Students as Persons: Charlotte Mason on Personalism and Relational Liberal Education

By Jen Spencer and Deani Van Pelt

Because the personhood of the child is central to Mason's philosophy, and because much of education today that holds widespread appeal is considered to be child-centred, this monograph focuses on the concept of personhood as proposed by Mason and as worked out in the century subsequent to her life. We discuss some implications for practitioners, based on avoiding what Mason (1921) called potential "tyrannies" over the child's personhood. We briefly account for current personalist theorists connecting Mason's insights with later 20th-century analysis of personhood. We highlight the critical distinctions between the concept of "persons" and "individuals," examine the notion of divine image-bearing in "persons," and then discuss Mason's assertion of divine presence in all learning. This article concludes with considering how these ideas indicate that Mason holds a constructivist view of education, but of a particular sort, and the implications for K-12 education, specifically for a liberal education.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CDNF58YM
• ISBN13: 9798854708777
• Release Date: August 2023
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 90 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.5" x 8.5"