education is a concept in philosophy originally explored by Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire in his 1968 book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” (Ourpolitics.net). The name is basically saying that the students are a model for which the educator is giving knowledge to. Once given the knowledge they must model how much they have retained from what exactly the educator had taught them. The banking concept of education is a method of teaching and learning where the students simply store the information relayed to them by the teacher. In a “banking” type of environment, a classroom is structured in a way that the primary duty of students is to remember and accurately recall the information provided by the instructor. They are not asked to participate in any other way. They are to simply absorb the information. Freire also refers to a banking paradigm as regarding students to be adaptable and manageable beings. The more completely they accept the passive role imposed on them, the more they tend simply to adapt to the world as it is and to the view of reality deposited in them. Basically the students have to patiently receive information, memorize it and repeat it exactly as it was said to them by their teachers.

Describe Dewey’s view of experience in education.

Dewey says that the principle that education must be based upon experience if it is to accomplish its ends for both learners and for society. Experience always consists of the actual life experience of individuals. The choice our educational system faces are either to revert to the intellectual and moral standards of a scientific age, or to move forward to a more effective utilization of the scientific method for developing the possibility of a growing, expanding experience. Dewey views the process towards a new education as difficult. The danger of failure lies in the possibility of a misunderstanding of what consists of experience and the experimental method. He maintains his firm belief that the fundamental issue is a question of whether any theory is worthy to receive the name education, and that it is not about which is better. Dewey thought that in a democratic society the school should provide students with the opportunity to experience democracy in action. For Dewey, democracy was more than a form of government. It was a way of living which went beyond politics, votes, and laws to pervade all aspects of society. Dewey recognized that every social group, even a band of thieves, is held together by certain common interests, goals, values, and meanings, and he knew that every such group also encounters other groups. He believed, however, that the extent to which democracy has been attained in any society can be measured by the extent to which differing groups share similar values, goals, and interests and interact freely and fruitfully with each other. He really encouraged the experience aspect of this in education so everyone can share common interests and or experiences (https://eiclsresearch.wordpress.com/types-of-styles/teaching-styles/john-dewey/deweys-philosophy-on-experience-and-education/ )

...