John Locke's Pedagogy

Dwight Goodyear
Fairleigh Dickinson University

I. Introduction
In 1693 John Locke, after writing extensively on topics such as human understanding,
government, money, and toleration, published a book which seemed quite heretical at
the time: Some Thoughts Concerning Education. Unfortunately, for the modern reader
there doesnt seem to be any shock value left at all. Consider the three key themes which
are addressed:
1. the development of self-discipline through esteem and disgrace rather than force
or reward;
2. the significance of developing a good character; and
3. the importance of developing reason in a child by treating the child as a rational
entity.
Now what could possibly be so heretical about these themes? At first glance it doesnt
seem like much. Indeed, many of Lockes ideas are quite humane and consistent with his
strong democratic sentiments. However, as we will see, there is something left for us to
worry about; something which may still be a bit heretical for us today: Lockes belief that
the mind is a piece of wax or white paper which the active educator must keep as still as
possible in order to accurately stamp the information she would have the
pupil passively receive. Let us begin with an over-view of the three themes.

II. Self-Discipline
Locke begins his book by noting that a sound mind in a sound body is the formula for
happiness. The problem is that nature rarely supplies an individual with both; thus one
needs education to acquire both physical and mental fortitude. Locke writes in section
32:
As the strength of the body lies chiefly in being able to endure hardships, so also does that of the
mind. And the great principle and foundation of all virtue and worth is placed in this, that a man
is able to deny himself his own desires, cross his own inclinations, and purely follow what reason
directs is best, though the appetite lean the other way.

Lockes great principle, that which allows one to cross ones inclinations, is selfdiscipline. But in order to achieve such discipline one must first be disciplined:
The great mistake I have observed in peoples breeding their children has been, that this has not
been taken care enough of its due season; that the mind has not been made obedient to
discipline, and pliant to reason, when at first it was most tender, most easy to be bowed.
Some Thoughts Concerning Education,section 34

However, parents all too often err by being too lenient or too strict. Either extreme
prevents a child from growing up as an adult governed by reason, that is, an adult
marked by self-discipline. For a spoiled child will end up having no mastery over
inclinations and a severely disciplined child will lose the vigorous, self-confident spirit
necessary to amount to something in the world. But by no means are we faced with an
either/or; rather, a perfect balance between the two is where the secret of education
resides:
To avoid the danger that is on either hand is the great art: and he that has found a way to keep up
a childs spirit, easy, active, and free; and yet, at the same time, to restrain him, from the many
things he has a mind to; and to draw him to the things that are uneasy to him; he, I say, that
knows how to reconcile these seeming contradictions, has, in my opinion, got the true secret of
education.
Some Thoughts Concerning Education, section 46

But how can we approach this secret? How can we reconcile these dangerous
contradictions? Well one approach, the first approach which Locke is interested in
refuting, is the so-called rod. This common chastisement is the most unfit of any to be
used in education (section 47) insofar as the rod (1) leads to no mastery over our
inclination to indulge corporeal pleasure and avoid pain but rather encourages it; (2)
leads to an aversion of what the tutor is trying to get the student to be interested in; (3)
leads to the development of a slavish temper; (4) leads to a timid creature who has no
spirit and will therefore be useless to himself and others (section 51). All four criticisms
are united by the same logic: the rod ends up producing and/or strengthening the faulty
disposition it was employed to remove. As a result the rod is self-defeating as a means of
developing the discipline which is to lead to self-discipline or rational autonomy.
But why all this gruesome talk of rods? Why not talk of sugar plums and apples at the
end of a long mathematics lesson? Wont a child work and obey if it has some sweet end
in view, that is, some rewardrather than a punishment? Perhaps. But then the child
doesnt learn the material for the sake of the material but for the sake of the reward. And,
insofar as rewards play to the appetites, they are inconsistent with the general function
of education: to engender a mind which can resist inclinations. Of course, Locke hears
your question before you can raise it: But you take away the rod on the one hand, and
these little encouragments, which they are taken with, on the other; how then (will you
say) shall children be governed? (section 54).
Lockes own answer comes to us in section 56: the incentives of esteem and disgrace.
This answer is based on two observations: (1) children are very susceptible to praise and
commendation; (2) esteem and disgrace works best when accompanied by
corresponding agreeable or disagreeable rewards. In short, Lockes idea is this: the best

means of discipline is to cast a cold shoulder and to use the silent treatment when a child
does wrong. For no child wants to be left out. No child wants his or her actions to go
unrecognized. Thus to be disgraced is to allow the child to experience the consequences
of its bad behavior. The child comes to realize that certain actions will lead the group to
turn their backs on uncivilized behavior. Conversely, esteem leads to acceptance,
recognition, and productive social cooperation. The key is that in both cases the
discipline comes about indirectly and the benefits do not attend any particular action.
Rather, the rewards that come must be construed as necessarily belonging to, and
constantly attending one, who by his carriage has brought himself into a state of disgrace
or commendation (section 58). But Locke goes on to tell us that if the right course be
taken with children then there will not be so much need of the application of the
common reward and punishments, as we had imagined, and as the general practice has
established (section 63). For all too often parents place too many rules on children
which naturally lead to more frequent punishments of transgressions. In fact, children
are to be left perfectly free and unrestrained, as far as they can consist with the respect
due to those that are present; and that with the greatest allowance (section 63). But
there must be some restraints and habits which are necessary. What could they be?

III. Reason And Character

The idea that a parent or instructor should not lay down too many rules serves as a nice
bridge to the development of character and reason. Consider this quotation:
And here gives me leave to take notice of one thing I think a fault in the ordinary method of
education; and that is, the charging of childrens memories, upon all occasions, with rules and
precepts, which they often do not understand, and are constantly as soon forgot as given.
Some Thoughts Concerning Education, section 64

Here is how Locke thinks we should proceed: (1) make sure the child understands and
can carry out the task you set for them; (2) have them repeat the task over and over until
the performance of the task no longer depends on memory or reflection. Now this latter
step is crucial for the development of a good character. For it is when a child is young
that one can implant all the good habits necessary for further development. Locke writes
in section 64: Having this way cured your child of any fault, it is cured forever: and thus,
one by one, you may weed them out all, and plant what habits you please. But the key is
that these rules are not to be imposed as duties or difficulties; rather, whatever rules you
want a child to follow must be implanted by indispensable practice which will lead to
natural habits functioning beyond conscious memory. Thus we see that character
development is intimately connected with repetition and the formation of habits.

Now one of the most important habits one can develop in a child is the habit of reasoning
well. Of course, the question arises: can one reason with a child? Rousseau didnt think
so: to reason with a youth is to impose those adult-like constraints which rob childhood
of its innocence and wild freedom. But Locke is confident that children are indeed
rational. He writes:
It will perhaps be wondered, that I mention reasoning with children and yet I cannot but think
that the true way of dealing with them. They understand it as early as they do language; and, if I
misobserve not, they love to be treated as rational creatures sooner than is imagined. It is a pride
should be cherished in them, and, as much as can be, made the greatest instrument to turn them
by.
Some Thoughts Concerning Education,section 81

Of course Locke doesnt expect one to reason with a child like one would with an adult;
yet he thinks it natural and proper that a teacher find the appropriate level of discourse
and situate herself there. The point is to treat the child as a rational entity in order to
make it become one:
The sooner you treat him as a man, the sooner he will begin to be one: and if you admit him into
serious discourses sometimes with you, you will insensibly raise his mind above the usual
amusements of youth, and those trifling occupations which it is commonly wasted upon.
Some Thoughts Concerning Education, section 95

For children, according to Locke, are curious; therefore, a good teacher will be the one
who can seize this natural curiosity and channel it into knowledge. But how? Simple: by
giving answers which are true, clear, and understandable within the sphere of the childs
experience. A teacher must never lie. A teacher must always give an account and inspire
a students desire to learn more and more. But here we run into a few questions: Does
the teacher share the inquiry? Does the teacher learn? Is the teacher to showignorance?
Is the child in any way active in relation to the material? Let us look at these questions.

IV. Implications
Recall the thesis which Locke puts forth in Book II of his Essay Concerning the Human
Understanding(1690):
In that all our knowledge is founded, and from that it ultimately derives itself. Our observation
employed either about external sensible objects, or about the internal operations of our minds
perceived and reflected upon by ourselves, is that which supplies our understanding with all the
materials for thinking. These two are the fountains of our knowledge, from whence all the ideas
we have, or can naturally have, do spring (IIi2).

This is Lockes empiricism which states that all our ideas come from sense perception or
reflection (introspection). Of course, this is not to say that ideas come ready made into
the mind; but it is to say thatevery idea is ultimately reducible to elements which have

been the data of sensible or introspective experience. But it is important to note that
even introspection deals with ideas built up or abstracted from sensory data. There is
nothing in a childs mind at birth; indeed Locke argues in the Essay that at birth the
mind is like a sheet of white paper (IIi2) or an empty cabinet (Iii15). This theory has
profound consequences for his pedagogy. For if all knowledge is gained by experiencing
the world through the senses, then what the child experiences and is habituated to will
make all the difference.
Now we have already seen that a teacher or parent must instill discipline when a childs
mind is pliant and capable of being bowed. We have also seen the importance of planting
the right habits for the formation of character. Indeed, at one point Locke suggests that
we will be able to plant any habits we wish; but this radical statement seems to be
checked by the observation that God has stamped certain characters upon mens minds,
which, like their shapes, may perhaps be a little mended; but can hardly be totally altered
and transformed into the contrary (section 66). So there are certain natural capacities
which do not allow the instructor free reign over the molding process. But it is important
to note that bothGod and man actively stamp the childs passive mind. Take, for
example, these variations on the metaphor:
Keep the mind in an easy calm temper, when you will have it receive your instructions, or any
increase of knowledge. It is as impossible to draw fair and regular characters on a trembling
mind, as on shaking paper
Some Thoughts Concerning Education, section 167

He continues in section 216 where he describes a mans little son as follows: I

considered [the son] only as white paper, or wax, to be moulded and fashioned as one
pleases. The metaphor of the empty cabinet comes up in section 167:
It should therefore be the skill and art of the teacher, to clear their heads of other thoughts, whilst
they are learning of anything, the better to make room for what he would instill into them, that it
may be received with attention and application, without which it leaves no impression.

So we see that the educator, in order to educate, must make room in the head: the
paper must be clean, the wax must be smooth, the cabinet must be empty. Any thoughts
of fear or frustration will inevitably crowd the space which must receive the sensory data
from without.
It is here that we can finally answer the questions put forth above. For although the
educator is to tell the truth and give an account to the curious child in such a way that
the information becomes interesting, the educator is the one who knows, who is active,
and who has the authority to mold, choose, and instill habits into the pupil's passive
mind. But why this asymmetry? Perhaps a pedagogy which emphasizes both passive and

active transactions with ones educational environment and a shared inquiry with the
teacher would prove more fruitful. And wouldnt a pedagogy which emphasizes active
participation, transformation, and questioning have positive political consequences? For
although Locke was a democrat, it is hard to reconcile a pedagogy which sees children as
passive receptacles of pre-existing truth with the demand for transformation,
adjustment, and critical involvement so integral to any democratic society. In the end
Lockes pedagogy should be admired for its bold steps in the direction of rational
development and humane treatment of children; but, as with all thinkers, we must
critically receive his theory lest our minds, too, become pieces of wax obedient to
authority.