Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
Korczak'sPedagogicalLegacyintheTwentyFirstCentury
TalentandTraining:
ThepedagogicalprinciplethatguidedKorczakandthecounselorswasto
developpersonalskillsinaccordancewitheachchild’suniqueness.Childrenwho
wereidentifiedwithaspecialtalentweregivenanopportunityandthemeansto
expressit.SointhecaseofItzchakBelferwhosays:nWhenIwasaboutten,Stefa
approachedmeonedayandsaid:Itzchak,Iknowthatyouliketodraw.Ifyouwish,
Iwillbuyyoucrayons,paint,brushesandpapersothatyoucandrawinthesmall
roominyourfreetime.ThethoughtofStefa’sawarenessofmytalentandlikewise
probablythedoctoraswell,thrilledme.”16IntheChildren’sHomeKorczakand
Stefacreatedanatmosphereofmutualtrust,extendingthechild’stalent,encour-
agingperseveranceinaneforttosucceed.
TheNewspaper:
Thenewspaperasatoolofachild’sabilitytoexpresshimself,fromaveryyoung
ageKorczakshowedagreatempathywithchildrenandagenuineconcernforall
socialproblems.Adoctorbyeducationandaneducatorbyinclination,hispassion
forimprovingtherealityheobserveddrovehimtowritingandjournalism.nIam
adoctorbyeducation,apedagoguebychance,awriterbypassion,andapsycholo-
gistbynecessity”17.
JanuszKorczakbelievedthatbyenablingchildrentoruntheirownjournalin
ademocraticatmosphere,itwouldhaveapositiveeducationalefectonthem,make
themmoreresponsibleandincreasetheirself-esteemandsocialstatus.Korczak’s
promotionofprogressiveeducationaltechniquesincludedrealopportunitiesfor
theirempowermentinademocraticset-up.In1921,fiveyearsbeforethefounding
ofthechildren’snewspaperMałyPrzegląd(TheLittleReview),Korczakpublished
hisideasinabrochuretitlednTheSchoolNewspaper,”inwhichhewrote:nIdeeply
believethatthereisaneedforchildren’snewspapers,butthesemustbeperiodi-
calswrittenbythemselves.Newspaperswhichdealwithsubjectswhichtheyfind
importantandinteresting,ratherthanperiodicalswhichcontainnothingbutstories
andpoems.Andwhatarethethingswhichchildrenandadolescentsfindimpor-
tant-thistheymustsaythisthemselvesintheirnewspapers.”Insection12ofthis
brochureKorczakwrites:nTherearesomewhofinditeasytowrite.Theylikeand
wanttowrite.Andtherearethosewhodislikewriting.Justastherearepeoplewho
liketoplay,somewholiketodraw,somewhoexcelinlearningbyheart,solving
mathematicalproblems,tosew,sing,toassistonthefarm,careforflowers,tocare
foryoungchildren,ortoreadbooks.Itisagreatjoythatnotalllikethesame
things.”18Fortheteacherwhoisanxioustounderstandthechildandhimself,the
16InterviewofthewriterswithYitzhakin1990.
17LiftonB.J.,TheKingofChildren,NY,1988,p.125.
18Korczak,J.TheSchoolNewspaper,TelAviv,1958,Hebrewedition(Originalworkpublished
in1921).
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