Abstract

J.J. Rousseau, thinker of the Age of Enlightenment, breaks a new ground in education with his work Emile. In his novel, Emile is the name of the child he has grown up imaginatively. Rousseau, describing Emile's life and his relationship with his instructor from birth to adolescence, discusses teacher-student relationship, and he defends that children are innate, pure and noble, and that they must be protected from the negative effects of society. This vision, called the return to nature and aiming to protect children from society's artificiality and self-esteem, is recognized as Naturalism in education world. The basic idea of this movement is that child development is carried out without undue interference and limitations. Parents and educators should be good observers, helpers for providing appropriate experiences, and should be in a position that allows children to grow according to their natural abilities. Rousseau, recommending Robinson Crusoe lifestyle, is opposed to compulsory and restricted education. Rousseau himself, who seems to have influenced many thinkers such as Daniel Defoe, Pestalozzi, Froebel, Dewey, Vygotsky and Piaget, has also been influenced by others. Emile is thought to have been influenced by the work Hayy Ibn Yaqzan written by Avicenna and Ibn Tufail centuries ago. Rousseau also mentions religious and moral education in his work. To him, it is more meaningful to teach children how to choose truthfully, how to choose by using their minds and experiences and to respect their free will, rather than giving them a religious education shaped and modified by society. Although it is not possible to practice today, important points to be taken into consideration in religious education draw attention. In our theoretical article, we have tried to investigate the still-influential Naturalism movement and Rousseau's views on religious-moral education, and contribute to the field. We aim to create an awareness of this subject which has not been researched by any independent study.

Highlights

  • We can summarize the two important views of Rousseau that will be the basis for education: a- Education should be discussed by considering the child's instinctive interest and activities. b- Education should be discussed in parallel with the development of the child [3]

  • In his book Emile, or On Education, Rousseau bases education on 7 principles: 1. Giving self-esteem to childhood: Rousseau has said that the childhood should be evaluated in itself, and it is not true to discuss childhood as a preliminary stage in the transition to adulthood

  • What is the prominence and feature of this work that continues its Universal Journal of Educational Research 6(7): 1539-1545, 2018 influence until today? What's in it? Has Rousseau been influenced by previous work? What does Rousseau think about religious and moral education? We will try to examine these issues in our work

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Summary

Introduction

J.J. Rousseau, who lived in the 18th century (1712-1778), is considered one of the forerunners of the Enlightenment movement. Rousseau, who lived in the 18th century (1712-1778), is considered one of the forerunners of the Enlightenment movement In this period when the tendency to connect nature and man with a new passion has been seen, the thought that the individual attaches importance to other values than himself emerges. We can summarize the two important views of Rousseau that will be the basis for education: a- Education should be discussed by considering the child's instinctive interest and activities. In his book Emile, or On Education, Rousseau bases education on 7 principles: 1. Giving self-esteem to childhood: Rousseau has said that the childhood should be evaluated in itself, and it is not true to discuss childhood as a preliminary stage in the transition to adulthood

Investigating childhood
Negative education
Learning by experience
Age-appropriate education
Citizenship education
Religious education
Who Has Influenced Rousseau?
Religious and Moral Education of Rousseau

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