Editing Educational psychology (section)

=== Early Modern era ===

[[John Locke]] is considered one of the most influential philosophers in post-renaissance Europe, a time period that began around the mid-1600s. Locke is considered the "Father of English Psychology". One of Locke's most important works was written in 1690, named ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding''. In this essay, he introduced the term "tabula rasa" meaning "blank slate." Locke explained that learning was attained through experience only and that we are all born without knowledge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www3.niu.edu/acad/psych/Millis/History/2003/locke.htm|title=John Locke|access-date=2018-06-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205072953/http://www3.niu.edu/acad/psych/Millis/History/2003/locke.htm|archive-date=2014-12-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He followed by contrasting Plato's theory of innate learning processes. Locke believed the mind was formed by experiences, not innate ideas. Locke introduced this idea as "empiricism", or the understanding that knowledge is only built on knowledge and experience.<ref>{{cite web |title=John Locke |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/epistemology/John-Locke |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=21 May 2024}}</ref>

In the late 1600s, John Locke advanced the hypothesis that people learn primarily from external forces. He believed that the mind was like a blank tablet (tabula rasa), and that successions of simple impressions give rise to complex ideas through association and reflection. Locke is credited with establishing "[[empiricism]]" as a criterion for testing the validity of knowledge, thus providing a conceptual framework for later development of experimental methodology in the natural and social sciences.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/history.html|title=The History of Educational Psychology|website=cortland.edu|access-date=May 5, 2016}}</ref>

In the 18th century the philosopher [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] espoused a set of theories which would become highly influential in the field of education, particularly through his [[philosophical novel]] ''[[Emile, or On Education]]''. Despite stating that the book should not be used as a practical guide to nurturing children, the pedagogical approach outlined in it was lauded by [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] contemporaries including [[Immanuel Kant]] and [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]. Rousseau advocated a [[Child-centered learning|child-centered]] approach to education, and that the age of the child should be accounted for in choosing what and how to teach them. In particular he insisted on the primacy of [[experiential education]], in order to develop the child's ability to reason autonomously. Rousseau's philosophy influenced educational reformers including [[Johann Bernhard Basedow]], whose practice in his model school the [[Philanthropinum]] drew upon his ideas, as well as [[Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi]]. More generally Rousseau's thinking had significant direct and indirect influence on the development of pedagogy in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands. In addition, Jean Piaget's stage-based approach to child development has been observed to have parallels to Rousseau's theories.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Koops |first1=Willem |date=9 October 2012 |title=Jean Jacques Rousseau, modern developmental psychology, and education |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17405629.2012.730996 |journal=European Journal of Developmental Psychology |volume=9 |issue=Supplement 1 |pages=46–56 |doi=10.1080/17405629.2012.730996 |s2cid=144516273 |access-date=20 December 2022}}</ref>