ABSTRACT
There used to be considerable controversy as to whether the word
‘education’ was derived from the Latin word ‘educere’ or ‘educare’.
‘Educere’ means ‘to lead out’, and those who saw this as the source of our
word ‘education’ were anxious to appeal to the derivation as evidence that
teachers, if they were truly educating, should seek to bring or lead out what
was in some sense innate in the child, rather than to impose various
preselected attitudes and characteristics on him. The teacher was to regard
himself as a gardener tending a plant, rather than as a craftsman making a
product. He should encourage the natural flowering or development of the
individual, rather than attempt to mould him. This particular argument,
conducted with reference to the supposed derivation of the word
‘education’, was more than usually silly. In the first place, the fact, if it
were established as a fact, that the word ‘education’ is derived from a
particular Roman word is not particularly compelling evidence to
persuade one to teach in one way rather than another. In the second place,
the Romans themselves used both ‘educere’ and ‘educare’ with reference
to educating children, and it is therefore difficult to see how one can
successfully establish one rather than the other as the source of our
‘education’. In the third place, ‘educere’, besides meaning to lead out, was
also used to mean to train, and ‘educare’, besides meaning to train, was
used to mean to nourish, with reference to plants. In other words, either
term could in fact be said to involve either of the contrasting views of
education. One is glad therefore that this particular etymological game
But although the attempt to carry the argument by reference to the
derivation of ‘education’ is out of favour, the substance of the argument is
very much alive. As we have already seen in considering the concept of
self-regulation, there is a real difference of opinion between those who
would put the emphasis on the idea of forming aspects of the child’s
personality through education, and those who would put it on the idea of
the child being free to unfold his natural personality. There are a number
of concepts and phrases, frequently to be found in current educational
writings, which have in common the implication that the child’s own point
of view should take precedence over the teacher’s, and that the child
should himself dictate the scope and the direction of his education, rather
than be educated in the light of the preconceived values and attitudes of
adults. It is with some of these concepts that this chapter is concerned.
