Rousseau's notion of the Noble Savage views the natural as the ethical base of man. He believed that schooling should begin with the soil, not in the clouds.
In Rousseau's discourse on Education, or Emile, he describes the development and individual tuition of a fictitious boy/young man in line with the principles of 'natural education.' The treatise is comprised of five books, and a sixth on Sophie, the female scholar. Each book describes the appropriate way to educate the boy according to life stages. The second phase, ages 2-12 is the 'age of nature,' in which the child receives only 'negative education,' no moral instruction, and no verbal learning. He believed the mind should be left undisturbed until all its faculties have developed. One of the lessons in the second book involves tending to a garden plot in order to understand notions of property, and cultivation. It is a lesson in culture.
The cultivation of a garden has continued to be a departure for learning in progressive education. Dewey believed gardening, the hands-on, democratic approach teaches responsibility and recognition of the individual's place in society. Dating back to Aristotle, tekne or the intelligence of agriculture was an essential skill for understanding necessity, ergo life and death. Understanding the interconnected nature of plant growth and nourishment also teaches about sustenance, dependence, money, exchange, use and responsibility. Therefore, it is also a place-based way of teaching about globalization. Increasingly in the 21st century we are recognizing the importance of understanding the growth of our foodstuffs; learning about food is learning about life.
Gardens create a dynamic learning environment for not only teaching, but involving students with their locale, creating awareness about the natural environment and food. It is an essential feature of 21st century education.
No comments:
Post a Comment