Pedagogia Preventiva
Pedagogia Preventiva is that aspect of educational method which consists in making the pupil aware of his duties and the rules imposed upon him, and then watching over him with a fatherly eye, guiding him in every circumstance, advising him, and correcting him in such a way as to render it impossible for him to fail.
As is evident from the definition, preventive pedagogy is based partly on the good sense and piety of the pupil and partly on the loving kindness of the educator, excluding all violent punishment and even seeking to avoid light chastisements. This is far removed from recognizing, with Rousseau, the original goodness of man, or from excluding a priori, with Tolstoi, all punishment; it merely means that one must be convinced that children often fail through lack of critical judgment, through thoughtlessness, or through the absence of guidance and an educator. The latter must therefore not tire of repeating his observations, always showing the utmost confidence in the capacity for recovery and the will to improve in the young. As for punishments, it must be acknowledged that human nature sometimes needs to be constrained by severity (the Gospel itself contains threats of punishment for sinners), but punishment must never be resorted to without reason and justice, and only after all other means have been exhausted.
The educator must therefore: 1) show great affability, which does not degenerate into weakness or that foolish indulgence which is mistakenly called pity, and which compromises with evil, relieves the burden of effort and sacrifice, and thus produces weak characters incapable of struggle and victory. Education, instead, must unite severity with duty, conceal no duty however grave or arduous, but assist by example in bearing the burden and making it light, so that the pupil learns to see love in those things which least please him, such as discipline, study, and self-mortification, and learns to perform them with love; 2) show and make understood that he loves the pupil intensely but seriously, so that the pupil is not attracted to him by a shallow and superficial sympathy, but by a burning charity which seeks souls in order to lead them to God; 3) be ready to face every trouble and every hardship for the good of the pupil; 4) not show preference for the more intelligent and better characters, from whom the best satisfaction is obtained without effort, but rather make the negligent and less compliant the object of his care; 5) maintain vigilance that is attentive, yet not suggestive of police methods or a burden; 6) use confidence and familiarity, taking an interest in the pupil’s games and preferences, perhaps participating and helping him to succeed; 7) study the right moment to make the observations necessary for correcting faults or making him understand that he has failed; 8) show, in turn, understanding for the restlessness of youth, even when it is excessive, or dry and burdensome; 9) never forget the supernatural, and that the life of the Sacraments is the foundation of the entire educational edifice; so that it may be said that only the Christian can successfully practice preventive pedagogy.
These and other methods, which can be adapted to various cases and individual characters, will win the heart of the pupil, who will love and remember his educator always; he will no longer resent corrections, be disheartened by his own failings, or rebel against a threatened or even inflicted punishment, because in all this he will see a warning and a friendly gesture from one who knows how to understand and support him, and he will easily come to recognize the necessity of punishment and even to desire it and ask for II. It will also become easier for him to avoid relapses into the same failings and to acquire a self-mastery that is sure and effective for the further battles of life (v. PUNIZIONE E PREMIO).