Charlotte Maria Shaw Mason: her place in the pantheon of educational theorists and her relevance today

This paper aims to show that Charlotte Maria Shaw Mason was not only a gifted individual but also that her key ideas were rooted in the work of key philosophers who preceded her, and also underpin the ideas of key constructivist thinkers who followed her. In her work, these are melded together with her original thoughts. The paper aims to show that the work of those who follow her thinking is well supported by her predecessors and by those who came after her and that her work has a broad theoretical basis. Case studies illustrate Mason’s relevance today in answering the needs of contemporary practice.