PEDAGOGIA

PEDAGOGY. — From πάζις = child and ἀγωνή = the action of leading by the hand (Lat. manuductio), it is the science and art of education.

I. PEDAGOGY AS A SCIENCE

Now education is, above all, a fact; better: a complex of facts and processes, which imply a becoming, a continuous actualization, a movement toward a goal, which is the development in man of all that perfection which his rational nature, his powers and faculties, allow; and therefore it concerns all the activities by which this development can be achieved, and especially the action of the educator upon the person being educated. This note of becoming, of process or development, is proper to every form of the educative moment: for the intelligence, there will be the unfolding of the mind, that is, of knowledge, culture, and instruction; for the will, there will be the acquisition of self-mastery, of good habits, of inner energies; for the aesthetic sense, the formation of artistic and poetic taste; for the body, the harmonious development of the organism.

But to leave all this series of activities to themselves and to the spontaneity of institutions or inclinations would be equivalent to sowing confusion where harmony should reign, to heaping up facts of every kind without linking them so as to deduce consequences and laws that might guide the choice among the manifold means that can be offered for their realization; indeed, it would be equivalent to denying the very innate tendency of reason, which is to establish an end and then to study the means and methods best suited to attain II. It is therefore necessary, even in the field of education, to have a theory that gathers and scientifically defines, compares in their aspects, and links together in a continuous series the historical and psychological data and other elements concerning education; that derives the intrinsic laws of the facts or the higher exigencies to which the facts are subject, in order to direct the educative effort toward the goal to be reached, namely, the complete perfection of man as man. Thus there will be a well-organized theory, that is, a science.

Moreover, the human individual is a rational being; therefore his activity, whatever it may be, can always be reduced to rational principles; the same may be said of intellectual and practical habits; hence the educative fact, in all its extent and value, can be studied in a rational and systematic way and thus constitute a science of education.

This science, in the explanation and application of its theories and norms, must take into account the various factors that concur to exert an influence on the development and formation of the child and the young person. These factors can be reduced to five, which constitute as many parts or subdivisions of pedagogy: 1) the educator, with his qualities, rights and duties, his formation and maturity; 2) the person being educated, with his natural physical, intellectual, and moral dispositions, with the particular laws according to which the individual faculties develop in the different periods of his life, with the more or less active cooperation of his will, and with his physical and moral deficiencies and defects; 3) the goal, which moves the educator in his work and consists of a fixed element, moral (to make the person being educated good, cultured, and happy; the Greek *καλοκαγαθία*), and of an element that varies according to different types and stages of culture (ideal of physical strength, personal worth, political art, etc.). It must also be noted that, in the present order of Providence, the goal or ideal cannot be confined to the natural order but transcends it and rises to the supernatural order; it is no longer enough, therefore, merely to adorn and refine the soul with culture, but it is also necessary to save it for eternal life and the beatific vision of God; 4) the environment: geographical and domestic (heredity, example, abnormality, etc.), social (degree of civilization, legislation, etc.), scholastic (day school, boarding school, university, etc.); companions and relationships (mixed schools or coeducation, etc.); 5) educative activity: in general (body, sensitive life, intellectual, volitional); in particular (reading, composition, calculation); special means and expedients (rewards, punishments, emulation, stimulants, etc.).

The question arises as to what kind of science pedagogy belongs to. There are, in fact, theoretical or speculative sciences that subject their object only to intellectual study (e.g., mathematics) and practical or operative sciences that, while subjecting their object to study, aim moreover at producing in it determined effects (e.g., engineering, medicine, in which speculative process aims at building a bridge, a house, or at healing a patient). Now pedagogy is precisely a practical or *poietic* science because it aims at producing in the person being educated determined intellectual and practical habits that manifest themselves in specific attitudes.

II. PEDAGOGY AS AN ART

Pedagogy is not only a science but essentially an art. It has, in fact, the elements of art: 1) the formation in the mind of the artist of an idea; in the specific case: the formation in the mind of the educator of the idea of morality or of the knowledge to which he wishes to lead the person being educated; 2) the realization of this idea, translating it into determined habits and acts. In this, besides long study, wide experience, and perhaps a more or less abundant harvest of errors, the educator’s brilliant intuition (the clinical eye) comes into play, quick and sure in grasping a factual situation and in judging its value; the expedients and means that in various ways shape his personality and adapt to the ever-changing personality of the person being educated, more or less receptive, more or less active in exploiting the stimuli. As happens with the artist—architect, painter, poet—facing a villa to be built, a scene to be portrayed, an event or feeling to be sung; so it is with the educator, who must cooperate in shaping a character, in forming a man, a father of family, a citizen. Whoever reflects on the value and importance of the final term of the entire educative process and how knowledge can become useless and harmful when it fails to produce good and advance toward perfection cannot fail to admit that pedagogy is essentially an art. It will therefore be said that, as a science, pedagogy studies and codifies the educative processes; as an art, it translates them into action in view of its end.

III. RELATIONS BETWEEN PEDAGOGY AND PHILOSOPHY

From what has been said, it follows that pedagogy cannot ignore or neglect philosophy. The person being educated is not merely the object around which to work but above all the subject on whom the educative activity is to be exercised, inasmuch as one must awaken in him the spiritual activism of intelligence and will, of self-awareness and self-mastery; the world in which he lives, his social and religious relations, the moral level of his conscience, the goal to be attained, touch upon and call for a multiplicity of problems that are proper to philosophy: the problem of being and knowing, of God, of the world, of living beings, of the soul, of conduct, of sociality. Pedagogy must therefore draw from metaphysics, from gnoseology, from aesthetics, from deontology and ethics, and above all from rational and experimental psychology, all those notions and explanations that enable it to apply the necessary means to carry out its particular educative processes.

It must indeed be affirmed that pedagogy is a fruit that sprouts on the branch of a philosophical system; and that it is therefore absurd to attempt a critical examination of the various pedagogical orientations without considering the different philosophical systems from which they originate. Nor can the pedagogical thought of a thinker be understood except in relation to his philosophy. Depending, in fact, on the answers we give to these questions—Is life entirely confined within the realm of matter and earth? Do higher values, the values of the spirit, exist? Is the soul immortal? Is there, above the creatures, which are contingent beings, an absolute Being, a Transcendent One, from which all proceeds and to which all converges?—so too will the substance of the educational work differ, as will its orientations and applications. Thus, we speak of a positive, idealist, actuated, pragmatist pedagogy, and so on.

All this, however, cannot in any way lead, as the actualist theory would have it, to the identification of philosophy and pedagogy, which in fact have their own proper and distinctly separate formal objects. Actualist philosophy considers every particular object or fact and reflects only on what is proper to reality as such, the being insofar as it is being; it considers the transcendental properties of being (the true, the beautiful, the good) and the objects that constitute the real (nature, spirit, God). Pedagogy, on the other hand, considers the concrete individual; it studies how that individual may acquire knowledge, form his own personality, developing the demands of his universal yet individual human nature, while overcoming the difficulties and obstacles connected with his particular psychophysical structure, with his different age, the various historical forms of culture, and the needs of the different social communities to which he belongs (family, State, Church). To confuse and identify education with the dialectical process of the becoming (which is not even known whether it is developed, let alone progressive) of the Absolute Spirit, swallowing up and causing the rich and manifold content of the educational work to vanish into a mystical and perpetually identical act of identification—I say not of the educator with the educatee, but of the Spirit with itself—(cf. G. Vidari, *Elementi di p.*, II, Milano 1924, pp. 2 sqq.).

Pedagogy also has relations with other sciences (for example, with the physical and natural sciences); but always and in all circumstances it will appropriate their contributions, infusing into them, whenever it applies them, a new breath of life in relation to the individual needs of the subject and the particular problems to be solved. In this work, it will always be like gathering wood to place on the fire, without ever confusing the wood with the spark of its own fire, which will transform it into flame.

IV. RELATIONS OF PEDAGOGY WITH THEOLOGY

Pedagogy must have a very particular relation with theology. Since the human soul is naturally religious and reason is sufficient to demonstrate the dependence of every creature on God and thus the duty to direct all effort toward Him, pedagogy cannot ignore the religious element without ceasing to be the science of a total education of man. And since there is only one true religion, the Catholic one, which, in addition to truths of natural order, contains others that are suprarational and revealed (the elevation of man to the status of an adopted son of God, original sin with all its humiliating and painful consequences, the Sacraments and their efficacy), it follows that true, perfect, and complete pedagogy can only be rooted in the truths and morality taught by the Catholic religion.

V. OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF PEDAGOGY

Like all other arts, pedagogy has had a historical development, which for greater clarity can be divided into three phases: 1) empirical, when for the education of the human individual those means are adopted, without much reflection, which good sense—true or supposed—habit, and tradition suggest; 2) preceptive, when the progress and complication of individual and social life and the consequent division of labor lead to the formation of specialized individuals (teachers) who practice the art of education by formulating maxims and precepts suited to guide the educator; 3) scientific, when pedagogy constructs and organizes into a true scientific system the rational guiding principles of the art of educating. These phases, however, are not always to be understood in a historically successive sense.

I. Primitive, traditional epoch

Among primitive peoples, education takes very simple and utilitarian forms, being confined to elements that satisfy material needs: food, clothing, shelter, and protection. Thus: the manufacture of tools, weaving, the forging of weapons, the tending and exploitation of flocks, agricultural labor. This, however, while preparing for life, develops by necessity for defense and overcoming adversity and danger an extraordinary sensory acuteness (sight, hearing, smell), great tenacity of memory,

PEDAGOGY

(ancestral lists, legends, traditions to be handed down), a lively imagination (mythological explanations of natural forces, appeals to mysterious forces), and great powers of reflection. There are no schools properly speaking; but very often special structures where children can gather. Although moral sense may sometimes be dulled, their conscience still feels the value of certain obligations and norms of good conduct (cult of the divinity, of ancestors, sense of honor, fidelity to one’s word, obedience to authority). Very often children are educated in courage and contempt for pain and death through bloody and cruel trials. In particular, the passage from childhood to adolescence is marked by special practices and rites (segregation from the rest of the tribe, abstinence from certain foods, various trials, initiations into life, circumcision), which aim at moral formation for future life and future family and social relations (v. FAMILY; INITIATION; PRIMITIVES).

To a period no longer primitive but still traditional, we may refer the ancient Oriental peoples, who sought to hand down a body of knowledge, constituting as it were a kind of scientific treasure, generally considered as received by divine revelation, in which wisdom and the foundation of individual and social happiness are seen. Within this common framework, profound divergences are noted: in the Hebrew people, a religious traditionalism that considers the sacred books of the Bible as the treasure of all science and moral virtue; in Brahminical India, a kind of philological traditionalism in possession of a religious core of knowledge that is elaborated literarily; in Egypt, a scientific traditionalism that, around the Hermetic books forming its religious tradition, constructs a scientific encyclopedia; in China, which does not admit in its traditions the character of revelation, founds its teaching and political organization on II. From this epoch we have inherited the sacred books of the Hebrews, which with the New Testament form the fundamental material of our religious teaching; the grammatical elements of India, inspirations for modern grammars; the numerical system, origin of what later became known as Arabic; the writing of the Phoenicians, the mathematics of the Egyptians, the astronomy of the Babylonians.

2. The Greco-Roman Humanistic Era

However, pedagogy as a science does not appear until the Greco-Roman world. A characteristic of Greek tradition was the harmonious cultivation of the individual’s intellectual, moral, and physical faculties with a view to continuous progress for the good of the city-state. It aimed to form a perfect body (harmony of form, agility, strength) and a cultivated mind in all matters pertaining to the Muses (whence the term *musica*).

For physical education, there were gymnasia and public games (Olympian, Isthmian, Pythian, and Nemean), which attracted the finest representatives of Greece to celebrate and reward what was considered a refined product of tradition through song. For intellectual and moral education, there were poetry (especially Homer and Hesiod), drama, dance, rhetoric, and music in the strict sense.

In Sparta, education was marked by rigid discipline, strength, and daring, and was a function of the state, administered by a *paidonomos*, assisted by correctors or *mastigophoroi* (whipped with rods). In Athens, by contrast, education was more liberal, aristocratic, broad, and serene, left to private initiative.

Pedagogy arose precisely from this context. Initially treated in philosophical schools as part of political science (*πολιτεία*), it later found a home in gymnasia, governed by a *gymnasiarch*, which evolved from mere training grounds for gymnastics, song, recitation of poems, and lectures into true academies and centers of all forms of culture.

Among the celebrated pedagogues, one may recall:
- Pythagoras, with his esoteric and exoteric teachings and his table of opposites;
- Socrates, who gave his name to the heuristic (or Socratic) method, designed to sharpen attention and stimulate intellectual activity, comparing it to a spiritual “maieutics” (midwifery), as it stimulated the student to discover hidden treasures within the depths of the mind;
- Plato, a disciple of Socrates, who, starting from the unitary concept of the political community, argued that education should be in the hands of public authority and outlined a curriculum that endured until the Middle Ages and, in substance, to our own day;
- Xenophon, another Socratic disciple, who in his *Oeconomicus* left the first treatise on female education;
- Aristotle, tutor of Alexander the Great and supreme philosopher, who in his *Politics* limited state intervention in education and proposed a curriculum embracing literature, music, grammar, gymnastics, and drawing.

It was also in Greece that the *encyclopedia* (*circle of general culture*) was born, which in its full development included the philosophical sciences (grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic), the mathematical sciences (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy), and the philosophical disciplines (metaphysics, psychology, and theology).

The ancient Romans held family education in high esteem. Cato the Censor considered it more important to attend to the education of his son at home than to participate in Senate sessions (Plutarch, *Cato Maior*, ch. 20), and the highest praise for a Roman matron was: *“She was chaste, kept to her home, and spun wool.”* The ideal was governed by the *mos maiorum*; the goal was *virtus Romana*. Instruction carried less weight, and the study of the Twelve Tables sufficed.

Nevertheless, from early times, the principle of communal education was practiced. Schools were held in a room or workshop, or even outdoors, under some little-frequented portico or at street corners (*in triviis*, whence the term *scholae triviales*), and instruction was entrusted to teachers (*ludimagistri* or *litteratores*), usually slaves or freedmen. Their low status did not prevent some from becoming memorable figures (cf. Suetonius, *De claris grammaticis*) and earning substantial remuneration.

During the Republican period, however, Roman pedagogy remained empirical. Indeed, the Senate and censors opposed the introduction of Greek schools (cf. Suetonius, *De claris rhetoribus*, ch. 1), and it was not until Quintilian that the first official professor appeared.

Yet even before him, notable pedagogues emerged:
- Cato wrote a kind of encyclopedia, *Origines*, for his son;
- Cicero composed three books of *De officiis* for his son;
- Varro left a school encyclopedia, *Disciplinae*;
- Seneca authored many modern and practical philosophical treatises: *De ira*, *De clementia*, *De vita beata*, and *Letters to Lucilius*.

The definitive text of pedagogy is Quintilian’s *De institutione oratoria*, where, with the celebrated definition of the orator as *“a good man skilled in speaking,”* he demonstrates that moral education is the foundation of professional training.

Other figures include:
- Epictetus;
- Marcus Aurelius;
- Plutarch (though Greek), who exerted a profound influence on the Romans through his treatise *On Education* and his *Parallel Lives*;
- Martianus Capella, who in *De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii* outlined the medieval curriculum of the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, dialectic) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy).

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3. The Patristic and Monastic Era

The coming of Jesus Christ introduced salutary and effective innovations in the field of pedagogy. The idea of God as Father, the dignity of man elevated by grace to the status of an adopted son of God, the meaning of life no longer merely human but divine, the primacy of interiority that gives true value to human actions regardless of external appearances or human judgment, universal brotherhood that destroys unnatural barriers of distinction and privilege, the indissoluble family, and the supernatural means bestowed—all these renewed education at its deepest level (see *GESÙ CRISTO*, V. *Il pedagogo divino*).

The Fathers, especially the Greeks, sought to incorporate the treasures of Hellenic culture into Christianity. In Alexandria, the school was transformed into a true scientific and Christian university (the Didascalieon), where Clement of Alexandria, successor to its founder St. Pantaenus, wrote the first work of Christian pedagogy: *The Pedagogue*.

For Clement, pedagogy is like a medicine for the soul, a *theosebeia* or piety that teaches the service of God through the acquisition and practice of virtue and intellectual culture, even when grounded in classical sources.

Notable figures include:
- St. Basil, for his Homily 22 on the usefulness of reading profane authors;
- St. Jerome, for his two pedagogical letters: one to Leta on the education of the young Paula, and another to Gaudentius on the girl Pacatula.

St. Augustine’s pedagogical works hold particular significance:
- In *De magistro*, he expounds his theory of the interiority of knowledge: it may seem that without the teacher’s word there is no instruction; yet the word is merely a sound, an external sign, and a stimulus for the student to seek truth within himself, illuminated by the divine Word that speaks inwardly. Thus, every instruction is essentially self-instruction.
- In *De catechizandis rudibus*, the teacher’s role in education takes on no small importance, for the student’s progress depends on the teacher’s didactic gifts.
- In *De ordine*, he justifies the teaching of the liberal arts as useful for the search for truth and the defense of Christianity.
- In *De musica*, he explains the importance and educational efficacy of art, insofar as it is beauty and an ascent to supreme beauty.

Monasticism (v.), with its flourishing growth of monasteries scattered throughout the East and the West, revealed itself as the heir and vigilant guardian of the cultural treasures of antiquity, preserving them amidst the ruins left by barbarian invasions and rising, amidst that general dissolution of ancient civilization, to become centers—if not always unique, certainly always principal and sought-after—of culture. It was monks who took upon themselves the task of instructing and civilizing the uneducated invaders, who were to become the founders of the new European nationalities. In the monasteries, alongside the hours devoted to prayer and manual labor necessary to provide for the needs of the monks and guests, there were also hours dedicated to study, the copying of manuscripts, and the translation of authors; moreover, there were internal schools for future monks and external schools for laypeople, both offering the full curriculum of the liberal arts and the exact sciences; and furthermore, the abbatial schools, where the most capable, after completing the common courses, specialized in particular subjects. Parallel to the monastic schools, or rather continuing them, were the presbyterial, parochial, and episcopal schools; and also the communal or corporate schools, maintained by the communes or by specific guilds.

The Carolingian era marked a true reform and a better, broader, and more complete reorganization of studies, resulting in the Palatine Academy, which attracted the most learned and renowned monks from Italy, France, and England: Alcuin, Rabanus Maurus, Paul the Deacon (surnamed "the Diaconus"), Theodulf, and Peter of Pisa. And in imitation of the Palatine Academy, others arose at Osnabrück for Greek and Latin, at Metz for music and chant, and at Soissons for music and chant. At the same time, the previously disorganized parochial schools were revived, instruction was extended to both freemen and serfs without distinction, and attendance at school was made compulsory.

Naturally, all this led to the composition of numerous textbooks, commentaries, and anthologies, but also of treatises proper, as the art of teaching and educating. Among the educators of this period, the following deserve mention: St. Patrick, founder of the school of Armagh; Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus, founder of the "Vivarium" near Squillace and author of a treatise on the study of Holy Scripture and the seven liberal arts: *Institutiones divinarum et saecularium litterarum*; St. Benedict, founder of the Benedictines and of the schools attached to the monasteries; St. Gregory the Great for the school of chant and sacred music; St. Columbanus, founder, among others, of the monastery of Bobbio; St. Isidore of Seville, who revived schools for the education of the Vandal invaders and author of an encyclopedic compendium of all knowledge: *Origines sive Etymologiae*; St. Bede the Venerable, with more than eighty writings on the arts and sciences; Alcuin, principal animator of the Carolingian Renaissance and author of school texts; St. Boniface, apostle of Germany and founder of the monastery of Fulda; and Rabanus Maurus with his encyclopedia *De universo*.

Nor was the education of women neglected, for alongside the male monastic schools there arose female schools for girls not destined for the cloister, where, in addition to the subjects of the elementary schools, instruction was given in chant, embroidery, instrumental music, and painting; for noble girls, additional subjects included astronomy, falconry, dice and chess, and practical medicine. In some monasteries, higher studies were also pursued: all nuns knew Latin, and girls learned the seven liberal arts. The nun Bertila (6th century) of the monastery of Chelles taught Holy Scripture to great acclaim; St. Leoba was an authority on the subjects of the seventh liberal art; Roswitha composed commentaries in the manner of Terence; and St. Hildegard left writings on every subject from mysticism to physics and astronomy.

Also from this period is chivalric education, a school of devotion to duty; its principal virtues were moderation and self-mastery; love of God and the Church; delicate and respectful love for women; prowess in arms; defense of the weak; fidelity; and a lofty sense of honor. Externally, it was characterized by decorum, nobility of bearing, and dignity, all summarized in the term "courtesy."

4. The Period of the Communes and Universities

With the 12th and 13th centuries, the center of life and culture shifted markedly from the monasteries to the city, which was developing into a commune. In urban environments, there was a greater rational curiosity, a greater freedom of inquiry and opinion among masters and students; the Crusades, the broader exchanges between East and West, and the more complete knowledge of Greek philosophers through the commentaries of the Arabs continually expanded the boundaries of knowledge, which the monastic and episcopal schools could no longer satisfy; and so the universities arose. Their origins were varied; for some, they were the same earlier schools, which expanded their scope and methods of study and took on an independent character; for others, they were entirely new institutions. These higher centers of learning were called *Studium* or *Studium generale*, and they had their own corporations of teachers and students (*universitas magistrorum* and *universitas scholarium*) and "colleges" for foreign students, first in the form of hostels and later as true boarding houses under strict discipline. In Italy, the most illustrious universities were those of Bologna, Padua, Naples, and Pavia; abroad, the Sorbonne in Paris and the two English universities of Oxford and Cambridge. And their number, through the efforts of princes and the Church, grew rapidly; by the end of the 14th century, there were more than one hundred and twenty. The degrees that could be obtained were three: bachelor, licentiate, and doctorate; the teaching method was twofold: the *lectio* or exposition of doctrine and the *disputatio* or defense and refutation of a thesis.

During this period, pedagogy focused in particular on the education of princes, as in Vincent of Beauvais, tutor to the sons of Louis IX (*De educatione regalium*), and Giles of Rome (*De regimine principum*), or on the education of students, as in Alexander of Villa Dei (*Doctrinale*), Eberhard of Béthune (*Graecismus*), John of Garland (*Moralis scolarium*, *Dictionarius*), the pseudo-Boethius (*De disciplina scolarium*), Denis the Carthusian (*De vita, moribus et eruditione scholasticorum*), and John Gerson (*De pueris ad Christum trahendis*). The only one who truly addressed a pedagogical and didactic problem with full awareness was St. Thomas Aquinas in his *De magistro* (*Quaestiones disputatae*: question 11) and in his article: *Utrum unus homo possit alium docere* (*Summa theologiae*, I, q. 117, a. 1). In the first work, recalling the Augustinian theory of the "divine light," which is the inner teacher, he explains it by identifying it with the "light of reason," given by God to man, so that in a certain sense it can be said that it is God who, continuously and primarily, acts as the teacher; but whereas St. Augustine essentially emphasized the moment of self-education, St. Thomas introduces and insists upon heterodidaxis as well, which is the modern theory of the bipolarity of the educational fact. In the second work, St. Thomas answers the question of whether knowing a science well is sufficient to teach it well, and he replies that it is not enough, but that the teacher also requires a special technical skill to maintain attention and, above all, to make the truth intelligible.

5. Period of Humanism.

With the advent of Humanism and the Renaissance, the break with medieval mentality becomes more pronounced. A veritable wind of dissent seeks to sweep away, in the field of reason, the scientific value of Holy Scripture, Scholasticism, and Aristotle; there is a repugnance for the staticism of the *ipse dixit* that had been maintained in the schools; a culture is desired that is not only Christian but, rather, predominantly human, one that revives all the values contained within man’s natural and spiritual reality. All the authors of antiquity are to be explored and exploited, beyond scholastic disputes, so that a connection is felt with those great figures who had known how to join and celebrate, in the beauty of their style, the beauties of life, the art of governance, and the art of conquest. In short, it was a matter of giving predominance to the self, of achieving greater autonomy; and in the end, the prevailing pedagogical concept was that of education understood as an aesthetic norm of beautiful harmony and eurhythmic order, rather than as a norm of disciplined duty. Man was thus educated more for the realization of an ideal of beauty and artistic composure than for the formation of character. While these ideas led some astray, there were nonetheless Christian pedagogists who, while embracing the best, deepest, and freest classical culture—now in vogue—did not neglect moral values, and above all religious ones, so necessary for education. Among these were:

GIOVANNI DOMINICI (*Regola del governo di cura famigliare*), PIER PAOLO VERGERIO (*De ingenuis moribus ac liberalibus studiis adolescentiae*), MAFFEO VEGIO (*De educatione liberorum clarisque eorum moribus*), GUARINO GUARINI with his boarding school in Ferrara, VITTORINO DA FELTRE with his *Casa gioiosa*, ENEAS SILVIO PICCOLOMINI (later Pope PIUS II, *De educatione liberorum*), Cardinal GIACOMO SADOLETO (*De liberis recte instituendis*), MATTEO PALMIERI (*Della vita civile*), LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI (*De iciarchia*, *Della famiglia*), BALDASSARRE CASTIGLIONE (*Il Cortigiano*), THOMAS MORE (*Utopia*), and LUIS VIVES (*De disciplinis*).

It is worth noting how, between the two extreme tendencies then observable—the naturalism of LORENZO VALLA, the hedonistic Epicureanism of PIETRO POMPONAZZI, and the rigorism of DOMINICI and SAVONAROLA—a predominantly intermediate position prevailed, neatly expressed by ST. BERNARDINE OF SIENA: young people do well to study Cicero to learn the language, but they must also have as their teacher “bearded St. Jerome.” Against the excessive bookishness and the phenomenon of Ciceromania derived from Humanism, there arose ERASMUS OF ROTTERDAM, FRANÇOIS RABELAIS, and MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE.

6. Period of the Catholic Reformation and the “Protestant Reformation.”

With the “Reformation,” a rather theological Humanism prevails out of necessity for propaganda and counter-propaganda: on the Protestant side with PHILIP MELANCHTHON and JOHANN STURM, and on the Catholic side with the great teaching religious Orders and their principles and theories, which were followed with enthusiasm and discernment. Consider, for example, the *Ratio Studiorum* of the Jesuits, with its commentators: SACCHINI, PERPIGNAN, POSSEVINO, JOUVANCY, etc.; the restorative work of ST. CHARLES BORROMEO and SILVIO ANTONIANO’s *Della educazione cristiana e politica dei figliuoli*; the foundations of ST. PHILIP NERI with the Oratory; of ST. JOSEPH CALASANZ with the Piarists; of ST. JEROME EMILIANI with the Somaschi; of ST. ANTHONY MARY ZACCARIA with the Barnabites; of ST. PETER FOURIER, ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, and MARY WARD with the English Ladies.

The current of realism—established by a more ardent and profound study of nature, by the experimental and inductive method proclaimed by FRANCIS BACON and GALILEO GALILEI, and by the still-vivid reaction against the last remnants of decadent Scholasticism—alongside social realism, made of reality and utopia, in Tommaso Campanella’s *Città del Sole*, produced among Protestants: WOLFGANG RATKE and especially JOHANN AMOS COMENIUS with *Didactica magna*, *Janua linguarum reserata*, and *Orbis pictus rerum sensualium*. His program, set out in the subtitle of the *Didactica magna*, is to provide everyone (cities, villages, communes, youth of both sexes) with all knowledge, including the method so that teachers teach less and students learn more. Alongside theories of undeniable novelty and practicality (the law of graded subjects, the cyclical method, the alphabetical method in place of the intuitive method), COMENIUS, however, errs in tending toward an encyclopedic scientism, against which there reacted AUGUST HERMANN FRANCKE with his, in part exaggerated, Pietism, and JOHN LOCKE with his disciplinary realism (*Some Thoughts Concerning Education*): the task of education is not to make young people perfect in one science or another, but to open and dispose their minds so as to render them capable of any science to which they may wish to apply themselves. Among the Jansenists, realism provoked the reaction of Port-Royal and its *petites écoles*; among Catholics, it produced ST. JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE with his Brothers of the Christian Schools, BOSSUET, and FÉNELON.

7. Modern Period.

From this point onward, the dependence of pedagogical theories on prevailing philosophical theories becomes ever more evident. Thus, as a fruit of the Enlightenment, we have JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU (*Émile*) and JEAN-BAPTISTE BASDEVANT with his philanthropism, ANTONIO GENOVESI, GAETANO FILANGIERI, GIAN RINALDO CARLI, etc.; in a reactive sense: Cardinal SIGISMONDO GERDIL. In more or less felt and latent dependence on Kantian criticism and idealist philosophy, especially after the Hegelian period: JOHANN GOTTLIEB FICHTE (*Reden an die deutsche Nation*), FRIEDRICH WILHELM SCHELLING (*Vorlesungen über die Methode des akademischen Studiums*), JEAN-PAUL RICHTER (*Levana*), HEINRICH PESTALOZZI with his schools, FRIEDRICH FROEBEL (*Die Menschenerziehung*); in a reactive sense: Fr. GREGORY GIRARD (*Esquisse d’un plan d’éducation pour toute la Suisse*) and ALBERTINE NECKER DE LA SAUSSAYE (*Éducation progressive*). With the return to realism and the predominance of the study of psychology, we have JOHANN FRIEDRICH HERBART (*Allgemeine Pädagogik aus dem Zweck der Erziehung abgeleitet*).

During the period of the Risorgimento, pedagogical currents tended to form a new consciousness by aligning education with national life and emphasizing the intimate correspondence between educational renewal and political and civic renewal. Among those cited are: VINCENZO CUOCO and GIAN DOMENICO ROMAGNOSI; the mutual instruction schools of ANDREA BELL and GIUSEPPE LANCASTER; FERRANTE APORTI with his infant schools and provincial model schools; ANTONIO ROSMINI (*Saggio sull’unità dell’educazione*, *Catechismo disposto secondo l’ordine delle idee*); VINCENZO GIOBERTI, RAFFAELE LAMBRUSCHINI (*La Guida dell’educatore*, *Della educazione*, etc.); GINO CAPPONI (*Frammenti sull’educazione*), NICCOLÒ TOMMASEO (*Dell’educazione*); GIOVANNI ANTONIO RAYNERI, DOMENICO BERTI, GIUSEPPE ALLIEVO. A preeminent and separate place is held by ST. JOHN BOSCO, with his institutions, his perfect knowledge of those he educated, the completeness of his education, and his preventive method.

The positive current, which sought to introduce into pedagogy the positive method of inquiry proper to the natural sciences and claimed that pedagogy, in constructing its theories, should rely solely on natural investigations—setting aside anything that smacked of tradition, dogma, or truths not verifiable by experience—denied, neglected, or opposed spiritual problems, religious beliefs, metaphysical doctrines, and redefined everything according to the processes of physical and natural formation. Among its proponents were: Auguste Comte (Discourse on the Whole of Positivism), Herbert Spencer with his evolutionism, Jeremy Bentham with his utilitarianism; in Italy: Roberto Ardigo, Aristide Gabelli, Cesare Lombroso and his criminalist school; in a materialist sense, Karl Marx and his successors, who emphasized class struggle and irreligion.

Positivism provoked a strong intellectual reaction, notably the neo-Hegelian movement led by Bertrando Spaventa, Benedetto Croce, Giovanni Gentile, and Giuseppe Lombardo Radice. It also encountered various currents stemming from William James’s pragmatism, Wilhelm Wundt’s psychologism, and Henri Bergson’s intuitionism.

8. The New School

Contemporary developments in pedagogy have flourished so remarkably that they are spoken of as a “Copernican revolution” in education. The central point of this revolution is that the child has moved to the center of pedagogical activity, while the teacher has moved to the periphery—meaning that the teacher must know the child, serve the child, but not replace the child; must awaken life without substituting for II. The new school is often called the “active school,” since it encompasses those pedagogical experiments that begin from the child’s spontaneity, interests, collaboration, functionality, and sociability, and which recognize and evoke in the child a spontaneous effort of self-formation, an immanent vital impulse that, when properly guided and directed, enhances the spirit. However, not all the philosophical premises from which it starts are acceptable (e.g., the biogenetic law, the original goodness of the child), nor are all its practical implementations to be endorsed (e.g., coeducation, religious neutrality, the exclusive appeal, in ethical matters, to the pupil’s moral conscience, civic sentiment, national and humanitarian feeling).

The new school takes various forms, the principal of which are:
a) In Italy: the “Modello Asilo” of Rosa and Carolina Agazzi; the “Casa dei Bambini” of Maria Montessori; the “Scuola Serena di Agno” of Maria Boschetti-Alberti;
b) In England: the “Abbotsholme School” of Cecil Reddie; the “Bedales School” of J. Haden Badley; the “Kearsley School” of E. F. O’Neil;
c) In Germany: the “Ilsenburg School” of E. Lietz and the creation of “hearths”; the “Odendal School” of P. Ghecheb; the “Wicherdorf School” of G. Wincken;
d) In France: the “Ecole des Roches” of E. Demolins and G. Bertier; “Teamwork” of R. Cousinet;
e) In Belgium: the O. Decroly method or “school-laboratory”;
f) In Switzerland: the methods of A. Ferrière and E. Dévaud with their centers of interest;
g) In America: the “project method” of G. Dewey and A. Kilpatrick; the Dalton Plan of E. Parkhurst; the Winnetka system of C. Washburne, etc.; to which may be added the “school-cities” of E. Codignola and the “Boys’ Towns” of E. J. Flanagan (v. ATTIVISMO).

Now another movement is taking shape: having moved beyond the teacher- and program-centered school, the tendency is to transcend even the child-centered school, arriving at a school that, acknowledging the undeniable merits and contributions of both systems, goes further by placing its center in love (cf. A. Agazzi, *Oltre la scuola attiva*, in *Paedagogium*, 10 (1948–49), pp. 28–35).

**

For the history of pedagogy:
a) General repertories and dictionaries: W. Rein, *Encyclopaedisches Handbuch der Erziehung*, 10 vols., 2nd ed., Langensalza 1903–11; A. Martinazzoli and L. Credaro, *Dizionario illustrato di p.* 3 vols., Milan 1948; 1955; F. Buisson, *Nouveau dictionnaire de pédagogie*, 2nd ed., Paris 1911; P. Monroe, *Encyclopaedia of education*, 5th ed., New York 1911–13; E. Roloff, *Lexikon der Pädagogik*, 5th ed., Freiburg im Br. 1913–17; F. Watson, *Encyclopaedia and Dictionary of Education*, 4th ed., London 1921; G. Marchesini, *Dizionario delle scienze pedagogiche*, 2nd ed., Milan 1929; J. Spieler, *Lexikon der Pädagogik der Gegenwart*, 2nd ed., Freiburg im Br. 1930–32; F. Carassale, *La p. moderna. Guida bibliografica*, 3rd ed., Turin 1930–31; E. Formigini Santa Maria, *Enciclopedia delle Enciclopedie*, Rome 1931; E. Codignola, *Pedagogisti ed educatori*, in *Enc. Tesi*, XXXVIII, Milan 1939.

b) Studies: besides individual entries on authors and systems, cf.: K. A. Schmidt and G. Schmidt, *Geschichte der Erziehung*, 5th ed., Stuttgart 1884–1902; G. Allievo, *Delle idee pedagogiche presso i Greci*, Turin 1887; F. Oznam, *Le scuole e l’istruzione pubblica in Italia nel medioevo*, Florence 1895; G. Manacorda, *Storia della scuola in Italia*, I. Il medioevo, 2nd ed., Palermo 1895; G. Gerini, *Gli scrittori pedagogici italiani dei secoli XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX*, 5th ed., Turin 1896–1910; G. Williams, *History of Modern Education*, Syracuse 1896; G. Micheli, *L’educazione negli scrittori latini*, Lanciano 1922; G. Vidari, *L’educazione in Italia dall’Umanesimo al Risorgimento*, Rome 1930; M. Agosti–V. Chizzolini, *Risorgimento educativo nell’800 italiano*, Brescia 1942; V. BENEDETTINI, *Educazione romana*, 1943; M. Vassalli, *Storia delle dottrine pedagogiche*, 2nd ed., Milan 1945–46; H. I. Marroux, *Histoire de l’éducation antique*, 2nd ed., Paris 1946.

**PEDAGOGY AND MENDATIVE**

The new school is often called the “active school,” since it encompasses those pedagogical experiments that begin from the child’s spontaneity, interests, collaboration, functionality, and sociability, and which recognize and evoke in the child a spontaneous effort of self-formation, an immanent vital impulse that, when properly guided and directed, enhances the spirit. However, not all the philosophical premises from which it starts are acceptable (e.g., the biogenetic law, the original goodness of the child), nor are all its practical implementations to be endorsed (e.g., coeducation, religious neutrality, the exclusive appeal, in ethical matters, to the pupil’s moral conscience, civic sentiment, national and humanitarian feeling).

The new school takes shape in various forms, the principal of which are: a) in Italy: the “Asilo modello” of the sisters Rosa and Carolina Agazzi; the “Casa del bambino” of Maria Montessori; the “Scuola serena di Agno” of Maria Boschetti-Alberti; b) in England: the “Abbotsholme School” of Cecil Reddie; the “Bedales School” of J. Haden Badley; the “Kearsley School” of E. F. O’Neil; c) in Germany: the “Ilsenburg School” of E. Lietz and the creation of the “hearths”; the “Odendal School” of P. Ghecheb; the “Wicherdorf School” of G. Wincken; d) in France: the “Ecole des Roches” of E. Demolins and G. Bertier; the “teamwork” of R. Cousinet; e) in Belgium: the method of O. Decroly or “school-laboratory”; f) in Switzerland: the methods of A. Ferrière and E. Dévaud with their centres of interest; g) in America: the “project” method of G. Dewey and A. Kilpatrick; the Dalton method of E. Parkhurst; the Winnetka system of C. Washburne, etc.; to which must be added the “school-cities” of E. Codignola and the “Boys’ Towns” of E. J. Flanagan (v. ACTIVISM). Now another movement is taking shape: having surpassed the school centred on the teacher and the curriculum, the tendency is also to move beyond the school centred on the pupil, arriving at a school which, while acknowledging the merits and undeniable contributions of both systems, goes further by placing its centre in love (cf. A. Agazzi, *Oltre la scuola attiva*, in *Paedagogium*, 10 (1948-49), pp. 28-35).

**