15 Major Figures and Trends of the (Recent) History
of Pedagogical Thought
Objectives
After studying this chapter:
Pedagogy in historical context
The objective of this introduction is to set the historical and philosophical
context necessary to understand the current situation in pedagogy. We
will compare the ideological premises of the pre-modern, modern and
post-modern eras and analyse their pedagogical implications.
Major figures and trends of the (recent) history of pedagogical
thought
The objective of this chapter is to give a basic outline of the pedagogical
ideas of key figures from Comenius to modern times.
Terms to Remember (Key Words)
scholastic
method
J. A. Comenius
J. F. Herbart
reform pedagogy
post-war
pedagogy
Introductory Questions and Assignments
Outline of the chapter:
1. Introduction: What is the point of studying history?
2. Pedagogy as preparation for Eternity: before the Modern Era
3. Pedagogy as remedy for human things: Comenius at the turning of
epochs
4. Pedagogy as training for life I: the Enlightenment and early Modern Era
5. Pedagogy as training for life II: modern reformist movement
6. Bending nature to our will: pedagogy in the hands of totalitarian
ideologies
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15.1 Introduction: What is the Point of Studying History?
Pedagogy is all about the individual. It is about leading a student, step by
step, to a pre-specified goal. After all, the original Greek meaning of
paidagógos
is the ‘leader of children’. The objective is to bring up an educated, able and
morally advanced human being. When born, no one is a complete person.
Nobody is guaranteed to become a hard-working, responsible, principled, noble,
lazy, obstinate, selfish, human or inhuman individual. Each person’s character is
more likely to be a mix of both the positive and negative potential – as has
always been the case in the entire history of humankind. Whether the human
will outweigh the inhuman in a specific person’s life depends to a certain degree
– an important but not absolute degree – on education. Since time immemorial,
people have always provided education and upbringing for their offspring,
preparing them for their future role of members of the society. However, ideas
about what it means to be human significantly changed throughout history and
with them the approach to pedagogy and teaching changed, too.
That is why the study of the history of pedagogy is so interesting and why it
is so enlightening to look at how individuals in the past and in different cultures
saw themselves and what their views meant for teaching and teachers. We will
describe how different eras were defined by different ideological paradigms or
meta-narratives – stories that underpinned the integrity of communities,
explained human actions and legitimised various components, structures,
concepts, values and institutions of a culture (including pedagogy).
A student of the history of pedagogy cannot do without an understanding of the
cultural and philosophical background. This chapter explains how different
concepts of humanity and different pedagogical approaches to upbringing
(education) are related to the wider intellectual framework, where various ideas
come together to add to and build on each other, but often exclude each other.
The history of pedagogy is thus a rich source of views and attitudes that make
up an immense spiritual wealth that is entirely indispensable for any student of
pedagogy or a prospective teacher who wants to truly understand his/her
profession. What is true for history in general is also true for the history of
pedagogy: without an understanding of the past, one cannot understand the
present or the future. This brief chapter will focus primarily on pedagogy in the
modern and immediately pre-modern times in the West. We will give a concise
overview of the pedagogical thinking of leading figures from Comenius to the
present. Our selection of teachers and thinkers can serve as a sample of
pedagogical thought and its development over the past four centuries.
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