An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education

I’m reading Charlotte Mason with a few friends. Boy, there’s a lot to talk about. These notes are from A Philosophy of Education, Book I, Chapter I: “Self-Education”:
  • 23 - “A person is not built up from without but from within, that is, he is living, and all external educational appliances and activities which are intended to mould his character are decorative and not vital.” As is so often the case, we have to be careful with Mason’s terms. What are “external educational appliances?” Aren’t books external educational appliances? She’s a huge fan of books, so they must not be.
  • 24 - She argues against the common gardening metaphor because children have personality (personhood), unlike plants. Josh Gibbs wrote against the gardening metaphor here.
Just throwing this out there: I’m not sure I understand Charlotte Mason’s goals for education. What kind of person does she want to train?