Charlotte Maria Shaw Mason (1 January 1842 – 16 January 1923) was a British educator and reformer in England at the turn of the twentieth century. She proposed to base the education of children upon a wide and liberal curriculum. She worked for five years under Fanny Trevor at Bishop Otter College.
Mason's philosophy of education has been summarized as emanating from two principles, that "children are born persons" and "education is the science of relations." Mason promoted a humanistic and highly integrative model for education which emphasized cultivating a love of learning in children as well as spiritual and moral formation. Her theories have become especially influential in the Christian education and homeschooling movements.
