Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was an influential philosopher and educational thinker. He believed education should follow the natural development of the child, focusing on experiences rather than formal schooling. He advocated for discipline through natural consequences rather than punishment. Rousseau felt teachers should guide rather than direct students, allowing them freedom to learn through play and exploration. His ideas strongly emphasized learning by doing and influenced progressive education movements.

1. Regional Institute of
Education
(National Council of Educational Research and
Training)
Paper- Basics in Education
Unit- III (Educational thinkers and their
contributions)
Topic- Jean Jacques Rousseau
Under the guidance of- Dr. R Sethy
Group- Roll no. 12 to 22

2. Contents
 Introduction
 Principles of education
 Aims of education
 Views on discipline
 Principles of teaching
 Teacher student relationship
 Curriculum
 Contribution to the society
 Conclusion

3. Introduction
 A philosopher,
influencer and
novelist.
 Born in Geneva,
Switzerland on June
28,1712 and died on
July 2 1778 at
Ermenonville, France.
 His mother died shortly
after childbirth.
 His father was a poor
watchmaker.
Jean Jacques Rousseau, (1712-
1778)

4. Principles of education
 Natural development of child
 Opposed bookish knowledge
 Did not favoured formal education
 Promoted gender based education
 Emphasis on the training of senses

5. Rousseau’s aims of
education
 Attainment of fullest natural growth leading to
balanced, harmonious and useful life.
 Prepares the child to live life to the fullest.
 To provide the child with strength to attain well
regulated freedom.
 Period of instruction, labor and study.
 Training of heart, to make the child loving &
social.
 Religious, moral and social education is
recommended.
 Sex instinct is to be sublimated by redirection in
work and activity.

6. Rousseau’s view on
discipline
 A free atmosphere can enable the child
to develop his inborn and innate
capacities.
 Nature of the children are essentially
good, let them act freely.
 No punishment to the child.
 Discipline by natural consequences.
“Children should never receive punishment as
such; it should always come as natural
consequence of their fault.”

7. Principles of teaching
 Lays stress on direct experience of
things and on the principle of learning
by doing.
 Advocates the adoption of the
heuristic attitude
 Provide sense training
“teach by doing whenever you can
and only fall back on words when
doing is out of the question.”

8. Teacher student
relationship
 Less emphasis on teacher’s role.
 Teacher should provide suitable
opportunities of learning to pupils.
 Teacher should give full freedom to
commit mistakes and learn.
 Teacher is not the source of information.
 Teacher must act as a motivator for
learners. Continued……..

9.  Children should not be directed but
guided.
 Teacher must not think of keeping the
children in control as they need full
freedom to explore and learn.
 Must understand the nature of the
children to be able to control his emotional
reactions.
 Teacher should protect the children from
depression, mental conflicts and
disorders of all kinds.
 Imparting knowledge is not the main
motto of teaching but nurturing the pupil
with love and modify their behaviour.

10. Curriculum
 It is based on the nature of the
child, his interests, need,
ability etc.
 It lays stress on subjects that
are helpful in self
preservation.
 It stress basic sciences.
 It emphasizes physical and
health education.

11. Contributions
 As society developed, man’s
freedom became constrained.
 Man is morally responsible to the
society either created or accepted.
 Opposed the concept of private
wealth and favored using it to meet
necessities. This demonstrates his
proclivity for socialism.
Continued…...

12.  Education should be
obtained from people,
things, and nature
rather than formal
education.
 Children and adults
should be treated
differently.
 He's known as a
"Thinker of Paradoxes."
 His ideas may be
considered “socialist”,
"democratic" or
“totalitarian”.

13. Contribution to the Society
 Influenced movements like the
Enlightenment, Romanticism, Reform
Pedagogy (Montessori and others),
and Marxism.
 His reasoning was, however, motivated
by a deliberate strategy.
 We can conclude Rousseau's
contradictions by viewing him as a
hunter-gatherer.

14. Implications
 Emphasized learning by doing.
 Opposed the concept of study and
memorization.
 Family association is the only natural
association.
 society must devolve from a social
contract.

15. Conclusions
 Exerted great influence on education in
its manifold aspects.
 Main aim was to destroy traditionalism.
 He asserted that education is a natural
process.
 He declared that a child is not a miniature
adult.
 His instincts ought to be respected, his
personality, individuality should be kept
intact.

16. References
 Collins, M. P. (1976). “Rousseau’s philosophy (or
philosophies?) of education”, The Irish Journal of
Education, 1976, x , 2, pp 51-80
 Deivam M. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his
contribution in educational philosophy,
Department of Education, the Gandhigram Rural
Institute.
 Western educationist “Jean-Jacques Rousseau”
and his contribution in educational philosophy
 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-
Jacques-Rousseau
 http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Rous
seau.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-
Jacques_Rousseau