Fundamental Pedagogy Jana Doležalová

The role of the educatee 
The approach to the child has changed during the course of the society’s 
historical development and its knowledge of the ideas of education. The child’s 
position and means of education used in family and school corresponded to this 
development as described in the history of pedagogy. Authoritarian education 
was increasingly applied in the past. The approach to the child materially 
changed at the turn of the 19
th
and 20
th
century together with changes in the 
society and deeper knowledge of the child age specifics and individual 
peculiarities, which was also reflected in child education in family and in the 
educational concepts implemented through school instruction. The relationship 
between the educator and the educatee has become more equal in the 
contemporary democratic society. The child’s greater activity, self-reliance and 
creativity is encouraged as well as his/her autonomy. 
The changes in the child’s position in the society are reflected in the Convention 
on the Rights of the Child (see, e.g. Ondráčková, 2001). 
If we focus on education in the strict sense of the word, i.e. moral education, 
then education is expected to educate an individual with moral behaviour and 
conduct which is in accordance with ethical standards of the given society and 
own consciousness. This target should be achieved through the formation of 
moral consciousness and awareness, feelings, belief and moral autonomous 
conduct by an individual who

has formed volitional, character and pro-social qualities; 

has interiorised the value system; 

will be able to further determine his/her value-based orientation. 
All of this is expected to happen initially through the influence of the educator 
and consequently through the individual’s own self-education.  
Should the educatee be guided towards self-education, the following facts must 
be considered: 

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
Self-education should be approached as the self-development of the 
individual’s positive character qualities.

The character is connected with motivation and will with which an 
individual can achieve the set targets. This means that if an individual is 
convinced that he/she needs to change or improve his/her character 
qualities, this can be done through self-education. This is the purpose of 
self-education, which is why it should be given special care. 
The opening chapters stated that education should cultivate and refine an 
individual’s relations to the world, to other people and to one’s self. The 
personality structure is also divided by the person or object to which the 
individual’s relation is tied. The table below (Table 5) shows the relations and 
examples of desired qualities of man.