An Analysis Of John Locke's Family Education Thoughts

John Locke is a famous philosopher,politician and educator in the 17 th century.His family education thoughts are comprehensive and systematic,having great influence on later generations.An deep study of Locke’s family education thought will surely bring some useful inspirations to our family education today.This article analyzes the basic situation of the 17th-century English family and finds that British family relationship in the 17 th century was dominated by the “patriarchy”.This kind of family relationship is one of the reasons why the monarchy was maintained.This background makes Locke oppose the monarchy by opposing the "patriarchy" and advocates restricting the monarchy by limiting the patriarchal power in the family.Locke’s family view is based on Locke’s own political thoughts,which is based on the three dimensions of the family’s function,family members’ relations,and family members’ rights and obligations.This article expounds the basic ideas of Locke’s family education.This is the key chapter of this article.The purpose of family education is to lay the foundation for individuals to become gentlemen and elite citizens.Family education plays an important role.It is not only better than school education to promote personal growth,but also a prerequisite for individuals to enter the political society.This shows the connection between Locke’s educational ideology and political ideology.Through education,it cultivates talents for the political society.Parents,tutors,and the same environment are necessary conditions for family education.Because " theory of tabula rasa ",they need teachers and need a certain environment to shape children from the outside world.The content of family education involves five aspects of family health education,family moral education,family intellectual education,family life education,and family financial education.The content of education is relatively comprehensive.In educational methods,it advocates prudent rewards and punishments,emphasis on self-esteem,emphasizing the role of parents as examples,and learning to learn,progress,and developing good habits.Through the exploration of Locke’s family education ideas,it also brings some useful inspirations for our country’s family education today.