Rousseuau presents an interesting perspective on self-education in Emile: or A Treatise on Education. In this text, he uses Emile as an example of how a child should be brought up. He says “they retain sounds, form, sensation, but rarely ideas, and still more rarely relations.” (Rousseau, 11). Rousseuau believes that childhood is a time of happiness and joy, it is a time when physical education is most important. It is during the teenage years that a child should start to begin “formal” education.
Rousseuau mentions that although education is important, it should be accomplished through self-education. “…if every man’s fortune were so firmly grasped that he could never lose it, then the established method of education would have certain advantages; the child brought up to his own calling would never leave it, he could never have to face the difficulties of any other condition. (Rousseau 2)” Formal education is good when there are no problems but when something arises, formal education fails.
Rousseuau’s major point is that childhood is a time of physical education while older years require a form of self-education through curiosity. Learning through ones own means is most effective and will help solve problems that arise.
Your last paragraph seems like a kind of quick repeating of what you said, but it also raises question of the curiosity and self education that your post seems like it was going to talk about in the beginning.
I guess my comment is that I don’t know what the central point of your post is. It seems to be a little bit summary? But it’s not summary of the whole text. Even in free posts, I want to see you make something of a reflection on or argument about the text.