Together with this is her respect for each individual child. One of the foundations of Charlotte Mason’s teaching lies in her own Love for children. ‘The teacher who allows his scholars the freedom of the city of books is at liberty to be their guide philosopher and friend and is no longer merely the instrument of forcible intellectual feeding’.Ĭharlotte Mason believed the child need not be instructed but should be directed and that ‘the children not the teacher are the responsible persons they do the work by self-effort’. They have a real thirst for knowledge and if nurtured this not only aids their efforts at school but becomes their continual helper in ‘all the interests, duties and joys of life’. Methods of achieving this latter are by encouraging concentration, vesting authority in various members of the class and appealing to that innate sense of Literature present in all children.
Charlotte Mason lays down two conditions to achieve this the teacher first must show his power is not arbitrary, that he is both in Authority yet under it and secondly the child must be free in his choice of knowledge there must be no coercion. Docility can swiftly become subservience and the more noble state of ‘proud subjection’ should be aimed for. Society is framed on the principle of Authority from the school prefect to the reigning monarch each man is influenced by his contact with Authority-even the hermit or the anarchist he who renounces Society is in the last resort responsible to an Authority within himself.ĭocility is the trait shown in accepting Authority and the teacher’s task is to guide the child between these two. Whether this be in the person of teacher or parent the effect on the child can be lifelong-Charlotte Mason writes ‘The principles of Authority on the one hand and Docility on the other are natural, necessary and fundamental’. The Hadow Report states that ‘Love of reading, joy in the discovery of Literary beauty and enlargement of imaginative experience, these are among the most treasured fruits of a sound English Education’.Ĭharlotte Mason believed that no child was born good or evil but had potential for either and that this was developed by his contacts with the outside world especially his relations with Authority. That the curriculum should be ‘Child centered’-please forgive the Americanism-and not seen simply as ‘knowledge to be stored and facts to be won’ is accepted in theory in all State schools, whilst the value of Literature as a learning medium and not simply as a subject is being more gradually realised. Today though, matters have changed and many of Charlotte Mason’s ideas feature in the 1944 Education Act also the more recent Newsom Report. In those first years this must have seemed a revolutionary concept to the elders of the Victorian ‘Establishment’ who favoured a sternly repressive regime, believing that ‘children should be seen and not heard’, and who took so little interest in the child’s special needs and the uniqueness of his personality. Believing in the power for good and the inner desire to learn present in every child, she formed her ideas into a new Liberal Education where, instead of drudgery ‘Studies serve for delight’. I entered into it, I saw its commodities, springs, meadows, inhabitants and became possessor of that new room as if it had been prepared for me so much was I magnified and delighted in it.’Īlthough the poetry is that of Traherne, the spirit and mystical inner vision is that of Charlotte Mason. It rose up within me and I was enlarged by the whole. ‘When I heard of any new kingdom beyond the seas the light and glory of it entered into me. What he produced is remarkably faithful, helpful, and clear. Rose had only Mason’s writings to go on, along with his own experience. The Charlotte Mason College was now “firmly under the auspices of the University of Manchester’s Department of Education,” and “the vision of the Founder finally laid to rest.” And yet the rebirth of interest in Charlotte Mason sparked by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay had not yet occurred.
Rose interpreted Charlotte Mason at a pivotal time in history. Jacks Memorial Competition, which was opened to students in Training Colleges.” His essay was then published in volume 77 of The Parents’ Review in 1966. He synthesized his thoughts in an “essay written for the M. His unique background of industry work and teaching experience gave him a broad perspective on Charlotte Mason’s ideas. While a student at Matlock, he had the opportunity to teach young people himself. He entered the Matlock College of Education and began an in-depth study of Charlotte Mason’s writings. Rose worked in industry until at some point in his life when he opted for a career change.
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