社会的に無害な唯一の私有財産
子供が庭に出入りできる場合は,一段と入念な形の建設する心を養うことができる。庭にいる子供の最初の衝動は,美しい花をみな摘み取ってしまうことである。禁止によってこれを阻止することは容易であるが,禁止するだけでは教育として十分ではない。おとなは,庭を尊重するからこそむやみに花を摘むのを控えるが,子供にも,同様な,庭を尊重する心を植えつけてやりたいと思う。おとなの庭に寄せる尊敬は,喜ばしい結果を生み出すためには労働と努力が必要であることを知っていることから生じている。子供が三歳になるころには,庭のひと隅を与えて,そこに種をまくように勧めることができる。種が芽を出し花が開けば,自分の花は,貴重ですばらしいものに思われる。そのとき,子供は,母親の花も大事に扱わなければならないということを,真に理解することができるのである。 |
Pt.2 Education of Character - Chap. 6: ConstructivenessThe first beginnings of many virtues arise out of experiencing the joys of construction. When a child begs you to leave his constructions undestroyed, you can easily make him understand that he must not destroy other people's. In this way you can create respect for the produce of labour, the only socially innocuous source of private property. You also give the child an incentive to patience, persistence and observation; without these qualities, he will not succeed in building his tower to the height upon which he had set his heart. In play with children, you should only construct yourself sufficiently to stimulate ambition and to show how the thing is done; after that, construction should be left to their own efforts.If a child has access to a garden, it is easy to cultivate a more elaborate form of constructiveness. The first impulse of a child in a garden is to pick every attractive flower. It is easy to check this by prohibition, but mere prohibition is inadequate as an education. One wants to produce in the child the same respect for the garden that restrains the grown-ups from picking wantonly. The respect of the grown-up is due to realization of the labour and effort required to produce the pleasing result. By the time a child is three years old, he can be given a corner of the garden and encouraged to plant seeds in it. When they come up and blossom, his own flowers seem precious and wonderful ; then he can appreciate that his mother's flowers also must be treated with care. |
(掲載日:2015.03.31/更新日: )