The model of education, which is based on the direction of humanistic psychology, developed in the 50-60s. in the USA in the works of such scientists as Maslow, Frank, Rogers, Colley, Combs, etc.
The main concepts of humanistic pedagogy are “human self-actualization”, “ personal growth", "developmental assistance". Each person is an integral entity, a unique personality. The behavior of an individual is determined not by reinforcement coming from external environment, as behaviorism teaches, but by man’s innate desire for actualization - the development of his natural abilities, the search for his meaning and path in life. Personality is understood as complex autonomous system, characterized by focus, the will to positive activity and cooperation. Self-actualization is the realization of oneself in activities, in relationships with people, in a full-blooded “good” life on a chosen and changing life path. This state is designated by K. Rogers with the concept of a “fully functioning person.” In Rogers's psychotherapy and pedagogy, the psychotherapist and teacher must arouse own strength a person to solve his problems, do not solve them for him. Don't force it on him ready-made solution, but to stimulate it own work by personal change and growth that never has limits. The goal of training and education should not be the acquisition of knowledge as a set of knowledge of facts, theories, etc., but a change in the student’s personality as a result of independent learning. The task of school and education is to provide an opportunity for development, self-development of the individual, to promote the search for one’s individuality, and to move towards self-actualization.
The teaching in which the student is interested, where there is not just an accumulation of facts, but a change in the student, his behavior, his self-concept, Rogers called “a teaching that is significant for a person” and believed that this is the only way it can be.
Within the framework of humanistic pedagogy, the educator must encourage students to make a moral choice by presenting material for analysis. Educational methods include discussions, role-playing games, discussion of situations, analysis and resolution of conflicts. For parents and teachers, scientists of the humanistic school offer the following techniques in communicating with a child: speaking up, active listening, love for the child, positive attention, eye contact, physical contact.
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02/19/2008/abstract Introduction into the theory and practice of modern upbringing and education of the basic ideas and provisions of humanistic pedagogy. Philosophical concept of humanism. The main provisions of humanistic pedagogy in relation to vocational education. 03/20/2010/course work The concept and essence of the theory of the collective, stages and directions of its development in domestic science. The concept of the team in humanistic pedagogy. Theoretical basis, experimental study, analysis and assessment of the role of the team in the formation of personality. 08/16/2010/course work Improving the educational process. The problem of the formation of humanistic relations in a group of junior schoolchildren in theoretical research. Formation of relationships with peers in school age. Development of collectivist relations. 01/31/2011/thesis 01/31/2011/thesis 07/23/2010/course work Reasons for antisocial behavior and children's desire to join informal associations. The influence of a teacher’s professional skills on solving this problem. Modern humanistic educational technologies, research on their implementation in pedagogy. 03/20/2009/abstract The essence of cooperation pedagogy. Principles of the educational process. Personality in the concept of humanistic education. Secondary education concept Russian Federation. Methods, attitudes and values of humanistic pedagogy. 08/13/2009/report Dewey like bright representative humanistic direction in pedagogy. The essence and purpose of education. Philosophical and pedagogical ideas of Dewey. Biological and social in the child. Dewey's view of enhancing the learning process. The influence of society on the school. 04/13/2010/course work Psychological features of labor education of the personality of high school students. Formation of economic competence among older schoolchildren. Study of the formation of humanistic orientations, spiritual and moral values of high school students. 05/24/2009/course work Classical and modern psychological and pedagogical approaches to education: humanistic, developmental, competence-based, age-related, individual, active and personality-oriented. Education as a resource and mechanism of social development. |
Introduction
There is a science of education - pedagogy. But raising a person is rather an art. And no textbook, not even the best one, can teach this art. Perhaps that is why we consider with such attention the experience of people who were endowed with genuine talent as educators.
“The teaching profession,” wrote V.A. Sukhomlinsky, “is human studies, constant, never-ending penetration into the complex spiritual world of man. It is a wonderful trait to constantly discover new things in a person, to be amazed at new things, to see a person in the process of his formation - one of those roots that nourish the vocation for teaching work.”
The highest human need is the need for actualization and development of abilities (A. Maslow, K. Rogers), which is satisfied by providing conditions of love, friendship, security, self-esteem and respect of other people. By organizing the reality of humanistic interpersonal relationships, we can satisfy a person’s need, for example, for communication, thereby stimulating the process of development and actualization of his communicative abilities.
Humanistic pedagogy, taking into account the heritage of the past and focusing the practice of modern education on the free development of a person, on stimulating his self-development, drew attention to the problem of pedagogical interpersonal relationships, where the question of the teacher’s love for students acquired dominant importance. Love for children was considered a necessary quality of a teacher, in the presence of which a natural opportunity arose to develop humane relationships with students. Love united teacher and student, made them unanimous, preceded the manifestation of openness, trust, understanding, respect for each other, encouraged the desire to develop their own abilities (J.-J. Rousseau, I.G. Pestalozzi, K.D. Ushinsky, L. N. Tolstoy, V. P. Vakhterov, J. Korczak, S. T. Shatsky, V. A. Sukhomlinsky, etc.).
The humanistic pedagogical tradition has been preserved in the advanced experience of modern teachers (Sh.A. Amonashvsh, I.P. Volkov, T.I. Goncharova, N.P. Guzik, E.N. Ilyin, V.F. Shatalov, E.A. Yamburg, etc.), who proved the possibility of organizing creative interaction and humanistic relationships with students. When communicating with students, the teacher does not guide or impose his own social experience on them; he only helps them enter the world of culture, in which students are independently determined. Established friendly cooperative relationships help students overcome internal fear and resistance and advance success in communication.
This direction has become central in modern pedagogical scientific research, considering the problems of polysubjectivity of the education process (R.A. Valeeva), the influence of the team on the development of the individual (L.I. Novikova, T.N. Malkovskaya, A.V. Mudrik), personal self-development (L.N. Kulikova), intersubjective pedagogical relations between teacher and student (V.V. Gorshkova).
The object of the study is the process of development of humanistic pedagogy and its influence on modern system training;
The subject is the personality of the child in humanistic pedagogy;
The goals and objectives of the study are to consider in this work the history of the formation of humanistic pedagogy, to outline its influence on the modern learning process.
Chapter 1: Historical meaning of humanistic pedagogy
The meaning of changing the education system is in its humanization, when the improvement of a person is seen not as a means of the well-being of society, but as the goal of social life, when the formation of personality presupposes the identification and improvement of all the essential forces of a person, when the individual himself is not considered “managed”, but the creator of himself, your circumstances.
Humanistic education, which is to be established in school, is intended to act as a successor to the best of the cultural heritage, while it is important to discard what was created by people in order to form person-means, but preserve what contributes to the elevation of the individual. The humanistic system of education is based on the following ideas: a personal approach to education (recognition of the personality of a developing person as the highest social value; respect for the uniqueness and originality of each child, teenager, young man, recognition of their social rights and freedoms; orientation to the individual; result and indicator of the effectiveness of education; attitude towards the pupil as a subject of his own development; reliance in education on the body of knowledge about a person, on the natural process of self-development of the emerging personality, on knowledge of the laws of this process).
The pedagogical heritage of centuries contained a number of fundamental humanistic ideas that had a decisive influence on the humanistic search for the end XIX - beginning XX centuries. Suffice it to recall that already in the 5th century. BC. Socrates considered the educational process from the point of view of organizing the student’s self-development, awakening the activity and creativity inherent in him from birth. Socrates proved in word and deed that true education can only develop from a person’s personal spiritual effort associated with the experience he already has. A true teacher is an equal partner of the student, his assistant, stimulating and guiding the latter’s development.
Subsequent eras significantly enriched the existing Ancient Greece humanistic pedagogical tradition, which found its full expression in the 17th century, in the works of John Amos Comenius. His work coincided with the beginning of the New Age, when the idea of an active subject who had escaped from the shackles of the Middle Ages and was able, having developed himself and realized his complex inner world, to travel the path destined for him alone, became increasingly widespread. Comenius saw the pedagogical ideal in the person himself, realizing his natural talents, and interpreted education as a way to develop these talents. The educator must identify what is “in embryo” in the child, follow the gradually “maturing” nature of a person, regulate individual development moral values, strive to “equalize all people with high culture.”
The humanistic charge of Comenius' pedagogy remained unrealized. Western civilization, having embarked on the path of development of industrial society, was increasingly oriented towards a mechanistic worldview. This contributed, especially during the Enlightenment, to the establishment of a view of man as a product of upbringing and training, the formation of which is determined by external influences.
This pedagogical position dates back to the 18th century. was thoroughly criticized by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau argued that the teacher, by implementing pedagogical functions, in no case should impose his will on the child; he must only promote the natural growth of the child, create conditions for his development, organize that educational and educational environment in which the child can accumulate life experience, gain independence and freedom, and realize his nature. Calling for “order” to be followed in the gradual education of a person, Rousseau emphasized that nothing can lead a teacher to success “except well-directed freedom.” He demanded that he abandon attempts to decide the child’s fate for himself, thereby depriving him independent choice and interfering with its natural development.
Largely relying on the ideas of Rousseau, as well as on Kant’s thesis that a person under all circumstances should be an end and not a means, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi saw education as helping a developing person to master culture, in self-movement towards a perfect state. Education is about helping the child’s nature, which strives for social development; This is assistance to the self-development of the strengths and abilities inherent in a person. Education, according to Pestalozzi, should instill in every person a sense of self-esteem and freedom. At the same time, he attached exceptionally great importance to introducing children to the experience of previous generations: the essence of education is the child’s comprehension of the principles of knowledge and methods of cognitive activity. Only this can ensure the real development of a person’s creative potential. A child, Pestalozzi believed, must, as it were, create himself, realizing his individual abilities as he grows and matures. Education, thus, turns into a way of ensuring personal independence.
However, in the 19th century, when capitalist relations became all-encompassing and a bourgeois-type civilization was formed, mass education and the pedagogical ideology associated with it were based on completely different principles. They focused on an isolated individual, trained and brought up using standard methods and means that were the same for all, leveling individuality and including a person in the impersonal state order.
Industrial civilization, which finally took shape in the West by the beginning of the twentieth century, opened up new material prospects for the development of man and society, the progress of science and technology, the rise of culture and education. However, it also carried within itself a tendency towards a sharp alienation of the human personality. Industrial society distorted the process of formation of individual subjectivity. Man turned into a “cog” of the social and production machine, into a functional appendage of technology, and found himself “built-in” into programs for the rational organization of social and industrial life. Personality in an industrial society became one of the types of raw materials: everything connected with mental experiences was assumed to be useful for the purposes realized by the social and production machine. Under these conditions, the dominant type of educational institutions remained the Herbartian “school of study” with its inherent authoritarianism, verbal teaching methods, and strict regulation pedagogical process, the desire to shape the child’s personality through the development of his intellect.
The concept of humanism in pedagogy
Humanism is a holistic concept of man as the highest value on a global scale. The main provision of this concept is the protection of personal dignity, recognition of human rights to happiness, freedom, development, and manifestation of abilities.
Definition 1
Humanism is a set of values and ideas that affirm the significance of human existence and the individual. As a system of value guidelines and attitudes, humanism is a social ideal.
Definition 2
Humanistic pedagogy is a system scientific theories, which represents the pupil as a conscious, equal, active participant in the educational process, which develops in accordance with its capabilities.
Every child is born special, different from others. But in order to obtain feasible development, achieve its highest possible level, and determine his place in life, teachers come to his aid. If nature-conforming pedagogy does not require adaptation to the child, then humanistic pedagogy puts the child at the center of the relationship and organizes the process so that he receives maximum development.
Humanistic pedagogy is also called innovative. This is an innovation rather for our country. Western systems began to move towards a humanistic orientation of pedagogy quite a long time ago and are gradually transforming into a system of new teacher-student relations.
From the point of view of humanism, the goal of education is so that every child can become a full-fledged subject of cognition, activity, communication, and a free person. The degree of humanization of the education process is determined by how much this process creates opportunities for personal self-realization, disclosure of natural inclinations, formation of creativity and responsibility.
Signs of humanistic pedagogy
Humanistic pedagogy is focused primarily on the individual. Distinctive features humanistic pedagogy are:
- shifting priority from mastering information and developing skills to developing mental, intellectual, moral, physical and other areas of personality;
- concentration of efforts on the formation of an active, independently thinking, free personality;
- providing organizational conditions conducive to a successful change in the orientation of the educational process.
The role of the teacher in humanistic pedagogy
Note 1
Humanization of the process of teaching and upbringing involves the rejection of authoritarian pedagogy with its pressure on the human personality, the transition to personality-oriented pedagogy, which gives great value personal freedom and activity of students. To humanize this process means to create conditions in which one cannot help but learn, one cannot remain an indifferent participant in the educational process or an outside observer of life.
In the conditions of humanistic pedagogy, it is necessary to adapt the teacher and educational institutions to students, ensuring psychological safety and an atmosphere of comfort.
In humanism-oriented pedagogy, the teacher must awaken the inner strengths of a person to solve his problems, and not try to solve them for him. Refuse to impose ready-made solutions on the pupil, but stimulate his personal work on personal growth and change. The goal of education and training should not be the acquisition of knowledge as a set of facts and theories, but a change in personality as a result of independent learning. A teaching in which the student himself is interested, when there is not just an accumulation of facts, but a change in the student’s personality, his behavior and self-concept, can be called a teaching that is meaningful for a person.
Methods of education in humanistic pedagogy are discussion of situations, discussions, analysis, conflict resolution, role-playing games. Scientists of the humanistic school offer the following techniques in communicating with a child: active listening, love for the child, speaking out, positive attention, physical contact, eye contact.
68. Humanistic pedagogy
Education in a holistic pedagogical process, its essence, features and main types. Goals and objectives of humanistic education.
Principles– general guidelines requiring sequence of actions when different conditions and circumstances.
1. The first principle of education, arising from the purpose of education and taking into account the nature of the educational process, is value orientation, the constancy of the teacher’s professional attention to the student’s developing attitudes towards socio-cultural values (man, nature, society, work, knowledge) and the value foundations of life - goodness, truth, beauty. The condition for the implementation of the principle of orientation to value relations is the philosophical and psychological training of the teacher, which only allows the teacher to recognize relationships where they are not visible behind the objectivity of the world, allows you to see a phenomenon behind a fact, a pattern behind a phenomenon, and the foundations of life behind a pattern. With the help of a teacher, children go through the school of kindness, but this does not mean that their choice is predetermined. Going into independent life, they themselves will make a choice of the foundations that they will lay in the destiny they are constructing.
2. The second principle of education is the principle subjectivity. The teacher maximizes the development of the child’s ability to realize his “I” in connections with other people and the world, comprehend his actions, foresee their consequences for other people and his destiny, and make meaningful choices in life decisions. The principle of subjectivity excludes a strict order addressed to children, but assumes joint decision-making, so that the child himself understands: “If you do this, it will be for you..., it will be different... Is this what you want? It will be right?" The essence of actions and deeds is revealed in their influence on the course of life, the indissoluble connection of all human actions with the state of the surrounding world is revealed. This is done in the course of daily activities, in separate hours of group reflection, in an individual conversation with a child, through reference to works of art and through an analysis of one’s own thoughts and one’s own experiences over a certain period or at a given moment in life.
3. Third principle – principle of integrity of education stems from an attempt to harmonize social norms, rules of life and the autonomy of the unique personality of each child. This the principle states: “Accepting the child as a given, recognizing the child’s right to exist as he is, respecting his life history, which shaped him on this moment exactly as he is, recognition of the value of his personality, maintaining respect for his personality towards each child, regardless of his success, development, position, abilities.”
Personal prerequisites for the implementation of the principle of integrity include the teacher’s ability in each situation to evaluate private and one-act manifestations of a person as his relationship to the world and specific objects of the world.
The union of three principles of education gives it harmoniously combined characteristics: philosophical, dialogical, ethical. They cannot exist one without the other, just as the implementation of one of the named principles of modern education in isolation from the others is impossible.
The education model, which is based on the direction of humanistic psychology, developed in 50–60s in USA in the works of such scientists as Maslow, Frank, Rogers, Colley, Combs and etc.
The main concepts of humanistic pedagogy are “human self-actualization”, “personal growth”, “developmental assistance”. Each person is an integral entity, a unique personality. Personal behavior is determined not by reinforcement coming from the external environment, as behaviorism teaches, but by a person’s innate desire for actualization - the development of his natural abilities, the search for his meaning and path in life. Personality is understood as a complex autonomous system, characterized by direction, the will to positive activity and cooperation.
Self-actualization- this is the realization of oneself in activity, in relationships with people, in a full-blooded “good” life on a chosen and changing life path. This state is designated by K. Rogers with the concept of a “fully functioning person.” In Rogers's psychotherapy and pedagogy, the psychotherapist and teacher must stimulate a person's own powers to solve his problems, not solve for him, not impose a ready-made solution on him, but stimulate his own work on personal change and growth, which never has limits.
The goal of training and education should not be the acquisition of knowledge as a set of knowledge of facts, theories, etc., but change in a student's personality as a result of independent learning. The task of school and education is to provide an opportunity for development, self-development of the individual, to promote the search for one’s individuality, and to move towards self-actualization.
The teaching in which the student is interested, where there is not just an accumulation of facts, but a change in the student, his behavior, his self-concept, Rogers called “learning that is significant for a person.” He determined following conditions, under which it can take place.
1. During the learning process, students solve problems that are interesting and significant to them.
2. The teacher feels congruent with the students, that is, he shows himself to be the person he is, expressing himself freely.
3. The teacher shows an unconditional positive attitude towards the student, accepts him as he is.
4. The teacher shows empathy for the student. The ability to penetrate his inner world, understand it, look through his eyes, while remaining himself.
5. The teacher provides teaching tools for students: books, textbooks, tools, materials.
The teacher plays the role of an assistant and stimulator of meaningful learning, must create psychological comfort and freedom for the student, i.e. teaching should be centered on the student, and not the academic subject.
Within the framework of humanistic pedagogy, the educator must encourage students to make a moral choice by providing material for analysis. Methods of education are discussions, role-playing games, discussion of situations, analysis and resolution of conflicts. For parents and teachers, scientists of the humanistic school offer the following techniques in communicating with a child: I-statement, active listening, unconditional love for the child, positive attention to him, eye contact, physical contact.
Many humanists of the past believed that education, as the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation, automatically ensures the development of an ethically and civically responsible individual. It was assumed that theoretical knowledge, its simple translation almost automatically determines a person’s worldview and his everyday behavior, becomes an integral part not only of his consciousness, but also lays in him deep, existential (life-meaning) values. In reality, there is a huge distance between knowledge and values, knowledge and everyday habits. The availability of information in itself is not capable of giving meaning to a person’s life, just as it does not give the ability to organize it. (No experiments are needed to understand that if you look at the TV screen for 10-15 hours every day, you can end up turning, if not into a patient in a mental hospital, then into a very limited person with an inadequate perception of reality.)
Humanistic pedagogy sets the task of bridging the gap and establishing harmony between (1) knowledge as such, (2) knowledge that is vital for a person (worldview), (3) the personal center of a person, his self, and (4) practice, i.e. actions of the individual.
From the point of view of the content of education, great importance is attached within the framework of humanism to ethical, or rather axiological (value) education. According to P. Kurtz, the goal of ethical education is twofold: firstly, the development of a personal principle in children, allowing them to independently comprehend and observe general moral rules both in relation to themselves and in relation to others; secondly, developing the ability of ethical knowledge and the ability to conduct critical ethical research. The latter seems especially important for humanism as a pedagogical and ideological paradigm and distinguishes it from all other models of education.
In fact, the value basis of the pedagogy of humanism is quite obvious: it consists, for the most part, of universal moral, civil, and environmental norms. The psychology of humanism is not exotic either. At the same time, humanistic pedagogy shifts the center of gravity to the methodological and instrumental components of the education process, i.e. on procedures and techniques for joint work between the teacher and the student to master and develop skills of self-knowledge, self-organization, etc.
Not so much what (this is demonstrated, explained and understood relatively simply), but how - this is the decisive link in the humanistic process of education. For the teacher, this is associated with the implementation of at least three principles (1) objectivity, impartiality and science, (2) self-regulation and self-determination, and (3) offering an explanation.
Achieving objectivity, impartiality and scientific character is a psychologically and practically difficult procedure for purifying the pedagogical process from ideologies, indoctrination, voluntary or involuntary imposition on students of a certain system of religious, atheistic, nihilistic or other views, as well as political beliefs, sometimes so difficult to separate from a simple broadcast (message) of information. This purification is never complete, since the teacher is never completely free from biases, and the very atmosphere of the educational process is more or less saturated with ideological approaches and emotions.
The minimum requirement for purification is the sincere and conscious willingness of the teacher to distance himself from any political and religious ideologies, compliance with the spirit of democratic legislation regarding freedom of conscience and belief. Ethically and civilly, it would be correct to refrain from evaluative - blaming or approving - political or ideological judgments about the material being studied, or to reduce them to a minimum, and still better - to zero. If such assessments are given involuntarily (here it can be noted that complete indifference would make the presentation of the material incomprehensible), then the teacher is obliged to explain that this is his personal opinion, not obligatory for everyone else. The study of political-ideological or religious phenomena should be just as correct. It must be extremely objective, scientific, emotionally neutral and free from subjectivist interpretations.
Self-regulation and self-determination are the transfer of the educational process into the inner world of the student. This is what is called empathic and helping teaching and involves students mastering well-known algorithms of psychological, intellectual and value motivation, self-correction, introspection, self-esteem, etc., i.e. everything related to self-creation, personal creativity. Naturally, the main thing here is not so much what, i.e. the content of any academic discipline, and how, i.e. transfer of technology, skills, methods of how a person works with himself for the sake of what can be called the overall efficiency of life. The main task of humanistic pedagogy is to awaken in a person a craving for self-knowledge and critical ethical research, for independence. Its goal is to educate not a humanist theorist, but a humane person, open to the whole world, to all non-totalitarian and non-misanthropic worldviews, ideologies and political teachings, capable of making a meaningful, free and responsible choice in any area of culture and social life.
Offering an explanation is a complex and responsible component of the pedagogical process. It's about about explaining to students the grounds, legality, moral and psychological correctness of precisely this method and teaching procedures that are discussed here. You cannot avoid a difficult answer to a simple question from a student: why should I prefer, accept, agree with the ideas and technologies of teaching and self-study offered to me (in this case, humanistic pedagogy)? Why do I need all this?
All possible options The answers to these questions must satisfy at least the following: they must not infringe on a person’s freedom or offend his beliefs or faith. Act here general principles ethics of humanism. Answers to all sorts of why? should be given in a spirit of respect and goodwill, in the form of an offer to freely accept, so to speak, to try and experience methods of working with oneself.
An important argument in favor of humanistic tools of education and self-education is their freedom from any ideological, confessional and political load. The freedom of the individual, the freedom of her moral and any other choice remains with her. At the same time, this does not mean recognition by humanistic pedagogy of the legitimacy of anarchy or arbitrariness.
It is necessary to point out the obvious fact that each of us lives in society and is obliged, in order to preserve it and our own safety, to fulfill certain civil and ethical requirements. Humanistic pedagogy offers ways of meaningful, free and voluntary compliance with these legal and moral norms and thereby helps a person to be a worthy citizen of his country and gain respect in his own eyes.
The three aspects of the pedagogical process highlighted here can be classified as methodological and at the same time meta-ideological (going, as it were, on top of any worldview), since they are of a universal human nature.
The existing education system is increasingly turning knowledge into a commodity in the market of ideas, a tool for manipulating people. Humanistic pedagogy is designed to overcome a person’s alienation from himself, from his abilities and needs. Within its framework, ethical principles are tested by each person directly in the context of a specific situation, their unique life experience. Therefore, the teacher should not miss the opportunity when discussing ethical and other value problems to turn to personal experience students and remind them of the science of trusting their inner self, of being open to new experiences, perhaps difficult, even tragic, since the very essence of life’s dilemmas lies in the collision of what is necessary or should with a system of personal values.
Modern humanism offers a constructive ethical alternative that can ensure high vitality of the individual and society in the face of increasingly complex psychological, social and legal problems. In its spirit, humanistic pedagogy is opposed to irrationalism and dogmatism. Humanism here stands for the moral freedom of each individual person to determine the meaning and way of his life on the basis not so much of group, ideological or religious, but primarily of universal human values. Humanistic pedagogy encourages the individual to comprehend these values. It should be emphasized again that humanism, without associating itself with any political or religious doctrine, contributes to the development of democratic thinking.
Humanistic pedagogy is based on the fact that knowledge is created by people of different beliefs. In this regard, the idea is put forward that modern education is, first of all, a pluralistic open education. Here, no doctrine is recognized as dominant, the child is given the opportunity to survey all the achievements of culture, he is introduced to the world of alternative philosophical, ethical and aesthetic systems, with a variety of social theories and historical pictures of the world. Their knowledge is necessary to the greatest extent possible. But in any case, education should help everyone discover themselves, their own image. It should not force one to “only the right choice"even if it appears to be present. This choice must be freely made by the individual himself. Only then can the results of her activity be assessed by her as truly true and necessary. The individual must himself choose from the proposed system of ideas the one that more fully corresponds to his true needs and inclinations. He only needs to be reminded that life is rich in opportunity and full of meaning.
Consequently, the task of teachers is to present the material as objectively as possible and give the individual the right to draw the appropriate conclusion. “This is the meaning of life - every person has the opportunity to create his own life world,” writes P. Kurtz. “The best I can hope for is that my children, like me, will see that life is amazing and beautiful, full of meaning and inspiration.” Therefore, the teacher must help to comprehend certain ethical principles, but he has no right to introduce them into the consciousness of students in a forced and dogmatic manner. As stated, teachers are required to demonstrate neutrality with respect to religious, political and other values. To be as correct as possible is the most important task of any teacher, especially an adherent of humanistic pedagogy, since each individual has the right to be treated with respect and has equal dignity and value with others.
Pedagogy, which opens up the widest possible field of freedom and does not enslave the process of education with rigid norms, is non-directive: its main task is to assist the individual in becoming familiar with genuine human values, help clarify her highest needs. It teaches a person freedom, creativity, independence and responsibility. It does not limit the scope of the student’s free choice and refuses to lead him to any specific goal, idea, way of thinking or ideal, since it respects the freedom of his self-determination, thinking and conscience. This contributes to the creation of the necessary - relaxed, free, creative and responsible - emotional and intellectual climate for successful upbringing.
Humanistic pedagogy assumes that in the process of education, humanistic values and norms of behavior are subject to internalization and deep internal assimilation.
Humanistic pedagogy considers its important task to be overcoming pseudo-problems and concentrating the individual’s attention on truly serious existential problems. Pseudo-problems arising as a result of a deficit of meaning or loss of meaning can be eliminated by education, focused not only on the transfer of knowledge, but also on “training” conscience, sensitivity to the “demands of the moment,” i.e. the moral meaning of each specific situation and the imperative contained in it.
Humanistic pedagogy is designed to overcome nihilism, indifference and infantilism. She strives to return positive attitude to concepts such as life purpose, values and ideals. It takes upon itself the task of helping a person overcome fear and at the same time develop courage and resistance (steadfastness and resilience) in relation to the possibility that the meaning and value of his life may turn out to be nothing more than a means to the common: the state, parties, corporations, ideologies , churches, etc. In relation to humanistic pedagogy itself, these fears are, presumably, unnecessary, since humanistic pedagogy is focused on the individual, it is not sociocentric and ideological, but anthropocentric and ideologically neutral, self-critical pedagogy. She insists on the need to take into account the uniqueness and intrinsic value of each student's personality.
What does this approach to education provide? He teaches not to be afraid of non-standard situations and a heuristic attitude towards life. This is where the fundamental right of the individual to self-determination manifests itself. Self-determination here means the ability to build your life at your own discretion, without preventing others from realizing the same opportunity. Being largely synonymous with the ideas of equality and freedom, the principle of personal self-determination looks more concrete and vital. It helps everyone take their unique place in life and relieve tension in relationships between people who are so different from each other.
The task of humanistic education and upbringing is not to preach any ideology, but to help students become free and responsible in their personal choices regarding their main problems in life.
Humanistic pedagogy is post-Enlightenment pedagogy, formed taking into account the historical experience of the 19th and 20th centuries, when the limitations of abstract rationalism and the inferiority of the authoritarian approach to the educational process were revealed. As Paul Kurtz rightly notes, the authoritarian model hardly reaches the mature level of a moral teacher and student, since thoughtless and dogmatic adherence to an instilled ethical code does not ensure adequate moral behavior in specific situations. Moral rules observed under pain of punishment or as a result of indoctrination by no means guarantee that the true goals of actions will be truly moral. Real moral growth of a person is hardly possible while he is in captivity of imposed, but not comprehended and not felt by him, attitudes. Moreover, it is a person brought up in a harsh, authoritarian atmosphere, as E. Fromm’s research has shown, that in changed and provoking conditions can turn out to be extremely cruel, capable of the most monstrous crimes.
Humanistic pedagogy is a free and responsible pedagogy of neo-enlightenment. She relies on practical ideas of humanistic psychology and sees her calling in helping young people in the process of self-determination and developing respect for their own and others' rights. “Teaching means helping a child realize his capabilities,” writes V. Frankl. “Training is opposed to manipulation, based on the lack of faith that the child’s inclinations are developing, and on the belief that the child will only follow the right path when adults put into him everything that is desirable and suppress everything that seems undesirable to them.”
Humanistic education and upbringing teaches the child to recognize and value fundamental moral virtues. This, in turn, contributes to the internalization of fair social norms (the transformation of a behavioral habit into a character trait), the development of a moral sense (for humanism this is, first of all, empathy) and the understanding of the need to control one’s passions, to “peacefully cope” with oneself, with one’s whims for the sake of common considerations or long-term plans. A healthy attitude towards life cannot be achieved through humiliating feelings of fear and obedience. If we want to discover our abilities and talents, we need to avoid self-distrust, suspicion or hostility towards the world.
The ideal of humanistic pedagogy is not objectified, is not set in any specific and stationary way, it is a free, physically, mentally, morally and intellectually healthy person. This pedagogy proposes to develop in young people, first of all, such qualities that will help them navigate pressing challenges, realize and take their place in modern world, live a bright, joyful and fulfilling life.
It's hard to give full list these qualities, but there is no doubt that they include: love of life and cheerfulness (life-affirming attitude), self-respect, self-discipline, consciousness, independence, prudence and concern for health, creativity, aesthetic taste...
All these virtues are generally recognized. They concern both relationships with other people and oneself. They characterize a person who is capable of taking responsibility for the consequences of his choices.
Humanistic pedagogy is a pedagogy of high self-awareness. It is designed to teach the art of thinking and instill respect for reason; she strives to help in the formation of humanistic values - courage, rationality, care, respect for the rights and freedom of self-determination of the individual; she takes upon herself the responsibility to offer a universal human basis and methodology for the formation of a personality adequate to the era, i.e. scientifically oriented, philosophical and moral view of the world.
Questions for the lecture
1. What are the general and specific goals of humanistic pedagogy?
2. Why should humanistic pedagogy maintain the unity of requirements for a teacher and the goals of education?
3. How and on what principles should harmony be created between teacher and student?
Questions to Consider
Why is humanistic pedagogy called neo-enlightenment?
Why are the universal principles of the pedagogical paradigm of modern humanism so difficult to implement in the system? public education?
© A.A. Kudishina, 2006
Notes
We are, of course, not talking about refraining from evaluating openly misanthropic, fascist, totalitarian and racist ideas, as well as criminal acts.
Kurtz P. Forbidden fruit. – M.: Gnosis, 1993. – P. 160.
Fromm E. The Art of Love. // Fromm E. The human soul. – M., 1992, P. 174.