教育によって、活力・勇気・感受性・知性を最大限に備えた男女から成る社会は、これまで存在したいかなる社会ともまったく異なるものとなるだろう。・・・。産業革命以降における貧困は、集団的な愚かさによるものにすぎない。感受性があれば、人々は貧困をなくしたいと願うだろうし、知性があれば、その方法を見出すだろう。そして勇気があれば、それを実行に移すだろう。
A community of men and women possessing vitality, courage, sensitiveness and intelligence, in the highest degree that education can produce, would be very different from anything that has hitherto existed. ... Poverty, since the industrial revolution, is only due to collective stupidity. Sensitiveness would make people wish to abolish it, intelligence would show them the way, and courage would lead them to adopt it.
Source: On Education, especially in early childhood, 1926, by Bertrand Russell
More info.: https://russell-j.com/beginner/OE02-230.HTM
＜寸言＞
「知性」は主に学校教育によって育まれます。一方で、個人の性格や気質は「三つ子の魂百まで」という諺が示すように、３歳頃までの家庭での躾や関わり方によって大きく形成されます。したがって、性格がある程度かたまってしまってから――たとえば小学校に入ってから――望ましくない性格を直そうとしても、そう簡単にはいきません。
そうであるならば、保育園や幼稚園における教育や躾はとても重要ということになります。しかし、教育内容や人的資源、環境面で理想的とされる保育園や幼稚園に通える児童は、経済的に恵まれた家庭の子どもに限られてしまいがちです。
幼児期における好ましい性格の形成は、「他者に対する思いやり」や「共感の土台」となり、それは将来的に寛容で協調的な社会を築く基礎にもなります。したがって、国や社会にとって幼児教育はきわめて重要であり、公私を問わず、保育園や幼稚園への財政的支援を通じて、できるだけ多くの子どもに質の高い教育を受けさせるべきでしょう。
しかし残念なことに、比較的経済的に恵まれた人々は、自分の子どもをできるだけ評判のよい保育園や幼稚園に通わせたいと思いながらも、公立の保育園や幼稚園に多額の税金を支出することには消極的です。
そうした人々は、次のバートランド・ラッセルの言葉をどう受け止めるでしょうか――
「産業革命以降における貧困は、集団的な愚かさによるものにすぎない。感受性があれば、人々は貧困をなくしたいと願うだろうし、知性があれば、その方法を見出すだろう。そして勇気があれば、それを実行に移すだろう。」
"Intelligence" is primarily nurtured through formal schooling. On the other hand, an individual's character and temperament are, as the Japanese proverb "Mitsugo no tamashii hyaku made" ("The soul of a three-year-old lasts a hundred years") suggests, largely shaped through family discipline and interaction up to around the age of three. Therefore, once a personality has more or less solidified -- for example, after entering elementary school -- it is not easy to correct undesirable traits.
If this is the case, then education and discipline in nursery schools and kindergartens are of critical importance. However, access to such ideal early childhood institutions -- those that offer quality education, well-trained staff, and a good learning environment -- is often limited to children from economically privileged families.
The development of a sound personality during early childhood forms the basis of compassion and empathy toward others, which in turn becomes the foundation for building a tolerant and cooperative society in the future. Accordingly, early childhood education is of great importance to both the nation and society as a whole. Financial support, whether for public or private nursery schools and kindergartens, should be provided to ensure that as many children as possible receive high-quality education.
Unfortunately, many people who are relatively well-off economically wish to send their own children to the most reputable institutions, yet they are reluctant to support public nursery schools and kindergartens through substantial taxation.
How might such people respond to the following words of Bertrand Russell?
“Poverty, since the industrial revolution, is only due to collective stupidity. Sensitiveness would make people wish to abolish it, intelligence would show them the way, and courage would lead them to adopt it."