Explain Rousseau's ideas on education. Do people become who they are because of their innate nature or because of the way they are raised?

Rousseau believed that contemporary society had a
corrupting effect on individuals who were originally born good. In the Social
Contract, the French philosopher argues that nature created humans free, but
that social dynamics created hierarchies which subjugated the weakest: "l'homme est né
libre et partout il est dans le fers".

Rousseau wanted
to replace this mechanism which favors social relationships based on exploitation with a
new social contract which ensured that every citizen is protected by the community. In
Emile, Rousseau specifically focuses on the importance of education
to form good citizens. The treaty states the inherent goodness of human beings and
stresses that the principles of education should be developed in accordance with
nature.

Therefore, Rousseau states that the
intellectual education of the child should be adapted to his/her effective skills at a
given age. It should also be organized in such a way as to make the child the effective
protagonist of his/her own education. For example, until the age of 12, Rousseau
prescribed that educators addressed themselves to the senses and sensory perceptions of
the child.

With this appeal to experience, Rousseau hopes
to show that the child can play an active part in his/her education. Because of his
assumption that individuals are born good and corrupted by civilization, Rousseau argues
that education should not alter the natural/primitive state of the child's
character.