Fundamental Pedagogy Jana Doležalová
Pedagogy as Preparation for Eternity: Before the
|
|
15.2 Pedagogy as Preparation for Eternity: Before the
Modern Era If we want to understand the principles of modern pedagogy and its influence in schools up to the present, we must first, however briefly, describe what preceded it and what ideas were faced and contested by modern and pre- modern pedagogues. Our aim is not to discuss the historical context in its entirety. We will concentrate only on those aspects that seriously influenced pedagogical thought. The driving force behind the pre-modern meta-narrative is Christianity. What lies at its core? And how did it affect pedagogy? Christianity has its roots in the Hebrew culture, more specifically in the Old Testament as its central cultural text. All books of the Old Testament are pervaded by educational objectives. When reading their holy texts, Ancient Hebrews learnt about all of the fundamental questions of life: where do humans come from, what is a human being, what his value is and what the goal of all his actions is. In terms of educational culture, answers to these questions are of the utmost importance. According to the Old Testament, humans get their humanity by virtue of the act of creation. Creation itself fills the reader with awe and respect. The creation of man is the most amazing act of all because only man is created in the image of God. Later thinkers would say that man is the ‘ Imago Dei’ (see Genesis 1:26). This privilege is the foundation of the majesty and dignity of mankind. In the hierarchy of creation, man is the only being endowed with consciousness – he is aware of himself, possesses intelligence, creativity, sensitivity to beauty, ability to distinguish between good and bad, true and false. Only man is able to choose the good, beautiful and true and his character mirrors of the character of God who represents the summum bonum, the highest possible sum of all that is good. The gift of free will is one of the key elements that make up the essence of humanity. Animals, the sea, a stone or a triangle do not have to and indeed cannot choose, they have no way of changing their nature. A triangle can neither elevate its triangularity nor degenerate into something non-triangular. Its essence is given once and for all. The character of a human being, however, is different. Man can and should choose. If he chooses well he becomes more human and lives in harmony with his essence. If he chooses evil he becomes less human and in conflict with his essential destiny. In addition to origins and purpose, the fundamental bases of human dignity and value, the stories of the Old Testament also talk about the central problem of the human race, the problem of evil. There is a conundrum: Why a noble being like man makes evil decisions and acts in an inhumane way? The same question was asked much later by Socrates who concluded that the real cause 116 lies in ignorance and a lack of understanding of the true nature of good. The Old Testament gives a very different answer. The problem is not with knowledge but with will. Man knows what is good but his will to do good has suffered a mortal blow. His will is in disarray. The Genesis story tells how Adam and Eve chose to disobey their Maker in an archetypal narrative that applies to all humankind. We are looking at an order disrupted: man degrades God- Creator from his preordained position and puts himself in the top place. In other words, man is tempted to become godlike. However, a will that is not subordinated to a higher power turns to evil – it is a disordered will, a will without order, an inordinate will. A man whose will recognises no power other than his own will is dangerous, capable of evil. Such a man has no reason to do good (i.e. act honestly and honourably) when there is no one else watching. This is, according to the Old Testament, the root of all evil and human misery. Is there any hope for mankind? According to the Hebrew Bible, there is. A Messiah was promised to man – a Saviour whose love will overcome and free man’s will that has been subjugated by its sinful propensity to evil. Man, cast out and disinherited, will be able to rejoin his Creator of his own free will. The same message is repeated in the narrative, poetic and prophetic books of the Old Testament. And parents are urged to bring up and educate their offspring in this spirit. Evil, injustice, sin and death should not prevail in the end. There is hope. There is a loving God who cares about his creation and who is much more powerful than Evil. The text of the Old Testament thus becomes didactic teachings against licence, lawlessness, evil, despair and death. The paramount obligation of Hebrew parents was to bring up their children to honour God and a preordained power. As such, God not only guarantees the ultimate transcendent justice but also gives meaning to the immediate earthly reality through a hopeful expectation of imminent redemption. In formal terms, Hebrew education took place primarily within the family circle. Schools and synagogues began to appear in a great number only after the Diaspora (i.e. after 70 A.D.). Wisdom literature indicates that both parents were involved in the education of their children. For example, Proverbs 1, 8–9 says: ‘Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.’ As today, children’s education was determined by the overall contemporary situation, needs and means available to the educators. The main focus was primarily on agricultural, pastoral and trade skills. Each parent was also responsible for teaching their children to read and write in order to make it possible for them to access the holy texts. The ultimate goal of education was to foster in one’s children the love of God and his commandments, the source of hope and life – cf. the following two quotes: 117 ‘Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.’ (Ecclesiastes 12,13) ‘Hear, O Israel: The L ORD our God, the L ORD is one. Love the L ORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.’ (Dt. 6, 4-6) The New Testament’s narrative builds on the Old Testament, both in the gospels and in the epistles. The evangelists record the coming and acts of the Messiah in the person of Jesus of Christ, Son of God, whose mission it is to save man from the damnation of both the body and soul. Salvation itself is a curious thing. At one point, Jesus himself says that ‘doctors are not needed by the healthy but by the sick’. If a man should be cured, he first must know that he is sick. The disease here, according to the Bible, is the aforementioned archetypal fall from good to evil and is expressed by man’s desire to equal God. This desire removes man from God, the source of all life, and removes him from other people as well as from himself. This desire kills. The original sin carries fatal consequences: the dispossessed creation (nature) groans in the hands of man, man is capable of hurting another man, even laying hand on the greatest of all gifts – life, his own life and that of others. The whole world is in a peculiar state. On the one hand, it is beautiful, fascinating, brimming with life and harmony. On the other hand, it is full of pain, anguish, inhumanity, absurdity and death. Christianity explains this tension by its teaching of creation, which was despoiled by man’s fall into sin. All beauty, harmony, good and meaning is anchored in the genius of God the Creator’s divine being. On the contrary, all evil, pain, inhumanity and mortality are consequence of the original sin. From mankind’s perspective, these are unnatural, abnormal and non-original phenomena. That is why man always finds evil revolting – originally, he was not created for evil. Christ’s work of salvation lies in his opening the possibility of man’s return to his original state. Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross is an act of conciliation for the guilt of humankind. God teaches man through love, grace and forgiveness. Even though man turned away from God, God has not turned away from man. This is the message of Christ’s evangel (from Greek evangelion – good news). Those who accept the Gospel and believe in Christ the Saviour are saved, i.e. redeemed from the power of death and sin. Acceptance of the Gospel is not an easy or effortless matter. It presupposes an understanding of one’s need of forgiveness for own guilt, which is an unpleasant and humbling experience 118 described in the Bible in terms of penance or conversion. At the same time, it is a liberating and finally mystically happy experience because the knowledge of an unconditional forgiveness that cleanses the conscience and renews a fundamental and intimate relationship with God is a ‘good’ that can hardly be expressed in words. Those who achieve and experience it remain changed forever. Overcome by Christ’s grace, their only wish is to willingly follow in his footsteps and imitate him as their master and teacher. A classic example illustrating this fundamental reversal is the parable of the prodigal son told by Jesus to his disciples: ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate. ’So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.´’ (Gospel According to Luke, Chapter 15) What is the educational potential of Christ’s original teaching? It does not lie so much in an impressive rhetoric, a didactic strategy or a pedagogical system, although all these elements are certainly present. At the same time, this is not a teaching that would require a methodical training, learning, intellectual processing and understanding. Neither is it a religious education in the sense of an achievement that would earn and guarantee the student an eternal life. It is a teaching aimed at a fundamental transformation of a life’s ambitions, an internal change. The Greek metanoia – change of mind is usually translated as repentance. An intimate encounter with God helps the believer face his own self and of his own free will yearn for a fulfilment of his calling – to become a true 119 image of God, a reflection of his character. Such a man is then prepared to meet God and face eternity. If there is any trace left (not confessed) of evil, eternity would be spent in Hell. As a whole, Christian teaching very efficiently met people’s psychological and spiritual needs. It gave understandable answers to basic human questions concerning the meaning of existence. It laid the foundation of man’s dignity and value, because in the Biblical context man is a being that God not only deemed worthy of creating but also of saving. The Bible clearly explained origin of all creation, its current ambivalent situation, and clearly defined humankind’s earthly mission and its ultimate goal. Its eschatology made sense of human history. In addition, its teaching was laid out within an ethical context that appealed to large masses due to its social implications. Christianity gave understandable answers to cosmological, anthropological, psychological, social and other questions. This may explain the vigour with which it swept through Europe and touched all aspects of the contemporary society including education and pedagogy. At catechism, monastic and cathedral schools and later at universities, Christianity formed the cornerstone of any and all forms of education. With time, Christ’s original teaching underwent substantial changes that may be described as decadent. They represent a synthesis of certain elements of Classical philosophy and culture with Biblical theology. A good example is the merging of traditional platonic dualism with Biblical terminology. Plato distinguished between a spiritual (ideal) reality and the natural or material reality, which is a priori of a secondary character. An interaction with the Biblical concepts of ‘holy’ and ‘sinful’ resulted in a corrupt dogma that praised human ‘spirituality’ over the flesh. The body was considered base, even sinful. This development carried crucial consequences (not only) for pedagogy. All corporal aspects were neglected and negated and all emphasis was laid on the nurture of the spirit, the mind and morals. It is a paradox then that a central problem of medieval thought concerns the mind and ethics, namely the cognitive method and the question of the immoral ‘method’ of human salvation. In methodological terms, the problem was addressed chiefly by the Scholastics. What is scholasticism? It is generally considered both a philosophical school and a methodological approach to enquiry and the reality as such. De principibus non sit disputatio (‘no discussion about principles’) is one of the Scholastics’ key doctrines. The same proscription applies to traditional and revered authorities. While strong and unchanging foundations and premises provide a certain possibility to study existence, they also define the limits of such enquiry. If we are taught to rely on the predetermined principles and to mistrust our sensory experience, we are entering a specific scholé, which is simply incapable of capturing some aspects 120 of reality. We can eventually become masters of logical and dialectic, using syllogisms, deduction and other logical operations to search for conclusions that would be in harmony with the precious truths of our fathers’ traditions. There is a catch, though – fathers are often wrong. The Earth is turning, the Heaven is not a crystal dome with seven layers, the Sun has spots, not matter what Aristotle has to say about these things. A deduction derived from an erroneous premise will be erroneous although entirely logically consistent. The greater the dogmatic insistence of a medieval scholar on his unshakeable fundaments, the deeper the dispute over discoveries made by the first empirical scientists who, armed with their new induction method, observe a radically different reality. Their empirical progression from the specific to the general and their experimental method will strike huge scientific triumphs, eventually culminating in the Renaissance revolt against the dogmatism, pedantry and superstition of the whole Middle Ages. The moral problem of medieval theology has a political dimension. At the moment of the union of the State and the Church, religion becomes a power tool. The Church – backed by the executive power of the State – polices orthodoxy, which endows it with an immense political potential. The most vulgar uses of this potential include the notorious trade in salvation, holy relics and indulgences critics by Jan Hus. The indecency of this practice spurred a deep crisis inside the Church and eventually sparked the Reformation movement. Yüklə Dostları ilə paylaş:
|