Why we should develop children’s self- judgment and esteem


Let me bring here a crucial point of Montaigne‘s thought : his conception of education. He lambasts the way educators are trying to stuff the heads of children with all kinds of knowledge that will be of very little help in teaching them how to live well.

The real educative goal at LearningAid consists of teaching children to develop their judgment. For the most essential thing in leading a good life is to be able to discern and judge things well. The formation of judgment is inseparable from self-knowledge: an educator must teach children to come to a judgment about things on the basis of their sensibility and own experiences.

This doesn’t mean that we should give up the attempt to transmit to children values that are essential to a shared life such as good faith, honesty, loyalty, respect for others and tolerance. But we should help children to gauge the importance of these virtues on the basis of their feelings. By teaching them the way to observe the world with a spirit that is at once open and critical, we can help them to make choices in life that suit their individual nature. In short, education must teach people to think well so as to have a better life and more happiness. Montaigne prefers a “well-made” head rather than the quantity of knowledge, he emphasises the quality of judgment: “we only labour to stuff the memory, and leave the conscience and the understanding unfurnished and void”.

Our Private Home Tuition programs have been designed to foster and develop a structured and also a balanced state of mind. We infuse real life experiences into our lessons for students to relate to which results in a holistic approach to education, not just academic excellence!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *