According to Ralph Waldo Emerson an ideal education is to
nurture in a child the kind of education he is naturally inclined to, this can
be seen through his interests, habits etc. He said when a child is forced to
study with other children and his natural abilities are suppressed to match
other children in that class, that is not a healthy education for the child as
he has to get dragged behind because not every child is a genius. Emerson gives
the example of Plotinus and Socrates to show their natural ability to teach and
calls them “Natural Teachers”. He suggests that everyone should take part in “mutual
pleasure of teaching and learning”. He adds that female force is preferable to
male force in natural teaching as that is more sympathetic rather than
controlling.
