--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Rousseau ranks among the great…" description: "\"Rousseau ranks among the great educational theorists of the modern era, even if he was the last man to put in charge of a classroom. Young adults, he t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8f/terry-eagleton-1660_adults_rousseau-ranks-among-the-great-education_2593741.png" --- # Rousseau ranks among the great educational theorists of… ![“Rousseau ranks among the great educational theorists of the modern era, even if he was the last man to put in charge of a classroom. Young adults, he thought, should be allowed to develop their capabilities in their distinctive way.” quote by Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8f/terry-eagleton-1660_adults_rousseau-ranks-among-the-great-education_2593741.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8f/terry-eagleton-1660_adults_rousseau-ranks-among-the-great-education_2593741.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8f/terry-eagleton-1660_adults_rousseau-ranks-among-the-great-education_2593741.png) > “Rousseau ranks among the great educational theorists of the modern era, even if he was the last man to put in charge of a classroom. Young adults, he thought, should be allowed to develop their capabilities in their distinctive way.” [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Rousseau advocated learner‑centered education, allowing youth to develop uniquely, contrasting with rigid classroom control. **In simple terms:** Rousseau supported self‑directed learning. Key Takeaway Promote autonomy in education. Themes education philosophy individualism pedagogy modernity Mood analytical critical Type theoretical educational When to use this quote - school reform - parental guidance - self‑study programs Key Concepts constructivism developmental psychology curriculum design Questions to Reflect On - How can schools balance freedom and assessment? - What role should teachers play in self‑directed learning? A Different Perspective Implementing autonomy can clash with standardized testing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adults/) [Capability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capability/) [Classroom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/classroom/) [Classroom Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/classroom-young-1883927/) [Distinctive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinctive/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Educational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educational/) [Educational Theorists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educational-theorists-1883924/) [Eras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eras/) [Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great/) [Great educational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-educational/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern/) [Modern era](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern-era/) [Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rousseau/) [Rousseau Ranks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rousseau-ranks-1883925/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Theorists Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theorists-modern-1883926/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) [Young adult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-adult/) [Young adults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-adults/) ## Related quotes > [I think modern educational theorists are inclined to attach too much importance to the negative virtue of not interfering with children, and too little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/i-think-modern-educational-theorists-are-inclined-to-attach-too-much/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [It is in Rousseau's writing above all that history begins to turn from upper-class honour to middle-class humanitarianism. Pity, sympathy and compassion lie at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/it-is-in-rousseau-s-writing-above-all-that-history-begins-to-turn/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Universities are no longer educational in any sense of the word that Rousseau would have recognised. Instead, they have become unabashed instruments of capital.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/universities-are-no-longer-educational-in-any-sense-of-the-word-that/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [The children are now working as if I did not exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/the-children-are-now-working-as-if-i-did-not-exist/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/it-is-a-very-grave-mistake-to-think-that-the-enjoyment-of-seeing-and/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [No one can take it away from you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-b-king/no-one-can-take-it-away-from-you/) [B. B. King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-b-king/) > [Anyone who keeps learning stays young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/anyone-who-keeps-learning-stays-young/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [Television is of great educational value. It teaches you while still young how to (a) kill, (b) rob, (c) embezzle, (d) shoot, (e) poison,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mikes/television-is-of-great-educational-value-it-teaches-you-while-still/) [George Mikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mikes/) > [Knowledge is recognizing what you know and what you don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/knowledge-is-recognizing-what-you-know-and-what-you-don-t/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/do-not-train-children-to-learning-by-force-and-harshness-but-direct/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [In education it isn't how much you have committed to memory or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-feather/in-education-it-isn-t-how-much-you-have-committed-to-memory-or-even/) [William Feather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-feather/) > [I grew up in a very progressive family and with a great educational system, and I asked myself, 'Why doesn't everybody have these opportunities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-gruwell/i-grew-up-in-a-very-progressive-family-and-with-a-great-educational/) [Erin Gruwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-gruwell/) > [Warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/warmth-is-the-vital-element-for-the-growing-plant-and-for-the-soul-of/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Religious superstitions more than all other influences put together cripple & enslave woman, but so long as women themselves do not see it &…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/religious-superstitions-more-than-all-other-influences-put-together/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [The sport of wrestling is a tremendous builder of the values and characteristics which are needed to succeed in any walk of life. Much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-hastert/the-sport-of-wrestling-is-a-tremendous-builder-of-the-values-and/) [Dennis Hastert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-hastert/) ## More by Terry Eagleton > [Nations sometimes flourish by denying the crimes that brought them into being. Only when the original invasion, occupation, extermination or usurpation has been safely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/nations-sometimes-flourish-by-denying-the-crimes-that-brought-them/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviates systematically from everyday speech. If you approach me at a bus stop and murmur Thou still unravished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/literature-transforms-and-intensifies-ordinary-language-deviates/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [The study of history and philosophy, accompanied by some acquaintance with art and literature, should be for lawyers and engineers as well as for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/the-study-of-history-and-philosophy-accompanied-by-some-acquaintance/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [To claim that science and religion pose different questions to the world is not to suggest that if the bones of Jesus were discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/to-claim-that-science-and-religion-pose-different-questions-to-the/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“Evil may be 'unscientific' but so is a song or a smile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/evil-may-be-unscientific-but-so-is-a-song-or-a-smile/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Virtue is something you have to get good at, like playing the trombone or tolerating bores at parties. Being a virtuous human being takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/virtue-is-something-you-have-to-get-good-at-like-playing-the-trombone/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [All propaganda or popularization involves a putting of the complex into the simple, but such a move is instantly not constructive. For if the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/all-propaganda-or-popularization-involves-a-putting-of-the-complex/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [God chose what is weakest in the world to shame the strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/god-chose-what-is-weakest-in-the-world-to-shame-the-strong/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Reading is not a straightforward linear movement, a merely cumulative affair: our initial speculations generate a frame of reference within which to interpret what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/reading-is-not-a-straightforward-linear-movement-a-merely-cumulative/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“What it means to be a ‘better person’, then, must be concrete and practical — that is to say, concerned with people’s political situations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/what-it-means-to-be-a-better-person-then-must-be-concrete-and/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“What we consume now is not objects or events, but our experience of them. Just as we never need to leave our cars, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/what-we-consume-now-is-not-objects-or-events-but-our-experience-of/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“The theatre can teach us some truth, but it is the truth of the illusory nature of our existence. It can alert us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/the-theatre-can-teach-us-some-truth-but-it-is-the-truth-of-the/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“What we have witnessed in our own time is the death of universities as centres of critique. 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Civilisation means rational reflection, material wellbeing, individual autonomy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/we-face-a-conflict-between-civilisation-and-culture-which-used-to-be/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) [Explore all 215 Terry Eagleton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) ## More Adults quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. 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Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/plainly-the-environment-must-be-a-living-one-directed-by-a-higher/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Almost everywhere we find . . . the use of various coercive measures, to rid ourselves as quickly as possible of the child withinus--i.e.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-miller/almost-everywhere-we-find-the-use-of-various-coercive-measures-to-rid/) [Alice Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-miller/) > [Education, for most people, means trying to lead the child to resemble the typical adult of his society . . . but for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/education-for-most-people-means-trying-to-lead-the-child-to-resemble/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [I do not believe in public shaming. 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As much as we like them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-abagnale/when-i-was-a-child-at-sixteen-i-was-just-a-child-all-sixteen-year/) [Frank Abagnale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-abagnale/) [Browse all 3,113 Adults quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adults/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Rousseau ranks among the great educational theorists of the modern era, even if he was the last man to put in charge of a classroom. 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