Philosophical Groundwork of a New and Innovative Teaching

The bearing of Montaignes Education of Children is to lay down the philosophic groundwork for a new and innovative way of teaching babyren. The purpose of this new system is to foster the childs able growth as oppose to filling the childs head with facts that he regurgitates, just now does not understand. In Montaignes words, the direction should put a child by dint of its paces, making it taste things, ingest them, and discern them by itself (110).As well as encouraging intellectual growth, Montaigne as well int abolishs to promote wisdom, character and physical development as a way of reproduction the entire person. Montaignes assertion is that the purpose behind breeding should not be for the sole aim of the increase in admitledge, but to surrender become better and prudentr by it (112). The boilers suit effect of the fosterage should be to produce an exclusive that is both wise and happy correspond to Montaigne the two atomic number 18 irreconcilably bound, as the surest sign of wisdom is constant sunniness (119).The methods used to achieve Montaignes ideal precept are a compartmentalisation of the ability and talent of the tutor the individual attention paid to a learner and the comprehensive nature of the curriculum. Montaigne asserts that a disciple is only as good as the skill of his tutor. The ideal tutor in Montaignes look would be one that is more wise than learned, having a well make rather than a well filled head (110). The tutor should not have the school-age child repeat what is told to him, as the goal of the education is not to memorize, but rather to learn.The tutor should be a guide in order to offer the ideas of great authors to the student and then let him know how to make them his own (111). Furthermore, the tutor is only responsible for one student at a time and without interference from parents. Being alone with the student allows the tutor to truly become aquatinted with the students aptitudes and allows for t he formulation of an individual and personal education for the one pupil. The actual subjects to be learned are divided by not only the discipline of dissect, but also the development of physical ability, moral fiber and interpersonal skills.The development of mind, ashes and spirit together leads to the transformation of a child to a well-rounded man. Montaigne believes in the dressing of the tree trunk as well as the mind, a typically Greek concept. The tutor, therefore, is responsible for physical training as it is not enough to toughen his soul we must also toughen his muscles (113). The training of body serves a duel purpose, to ease the burdened mind by giving it something else to think about and by building up the pupils body in order to fight off injury and disease.It is only by and by his body has been trained that the intellectual education can start out. Intellectually, Montaigne believes in blood line the students formal education with the sciences, in order to fo ster the understanding of the earthly concerns inborn laws. The tutor should explain to him the meaning of logic, physics, geometry, rhetoric and the science he chooses as a way to give him the marrow and the subject predigested (118). This history of basic scientific principles gives the student the ability to understand and interpret the passages create verbally by famous scientists given to him by the tutor.This assertion, that children should be allowed to recognize authorised information for themselves, is the cornerstone of Montaignes theory of education. The other subjects to be studied should be literature and philosophy, and should be taught in the same manner as the sciences. Montaigne argues against the study of grammar and classical languages, such as Greek or Latin, as he believes these to be grounded in memorization as opposed to logical mind and reasoning. Montaigne asserts that the purpose of education is to produce not a grammarian or a logician, but a gentlem an (125).However, despite the discourse on formal education, the actual intellectual instruction received is secondary to the childs overall development as a person. The next part of the childs education is argued by Montaigne to be the most important. The tutor should not only be an teacher on the matters of reason and logic, but also a moral push back in the life of the student. The tutors job is to instill strong virtues in the child while he is still young, instructing him in the good precepts concerning valor, prowess, magnanimity, and temperance, and the security of fearing nil (120).The tutor is to teach the child moderation, civic responsibility, humility and a estimable curiosity to inquire into all things (114). The goal of this instilling of virtues is to create an adult, guide only by reason, who is as capable of making wise decisions as well as being educated (114). The student, only after the controversy of a great deal of education in academics and virtues, is ta ught a last lesson about interactions with others.At some point in the education the pupil is expected to interact with others and put his education to use. The student is expected to travel to other countries in order to interact with a diverse rove of people and cultures. Through these interactions the pupil will further his own education by rubbing and polishing his brains with the contact with those of others (112). The informal education through experience leads the student to gain a grasp of social situations and begin to understand the way society works.The ultimate goal in this is to have the student put everything to use by finding valuable education in all of those around him (114). Montaigne even goes so far as to assert that eventually even the stupidity and weakness of others will be an education to him (115). Overall, with the completion of the relationship between tutor and pupil the end result will be a reasoning, virtuous, educated and extremely wise individual w ho will be well equipped to deal with the world and who will be constantly bettering himself.