The Pedagogy of Nature: Imagination and Moral Growth in Wordsworth’s Thought
Author(s): Muskan
Authors Affiliations:
Independent Scholar, Miranda House, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
DOIs:10.2017/IJRCS/202511010 | Paper ID: IJRCS202511010This paper examines William Wordsworth's critique of 18th-century Enlightenment education and his assertion that Nature acts as the supreme teacher for moral and imaginative development. Drawing heavily from The Prelude, Wordsworth rejects the formal schooling of his time—typified by institutions like Cambridge—which overemphasised reason, facts, and utilitarian objectives (mathematics and science), arguing these methods were "anti-imaginative" and stunted the natural growth of the child's soul. He advocates for a Natural Education where direct experiences with the environment—mountains, lakes, and daily life—cultivate true morality and foster the creative imagination, which he considers the essential faculty for self-comprehension and poetic creation, effectively positioning the outdoors as his true school where the 'passions of mankind' are authentically learned.
Muskan (2025); The Pedagogy of Nature: Imagination and Moral Growth in Wordsworth’s Thought, International Journal of Research Culture Society, ISSN(O): 2456-6683, Volume – 9, Issue – 11, Pp. 63-65. Available on – https://ijrcs.org/
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