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FUNDAMENTELE PEDAGOGIEI
Repere tematice pentru studenţi şi profesori
FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY
Thematic highlights for students and teachers
© Prof. Univ. Dr. Vasile Chiș
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FUNDAMENTELE PEDAGOGIEI. REPERE TEMATICE PENTRU STUDENȚI ȘI PROFESORI
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VASILE CHIȘ
FUNDAMENTELE PEDAGOGIEI
Repere tematice pentru studenţi şi profesori
FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY
Thematic highlights for students and teachers
FUNDAMENTELE PEDAGOGIEI. REPERE TEMATICE PENTRU STUDENȚI ȘI PROFESORI
Cluj-Napoca, 2014
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CUPRINS / CONTENTS
FUNDAMENTELE PEDAGOGIEI
Repere tematice pentru studenţi şi profesori.....................................3
Cuvânt înainte.......................................................................................3
Tema 1
EDUCAŢIA ŞI SISTEMUL ŞTIINŢELOR EDUCAŢIEI...............3
1.1. Educaţia. Evoluţia conceptului....................................................3
1.2. Concepţia pedagogică a lui J.A. Comenius..................................3
1.3. Sistemul ştiinţelor educaţiei. Evoluţii contrastante......................3
Bibliografie.........................................................................................3
Tema 2
FACTORII DEZVOLTĂRII PERSONALITĂŢII............................3
2.1. Concepţii referitoare la dezvoltarea personalităţii.......................3
2.2. Cercetările de genetică şi relevanţa lor în educaţie......................3
2.3. Rezultate ale unor cercetări ereditariste,
clasice și ale cercetărilor de psihologie genetică................................3
2.3. Studiile de psihologie genetică
şi teoria dublei determinări.................................................................3
Bibliografie.........................................................................................3
Tema 3
PRINCIPIILE FUNDAMENTALE ALE EDUCAŢIEI...................3
3.1. Ce sunt principiile fundamentale ale educaţiei?
Ce rol au ele în educaţie?....................................................................3
3.2. Care sunt sursele principiilor fundamentale ale educaţiei?
Cum sunt formulate ele în domeniul pedagogiei?..............................3
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Tema 4
FINALITĂŢILE EDUCAŢIEI............................................................3
4.1. Idealul educaţional – analiză pedagogică.....................................3
4.2. Taxonomia obiectivelor educaţionale..........................................3
4.3. Operaţionalizarea obiectivelor educaţionale................................3
4.4. De la pedagogia pentru cunoștințe
la pedagogia pentru competențe..........................................................3
Bibliografie.........................................................................................3
Tema 5
SISTEME EDUCAŢIONALE CONTEMPORANE ŞI
DEZVOLTĂRI ÎN PEDAGOGIA CONTEMPORANĂ...................3
5.1. Tipuri de sisteme educaţionale şi caracterizarea acestora............3
5.2. Analiză comparativă a sistemelor organizate ierarhic şi a
sistemelor organizate în reţea..............................................................3
5.3. Curriculumul – rețele conceptuale...............................................3
Bibliografie.........................................................................................3
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY
Thematic highlights for students and teachers...................................3
Foreword................................................................................................3
Theme 1
THE EDUCATION AND THE EDUCATIONAL
SCIENCES SYSTEM...........................................................................3
1.1. Education. The concept evolution................................................3
1.2. J.A. Comenius’s pedagogical conception....................................3
1.3. The system of the educational sciences.
Contradictory evolutions.....................................................................3
Bibliography........................................................................................3
Theme 2
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT FACTORS...............................3
2.1. Conceptions related to personality development.........................3
2.2. The genetic investigations and their relevance in education.......3
2.3. Results of heredity, classical researches
and of genetic psychology research....................................................3
2.4. Genetic psychology studies and the theory
of double determination......................................................................3
Bibliography........................................................................................3
Theme 3
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION........................3
3.1. What are the fundamental principles of education?.....................3
What role do these play in education?................................................3
3.2. What are the sources of the fundamental principles of
education? How are they formulated in the field of pedagogy?.........3
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Theme 4
THE FINALITIES OF EDUCATION................................................3
4.1. The educational ideal – pedagogical analysis..............................3
4.2. The educational objectives taxonomy..........................................3
4.3. The operationalization of the educational objectives...................3
4.4. From the knowledge pedagogy
to the competences pedagogy.............................................................3
Bibliography........................................................................................3
Theme 5
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS AND DEVELOPMENTS
IN THE CONTEMPORARY PEDAGOGY.......................................3
5.1. Types of educational systems and their characterisation.............3
5.2. Comparative analysis of hierarchical systems
and of network-organized systems......................................................3
5.3. The curriculum – conceptual networks........................................3
Bibliography........................................................................................3
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REPERE TEMATICE PENTRU STUDENŢI ŞI PROFESORI
Cuvânt înainte de
Mușata BOCOȘ
Olga CHIȘ
Notă: în textul lucrării s-a utilizat următoarea simbolistică:
? Interogaţii
L Esenţializarea conţinutului
¤ Surse bibliografice
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CUVÂNT ÎNAINTE
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TEMA 1
EDUCAŢIA ŞI SISTEMUL ŞTIINŢELOR EDUCAŢIEI
& Aristotel (384 î.H.-322 î.H.) a fost unul din cei mai importanţi filosofi ai
Greciei antice, cu preocupări relevante în domeniul educației. A studiat la
Academia lui Platon din Atena, apoi a fost la Curtea Împăratului Filip, în calitate
de învățător al tânărului Alexandru, o personalitate care a rămas în istorie cu
numele de Alexandru cel Mare prin calitățile sale de mare strateg şi conducător
militar al Macedoniei.
Deşi bazele filosofiei la vremea aceea au fost puse de Platon, Aristotel
este cel care a desprins concluziile necesare din filosofia lui Platon şi a
dezvoltat-o. El afirma că: „Nu spiritele produc transformările în lume, ci
transformările sunt date de ceea ce poate fi interpretat.”
În educația din antichitate, Aristotel este consecvent cu semnificaţiile
naturale ale conceptului „educaţie” – acelea de creştere, cultivare, hrănire. El a
înfiinţat la Atena o şcoală celebră – Lykeion sau şcoala peripatetică. Filozoful
obişnuia să educe plimbându-se cu discipolii săi prin Lykeion, o grădină în
natură. Prin şcoala peripatetică, se încurajau studiile clasice de gramatică, retorică,
logică, matematică, teologie, ştiinţele naturii, arte, euritmie. Corespondentul
termenului Lykeion pentru Roma antică era Lyceum, din el derivând termenul
Lycée (limba franceză) şi Liceu (limba română). Este interesant de menţionat că
educaţia şi şcoala peripatetică fondate de Aristotel are prelungiri în educaţia
contemporană: profesor itinerant, „şcoala altfel”, activităţi extracurriculare,
educație nonformală etc.
& Socrate (470 î.Hr.-399 î.Hr.) a fost un filosof al Greciei antice, care a
beneficiat de educaţia aleasă de care aveau parte tinerii atenieni din vremea sa –
studii de muzică, gimnastică, gramatică ş.a.
În filosofia sa, Socrate porneşte de la principiul neştiinţei, afirmând:
„Singurul lucru pe care îl ştiu este că nu ştiu nimic.”, criticându-i, astfel, pe
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& Pedagogul ceh Jan Amos Comenius a trăit între anii 1592 şi 1670 şi este
autorul lucrării de referinţă „Didactica Magna”, tipărită, după unii, în jurul anului
1630 şi, după alţii, în 1650 – reper la care ne vom raporta şi noi.
Lucrarea „Didactica Magna” este importantă pentru că ea reuneşte şi
structurează toate cunoştinţele de pedagogie existente până în acel moment. Să
comparăm acea epocă istorică – a doua jumătate a secolului al XVII-lea, perioadă
în care toate cunoştinţele de pedagogie erau cuprinse într-o carte şi epoca actuală,
în care vorbim despre milioane de cărţi.
O dată cu apariţia cărţii lui J.A. Comenius, o dată cu apariţia pedagogiei
ca ştiinţă, s-a formulat o nouă definiţie a educaţiei, la un nivel superior faţă de
prima definiţie etimologică, o definiţie împrumutată din ştiinţele naturii. Dacă în
antichitate „educatio” însemna „creştere”, „cultivare”, în epoca modernă a
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ridicate şi acces mai larg la educaţie pentru indivizii săi. Cu cât o educaţie este
mai bine dezvoltată, mai deplină, mai potrivită, cu atât progresul societăţii este
mai sistematic, continuu.
Aşadar, putem conchide că între educaţie şi dezvoltare se naşte o relaţie
cauzală circulară. Această relaţie este demonstrată şi de situaţia statelor slab
dezvoltate, în ţările slab dezvoltate, în care există familii dezavantajate, sărace,
comunităţi dezavantajate şi comunităţi sărace. În cazul acestor categorii de
populaţii, întotdeauna sărăcia se leagă de accesul la educaţie, care este îngrădit
din motive economice.
Accesul la educaţie este la parametrii mai scăzuţi sau mai ridicaţi, în
funcţie de gradul de dezvoltare socio-economică al ţării respective. Dar, lipsa
accesului la educaţie permanentizează sărăcia, o reproduce, o menţine şi o
adânceşte, tocmai pentru că între sărăcie şi nivelul scăzut de educaţie, de acces la
educaţie, se aşează această relaţie cauzală circulară. Relaţia este esenţializată
sugestiv de George Văideanu, pe care îl parafrazăm cu un accent personal: Acolo
unde domneşte sărăcia şi ... prostia. Cu alte cuvinte, cantitatea de incultură este
direct proporţională cu lipsa de educaţie sau, aşa cum spunem uneori, cu proasta
educaţie. Iată că relaţia educaţie-dezvoltare poate fi analizată şi semnificată la
diverse paliere, începând cu individul şi terminând cu societatea şi cu dezvoltarea
globală a întregii planete. Şi în acest context legat de educaţie şi dezvoltare
globală, discursul se poartă frecvent şi ferm în prezent, pe tema educaţiei pentru
dezvoltare sustenabilă, durabilă, pentru dezvoltare continuă, sistematică,
profundă a întregii planete.
¤ Cea de a doua carte referitoare la rolul educaţiei este a lui Mircea Maliţa, J.
Botkin şi M. Elmandjara şi se numeşte „Orizontul fără limite al învăţării.
Lichidarea decalajului uman” (1981), dar, foarte bine s-ar putea numi „Orizontul
fără limite al educaţiei”. Aceasta pentru că, în contextul cărţii, învăţarea are sens
generic, educaţional, global, vorbindu-se despre orizontul fără limite al învăţării.
Autorii cărţii sunt trei personalităţi, care au fost consilieri UNESCO, forumul
internaţional UNESCO (Organizaţia Naţiunilor Unite pentru Educaţie, Ştiinţă şi
Cultură, conform denumirii originale din engleză, United Nations Education,
Science and Culture Organization), un forum extraordinar şi foarte activ în
domeniul educaţiei şi culturii.
Mircea Maliţa, la fel ca George Văideanu au fost experți din partea
României în forumul internaţional UNESCO, iar aceste două cărţi au fost, de fapt,
rapoarte UNESCO pe tema educaţiei. Şi Mircea Maliţa susţine că educaţia are
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Timp
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? Cine au fost primii pedagogi, în Antichitate, persoanele care s-au numit „paid
- agoge”?
Răspunsul unui student: Sclavii, persoanele care erau folosite de
aristocraţi în diferite activităţi şi domenii.
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& Sigur că de la apariţia pedagogiei şi până în prezent s-au scurs mai bine de
două veacuri şi jumătate; de la Aristotel (anii 350 î.e.n.) şi de la introducerea în
circulaţie a cuvântului „pedagog” au trecut 2500 de ani. Dar pedagogia ca ştiinţă
a apărut mai târziu.
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FUNDAMENTELE PEDAGOGIEI. REPERE TEMATICE PENTRU STUDENȚI ȘI PROFESORI
PEDAGOGIA GENERALĂ
TEORIA TEORIA
EDUCAŢIEI INSTRUIRII
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PEDAGOGIA VÂRSTELOR
PEDAGOGIA PREŞCOLARĂ
PEDAGOGIA ŞCOLARĂ
PEDAGOGIA UNIVERSITARĂ
PEDAGOGIA ADULŢILOR
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Germania, Rusia, Elveţia, Statele Unite ale Americii au venit la Cluj să vadă
şcoala de psihopedagogie specială de şi au fost impresionaţi de rezultatele
acesteia.
În domeniul surdologiei, la Cluj era şi cel mai perfecţionat aparat al
vremii, de diagnostic auditiv şi de decizie pentru protezare auditivă, amplasat
într-un spaţiu în vecinătatea clădirii centrale a Universităţii Babeş-Bolyai de pe
strada Mihail Kogălniceanu.
Vizavi de clădirea Centrală a universităţii, la etajul III, a funcţionat un
laborator auditiv complet izolat fonic şi dotat cu un aparat imens, care genera
sunete de diferite intensităţi, de diferite lungimi de undă şi scana tot aparatul
cohlear, tot nervul cohlear, astfel încât se vedea pe ce registre nu se aude, nu se
percepe sunetul. La acest laborator pentru diagnostic şi pentru decizie de
protezare auditivă veneau persoane inclusiv din străinătate.
La Cluj, la Catedra de Psihopedagogie specială s-a produs prima
performanţă de recuperare a unui elev orb surdomut, un eveniment care nu s-a
mai înregistrat în istoria pedagogică a vremii. Un tânăr cu auzul, văzul şi limbajul
suprimate complet a fost recuperat şi exersat în domeniile compensării auditive şi
vizuale. Elevul, iar apoi studentul a lucrat foarte mult cu profesorii defectologi
specializaţi în surdologie şi tiflologie în anii ’60-’70 la Catedra de
Psihopedagogie specială. De notat că studentul a parcurs cu succes programul
universitar de pregătire în Psihopedagogie specială (defectologie) la Cluj, iar apoi
a lucrat ca profesor defectolog la o şcoală specială din municipiul Cluj-Napoca.
Această performanţă extraordinară, la vreme aceea, a fost mult mediatizată, dar şi
în prezent sunt ecouri în presă.
Ceea ce nu a fost în preocupările noastre la Cluj, decât mai târziu, după
anii 90 este domeniul dificultăţilor emoţionale şi de comportament, astfel încât nu
s-a conturat o pedagogie a dificultăţilor de comportament Adeseori, copiii cu
tulburări de comportament şi delincvenţă juvenilă erau plasaţi în şcoli de corecţie.
Exista, înainte de 1989 o reţea foarte dură de şcoli de corecţie, în care copiii nu
erau educaţi, ci se încerca să fie dresaţi, într-un regim de detenţie pentru minori.
Menţionăm, însă, că în toată lumea, în toate sistemele educaţionale s-a creat o
reţea amplă de educaţie destinată copiilor cu tulburări emoţionale şi de
comportament.
Redăm, în figura nr. 4, ramurile pedagogiei speciale/ psihopedagogiei
speciale sau a pedagogiei cerinţelor educaţionale speciale.
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DIFICULTĂŢI DIFICULTĂŢI
DIFICULTĂŢI
DE ÎNVĂŢARE AUDITIVE EMOŢIONALE ŞI DE
COMPORTAMENT
PSIHOLOGIA EDUCAŢIEI
FILOSOFIA EDUCAŢIEI
SOCIOLOGIA EDUCAŢIEI
ECONOMIA EDUCAŢIEI
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TEORIA
EVALUĂRII
TEORIA
INSTRUIRII
TEORIA
CURRICULUMULUI
MANAGEMENT
EDUCAŢIONAL
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Bibliografie
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TEMA 2
FACTORII DEZVOLTĂRII PERSONALITĂŢII
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FUNDAMENTELE PEDAGOGIEI. REPERE TEMATICE PENTRU STUDENȚI ȘI PROFESORI
! Ne aflăm într-o eră a culturilor genetice de tot felul, într-o eră în care pe cale
genetică se stăpâneşte o parte a proceselor şi fenomenelor biologice, dar sunt
incertitudini, zone semnificative de necunoaştere în ceea ce priveşte componenta
umană, psihopedagogică a problemei. De aceea, pedagogii, profesorii, specialiştii
din domeniile psihopedagogiei trebuie să se asocieze acelor organisme şi instituţii
care pledează pentru instituirea unor reguli ştiinţifice şi etice în privinţa
produselor create genetic.
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FUNDAMENTELE PEDAGOGIEI. REPERE TEMATICE PENTRU STUDENȚI ȘI PROFESORI
& În continuare, vom prezenta câteva din realizările importante ale lui
Francis Galton, în relaţie cu tema Factorii dezvoltării personalităţii:
El a creat, a elaborat şi a aplicat două metode foarte ingenioase de
cercetare în genetica clasică, metoda antropometrică şi metoda arborelui
genealogic.
Metoda antropometrică constă nu doar în observarea pasivă a
caracteristicilor fiinţei umane, ci mai ales în măsurarea acestor caracteristici.
Apoi, după colectarea datelor de măsurare urmează prelucrarea lor statistică şi
identificarea tendinţelor, regularităţilor privind repetabilitatea sau
non-repetarea acelor caracteristici, consemnate, de la predecesori la
descendenţi.
Metoda arborelui genealogic este o îmbinare de procedee intuitive,
grafice şi matematice, prin care se reprezintă transmiterea caracterelor/
trăsăturilor umane pe întinderea unei/ unor încrengături de rudenie. Arborele
genealogic ia forma unui graf sau a unei hărţi pe care sunt notaţi aparţinătorii
încrengăturii de rudenie în mod ascendent ori descendent.
Pe baza cercetărilor sale, a rezultatelor obţinute şi, adeseori rafinate
statistic cu metode valabile şi astăzi, Francis Galton identifică legi, regularităţi
după care se transmit trăsăturile umane, ereditare, pe încrengătură de rudenie.
$ Decupăm, din cercetările lui Francis Galton două exemple despre legile
sau regularităţile formulate, pe baza datelor obţinute prin măsurători
antropometrice.
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direct ca individul Ion sau Petre să fie excepţionali sau ca un alt individ să fie
mediocru. Legea eredităţii ancestrale reglează transmiterea caracterelor umane
pe lanţul generaţional, de la părinți şi bunici, până la ultimii (primii) donatori
genetici (proto-părinţii). Mecanismele ereditare, ancestrale îşi fac cu stricteţe,
cu generozitate şi cu seriozitate datoria de a reproduce caracterele umane din
aproape în aproape pe toată istoria, pe toată întinderea filogenetică. Dacă luăm
legea eredității ancestrale în generalitatea ei, omul este numit în termeni
generici şi nu în mod specific, particular. Pe om îl marchează ereditatea nu
atât pentru că este un om, ci cât pentru că este un membru al speciei umane.
Mecanismele genetice nu asumă menirea ca un individ să fie excepțional, iar
un altul să fie în stare precară. Ereditatea asigură ca fiecare om nou născut să
se înscrie cu trăsăturile lui în intervalele definite ale speciei umane.
În concluzie, mecanismele ereditare sunt puse în slujba speciei şi nu a
unui individ specific, aşa cum multe lucruri în viaţa socială sunt puse în slujba
societăţii şi nu în slujba unui individ sau a unor indivizi.
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la urmaşi are loc potrivit Legii eredităţii ancestrale, dar acest cumul istoric,
filogenetic de trăsături este guvernat de Legea regresiunii filiale spre
mediocritate.
? Cum vor fi urmaşii părinţilor de dimensiuni minime (îm)?. Vor fi mai mici
decât părinții lor, vor fi la fel, vor fi mai mari?
? Cum vor fi urmaşii părinţilor de dimensiuni maxime (ÎM)?. Vor fi mai mari
decât părinții lor, vor fi la fel, vor fi mai mici etc.
Răspunsul lui Galton este magistral și este redat într-un grafic complicat,
mai greu de înțeles fără o cultură statistică (figura IX în articolul citat).
În figura nr. 1, se observă că părinții cu înălțimea sub valoarea medie a
populației, au copii mai înalți, cu dimensiuni spre valoarea medie. Părinții cu
înălțimea peste valoarea medie a populației, au copii cu înălţime diminuată, cu
dimensiuni spre valoarea medie.
De formație și matematician, Galton vorbește de legea regresiunii filiale
în termeni statistici, fiind de altfel recunoscut astăzi ca fondator al analizei de
regresie din statistica modernă. În reprezentarea noastră, în figura nr. 1, linia de
regresie este tocmai axa care unește valorile bipolare (îm) și (ÎM), După cum se
vede, pe această linie de regresie are loc reproducerea, transmiterea caracterelor/
trăsăturilor de la părinți la urmaşi.
Concluziile care se desprind de aici sunt directe și accesibile:
Părinții foarte înalți, nu vor produce copii tot mai înalți. Este evident
că înălţimea nu este o trăsătură în creştere ne-definită prin naștere.
Părinții foarte scunzi nu vor produce copii tot mai pitici. Este
evident că înălțimea nu este o trăsătură în scădere ne-definită prin
naștere.
Caracterele, trăsăturile se transmit de la părinți la urmaşi între limite
valorice și în frecvenţe regularizate din punct de vedere statistic.
Pe temeiul datelor antropometrice culese de Galton, savantul are o
celebră exclamație: Gad lovesc normal curve! Dumnezeu iubește curba normală.
O imagine intuitivă a regresiunii filiale prin întoarcerea spre mediocritate, în
distribuție gaussiană (curba normală) este redată în figura nr. 2.
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Veri primari
Persoane
fără grad de
rudenie
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$ Spre exemplu, dacă ne raportăm la două persoane, doi copii, aceştia pot să
fie asemănători din punct de vedere genetic, chiar echivalenţi, dar pot fi și total
diferiţi. Deci, echivalenţa, asemănarea sau diferenţierea persoanelor din punct de
vedere ereditar reprezintă similaritatea sau variabilitatea genetică a acestora.
Persoanele, cei doi copii, de exemplu, pot să trăiască pe parcursul vieţii
lor în acelaşi mediu, un mediu de viață comun, identic. Astfel definim
similaritatea de mediu. Sau, copiii pot să trăiască în medii total diferite. Astfel
definim variabilitatea de mediu.
Fireşte, se pune și problema similarităţii sau variabilităţii de profil
psihologic. Acest concept este o generalizare a unor rezultate/ scoruri obţinute,
prin aplicarea testelor psihologice la copiii studiaţi, în diverse condiţii de
determinare genetică și de mediu (similaritate versus variabilitate).
atunci mediul este mai tare. Nu este aşa că întrebarea este pertinentă? Ce părere
aveţi? Care au fost rezultatele?
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Bibliografie
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TEMA 3
PRINCIPIILE FUNDAMENTALE ALE EDUCAŢIEI
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? Care sunt criteriile, cerinţele în baza cărora ştiinţele sunt validate ca ştiinţe?
Care sunt cerinţele pe care trebuie să le îndeplinească o ştiinţă?
să aibă un domeniu, un obiect de studiu, de cercetare propriu şi
anumite finalităţi;
să posede metodologie proprie, metode proprii de cercetare,
adecvate obiectului cercetării;
să formuleze legităţi, legi în sensul strict al termenului (spre
exemplu, legităţi ale naturii, legităţi universale, universal
valabile, legi tari, cum sunt cele din fizică, legea gravitaţiei, de
exemplu ş.a.);
să aibă domeniu de aplicare teoretică şi/ sau practică,
aplicabilitate.
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& Meritul lui Jean Piaget este conturarea unei noi direcţii în pedagogie, o
direcţie foarte cunoscută – pedagogia constructivistă, o pedagogie a dezvoltării
experienţiale, a învăţării experienţiale, foarte productivă. Această idee este foarte
bine preluată în curriculumul învăţământului preşcolar românesc, şi nu numai în
curriculumul de la acest nivel al învăţământului. Ne referim la acest curriculum
întrucât la grădiniţă s-a renunţat (ceea ce este foarte bine) la elementele de
curriculum concepute ca arii curriculare şi s-au propus domenii experienţiale,
domenii de învăţare experienţială, domenii de dezvoltare experienţială. Pedagogia
pe care o propune Jean Piaget este o pedagogie experienţială, care a fost numită
pedagogie constructivistă, pentru că, în concepţia lui Jean Piaget, dezvoltarea
trăsăturilor de personalitate se produce după un anumit proces de construcţie şi
reconstrucţie a personalităţii.
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I II III IV
& Aşa cum se poate observa în figura nr. 1, de la 0 ani până la 2-3 ani,
copilul parcurge un prim stadiu/ etapă de dezvoltare intelectuală, de la 2-3 ani
la 6-7 ani o altă etapă, iar de la 6-7 la 11-12 ani o altă etapă. În jurul vârstei de
14-15 ani, din punct de vedere intelectual, copilul este format ca structură a
inteligenţei, cu excepţia unor situaţii în care, datorită unui deficit mintal, a
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unor dizabilităţi mintale, copilul nu se dezvoltă mintal mai mult decât reperul
de la 11-12 ani.
Jean Piaget a definit fiecare stadiu de dezvoltare intelectuală, prin
concepte care reflectă cu fidelitate comportamentele intelectuale tipice ale
copiilor aflaţi în acel segment/ interval de vârstă.
Astfel, primul stadiu se numeşte stadiul senzorio-motor sau
senzorio-motric, deoarece exprimarea intelectuală a copilului în acest interval
de vârstă este senzorio-motrică, formată din simţuri şi mişcare/ motricitate,
din senzorialitate şi motricitate. O observaţie magistrală a lui Jean Piaget este
legată de identificarea primului act inteligent al copilului/ al bebeluşului, act
numit coordonare senzorio-motrică, fenomen care evidenţiază faptul că, la un
moment dat, copilul reuşeşte să integreze într-o structură nouă două acte
separate anterior: văzul şi mişcarea, senzorialitatea şi motricitatea.
$ De exemplu, copilul îşi mişcă mâna în câmpul său vizual, în spaţiul său
de vedere şi, totodată, are percepţia vizuală a mişcării. Din întâmplare, copilul
îşi atinge cu degetele gura, buzele, moment în care se declanşează un alt act
instinctual – reflexul de supt. În acest fel, copilul este gratificat, mişcarea şi
vederea sa sunt gratificate de reflexul suptului. Din acest moment, copilul va
repeta tot mai frecvent această înlănţuire de acte, astfel încât, la un moment
dat, copilul va duce intenţionat degetul la gură, pentru a fi declanşat reflexul
suptului. Acesta este momentul în care două fenomene separate anterior,
mişcarea şi văzul, sunt integrate într-o structură nou, într-o structură
senzorio-motrică.
? Cum răspunde copilul la întrebarea: Cine e mai frumos?, Cine este mai
tare?
Răspunsul unei studente: Copilul răspunde: Eu!
Acesta este răspunsul modal al copilului mic, atunci când este pus să
se compare cu alţii. Este un comportament tipic, de vârstă, în copilăria
timpurie, determinat de o caracteristică denumită egocentrism.
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J J J J J
R R R R R
Se pune întrebarea: sunt mai multe feţe decât steluţe/ ... sunt mai
puţine ... decât ..., sau sunt tot atâtea? Exerciţiul poate fi făcut cu variate obiecte,
de exemplu, creioane şi radiere etc.
Este de observat că în aşezarea mulţimilor, în corespondenţă termen cu
termen, în acest exemplu, avem o dublă echivalenţă:
echivalenţa elementelor mulţimilor, 5 feţe, 5 steluţe;
echivalenţa de spaţiu, întinderea primei mulţimi este egală cu
întinderea celei de a doua mulţimi.
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J J J J J
R R R R R
Se pune iar întrebarea: sunt mai multe feţe decât steluţe/ ... sunt mai
puţine ... decât ..., sau sunt tot atâtea?
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& Deci, acţiunile concrete se transformă în enunţuri verbale, astfel încât copiii
capătă capacitatea de a verbaliza propriile acţiuni. Să spună, de exemplu: am
făcut şirul de buline, am luat bulina galbenă, apoi pe cea roz, apoi pe cea violet şi
la sfârşit pe cea verde. Sau, am făcut trenulețul.
Această fază de enunţ, de verbalizare este foarte importantă şi
valorizează relaţia strânsă dintre limbaj şi gândire; este firesc să nu se poată
transfera în plan mintal o noţiune sau o operație/ acțiune mintală, fără ca aceasta
să nu fi trecut prin filtrul limbajului.
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acest unghi de vedere, practica pedagogică poate aspira la succes atunci când
sistemul educaţional este reproiectat în acord cu nevoile şi posibilităţile de
dezvoltare ale beneficiarilor săi. Pedagogii şi practicienii domeniului pot oferi
factorilor de decizie informaţia utilă pentru reproiectarea sistemului
educaţional şi a şcolii româneşti. O nouă şi provocatoare viziune asupra
design-ului şi funcţionării şcolii este nu numai dezirabilă, dar şi posibilă.
Prezentăm, în continuare principii ale didacticii moderne, menite să
faciliteze dirijarea învăţării eficiente în diverse situaţii şcolare concrete.
Aceste principii sunt subsumate celor mai importanţi factori ai reuşitei
şcolare, decantaţi în cercetările contemporane:
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ţesătura de operaţii mintale de care ei sunt capabili (Radu, I., Ionescu, M., 1987)
sau când sarcina şcolară este situată în zona proximei dezvoltări (L.S. Vîgotski,
1972). La acestea se adaugă cerinţa ca materia de studiu să fie prezentată
interesant, atractiv, să stimuleze procesele intelectuale şi emoţionale ale elevilor.
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Bibliografie
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TEMA 5
SISTEME EDUCAŢIONALE CONTEMPORANE
ŞI DEZVOLTĂRI ÎN PEDAGOGIA CONTEMPORANĂ
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ÎNV.
SUPERIOR
ÎNV. LICEAL
ÎNV. GIMNAZIAL
ÎNV. PRIMAR
ÎNV. PREŞCOLAR
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! Din explicitările realizate mai sus, rezultă cu claritate că diferenţele dintre cele
două tipuri de structuri – ierarhică şi în reţea – determină şi procese diferite în
interiorul lor, respectiv în ceea ce priveşte:
- modul cum funcţionează şcolile zilnic;
- programul zilnic;
- viziunea şi valorile pe care se axează programul şcolilor;
- managementul sistemului la macronivel pedagogic;
- managementul educaţional la micronivel pedagogic.
LCaracteristicile unei structuri, modul în care se realizează construcţia
curriculară, influenţează, deopotrivă, funcţionarea acelei construcţii şi
administrarea acelei construcţii.
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Răspunsurile studenţilor:
Elevul să se adapteze la şcoală Şcoala să se adapteze la elev
- elevul trebuie să răspundă - şcoala trebuie să vină în ajutorul
cerinţelor şcolii; elevului când acesta are nevoie de
- elevul este obligat, într-un fel sau sprijin şi atenţie deosebită;
altul, să facă ceea ce nu doreşte; - şcoala trebuie să cunoască limitele
- elevii trebuie să se conformeze elevului;
regulilor şcolii; - şcoala trebuie să valorifice exact
- elevii trebuie să îşi procure singuri ce are fiecare elev mai bun şi să îl
materialele necesare învăţării; determine pe acesta să dorească să
- elevii trebuie să urmeze un înveţe;
curriculum general obligatoriu; - şcoala trebuie să se asigure că
- cadrele didactice predau unor clase îndeplineşte nevoile educaţionale
unitare şi omogene. ale elevilor;
- şcoala trebuie să ofere fiecărui elev
materialele necesare învăţării;
- programele şcolare să fie adaptate
nevoilor educaţionale ale elevilor;
- fiecare cadru didactic trebuie să
predea diferenţiat, în funcţie de
potenţialul elevilor, de aptitudinile
şi competenţele lor;
- şcoala trebuie să creeze mediul
oportun pentru elevii cu cerinţe
educaţionale speciale.
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diferenţele. Concepte şi practici noi cum sunt: „şcoala deschisă”, „şcoala pentru
toţi”, „şcoala inclusivă”, „şcoala centrată pe resurse”, „învăţământul integrat”
etc., reflectă soluţii globale pe care sistemele educaţionale organizate în reţea le
fac operante în structurile învăţământului contemporan.
De asemenea, o altă caracteristică foarte importantă a sistemului
educaţional ierarhic, este aceea că promovează sistemul segregaţionist, care
produce segregare, care nu produce incluziune, includere, ci care, dimpotrivă,
produce separare. Respectiv, elevii sunt organizaţi (separaţi) în grupe de
performanţă: elevul extraordinar, elevul foarte bun, elevul dezirabil, elevul de
performanţă, elevul cuminte, elevul conformist – elevul care se adaptează,
elevul care răspunde cerinţei de adaptare la şcoală. Cu acest elev lucrează, de
regulă, profesorul din şcoala ierarhică, în timp ce ceilalţi elevi sunt, mai mult
sau mai puţin, toleraţi. Prezenţa lor este acceptată în sala de clasă, dar cu
condiţia ca ei să nu deranjeze activitatea, să stea „cuminţi”, adică să nu
vorbească. Este vorba de un sistem care împarte copiii pe niveluri de
performanţă şi care îşi dezvoltă această predilecţie de a lucra cu elevul bun şi de
a-l neglija/ nesocoti pe elevul cu dificultăţi de învăţare. Întotdeauna elevii cu
dificultăţi de învăţare evidente au fost excluşi din sistem şi trimişi la şcoala
specială – la şcoala pentru copii cu dificultăţi mintale, cu dificultăţi de limbaj,
cu dificultăţi de auz, de vedere etc. Practic, şcoala ierarhică este ierarhică şi
pentru că produce segregarea/ împărţirea/ separarea pe diverse criterii,
respectiv:
- Separarea pe criterii de gen – fete şi băieţi, în sensul că şcoala nu
accepta să realizeze activităţi comune ale fetelor şi băieţilor.
- Separarea/ segregarea pe criterii de statut socio-economic şi cultural
al părinţilor – care, în forme elegant mascate, persistă şi astăzi.
Aşa cum am amintit, inexistenţa comunicării dintre elevi, este o altă
caracteristică a şcolii tradiţionale, organizată ierarhic. Realizând în acest sens o
analogie, este cunoscut obiceiul mamelor etiopiene care obişnuiesc să îşi poarte
copilul în spate, într-un fel de rucsac şi să nu aibă contact vizual cu el;
procedând astfel, copilul nu este capabil să aibă contact vizual cu ceilalţi, iar în
momentul în care el reuşeşte acest lucru, se blochează.
Aşa se explică faptul că, în cazul elevilor şi al absolvenţilor şcolilor organizate
ierarhic, există riscul apariţiei anumitor dificultăţi în realizarea comunicării
nonverbale şi paraverbale; această pentru că au stat ani în şir unul în spatele
celuilalt şi nu au stat faţă în faţă, astfel încât să aibă posibilitatea să discute, să
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curriculum retoric
curriculum intern
curriculum electronic
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CURRICULUM OPŢIONALE
INDIVIDUAL
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Bibliografie
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY
THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
Foreword
Mușata BOCOȘ
Olga CHIȘ
The symbols used in the text represent the following:
? Questions
L Key contents
! Ideas to remember
$ Examples
FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
¤ References
FOREWORD
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PROFESSOR PHD VASILE CHIȘ
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
THEME 1
THE EDUCATION AND
THE EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES SYSTEM
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PROFESSOR PHD VASILE CHIȘ
& Aristotle (384-322 BC) was one of the most important philosophers of the
ancient Greece, with relevant contributions on the field of education. He studied
at Plato’s Academy in Athens and then, at the Emperor Philips’s court, he
became the teacher of young Alexander the Great, a personality recognised in
history by this name due to his strategic and military qualities as leader of
Macedonia.
Although the basis of philosophy was set back then by Plato, Aristotle
was the one to extract the necessary conclusions from Plato’s philosophy and
develop it. He stated that: “The transformations of the world are not generated by
the spirits, but by what can be interpreted.”
In the ancient education, Aristotle was consistent in following the natural
significance of the “education” concept – those regarding the raising, the
cultivation, the nourishing. He set up a famous school in Athens – Lykeion or the
peripatetic school. The philosopher used to educate his disciples by walking with
them into Lykeion, a natural garden. The peripatetic school encouraged the
classical grammar studies, rhetoric, maths, theology, natural sciences, arts, and
eurhythmy. In the ancient Rome, the correspondent of the Lykeion was the
Lyceum, from which derived the French term Lycée and the Romanian term
Liceu. It’s interesting to mention that the peripatetic school and education
founded by Aristotle have extensions in the contemporary education: the
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
peripatetic teaching, the “other” school, the extracurricular activities, the informal
education etc.
& Socrates (470-399 BC) was a philosopher in the ancient Greece who
benefited from the exquisite education given to the young Athenians of his time –
musical studies, gymnastics, grammar etc.
In his philosophy, Socrates starts from the principles of ignorance,
saying: “The only thing I know is that I know nothing”, thus criticising the
omniscient trend of his time. He introduced the concept of “maieutic”, an
educational method facilitating the access to the truth, discovered through
discussions and dialogue, as well as through the art of asking and answering.
In the literary meaning, the maieutic is the art of assisting the birth of
“the truth child”. This meaning was preserved by Socrates by the questions he
asked his disciples, in order to help them bring out their thoughts, in a birth of
thinking and of discovering the truth. By his masterly questions, addressed
skilfully and insistently, Socrates put the interlocutor in the situation of
discovering the truth apparently by himself. The formulation of the questions was
accompanied by appreciations regarding the answers, underlining certain
inaccuracies or inconsistencies, expressing reserves or wonder regarding some of
the answers, in order to determine the disciple to reflect, think, analyse critically,
identify implications and reach the truth.
The maieutic is an inductive method based on an inductive logic. Hence,
without formulating the inductive theory, Socrates practiced it, discovering in fact
the essence of inductive logic and the notion of the inductive method.
The maieutic (Socratic) method is the primary form of the contemporary
heuristics – a modern didactic orientation stating that the content should not be
approached in a totally processed manner, but, on the contrary, in a form
requiring restructuring, reorganisation, transformation, thus representing a pretext
for search, research and discovery for the students. Today, the maieutic reflects in
the heuristic approach, in the concept of learning by discovery and in the heuristic
conversation.
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PROFESSOR PHD VASILE CHIȘ
& The Czech pedagogue Jan Amos Comenius lived between 1592 and 1670,
and is the author of the reference work “Didactica Magna” edited, in some
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
opinions, around 1630, and by others, in 1650 – the moment to which we will
relate.
“Didactica Magna” is important because it gathers and structures the
entire pedagogical knowledge existing up to that moment. Let’s compare that
historical period – the second half of the XVIIth century, when the entire
pedagogical knowledge was gathered in a book – in today’s situations, when we
talk about millions of books.
With the J.A. Comenius’s book and with the appearance of pedagogy as
a science, a new definition of education was formulated, on a superior level
compared to the first etymological definition borrowed from the natural sciences.
If in the ancient time “education” meant “raising” and “cultivation”, in the
modern time of sciences and of scientific pedagogy the education means
development and formation. The definition is formulated in concrete terms,
stating that the education is the process of formation and development of the
children’s personality, a formations and development of the personality features.
LThis education-development relation is a very complex and rich one,
since the education represents the foundation for the development of
numerous entities. The individual’s development and his whole valorisation
depend to a great extent to his education and to his socio-cultural level. The
person becomes known and recognised in his/ her own activity field according
to his/ her level of education.
But the individual is not the only one who has developed through
education. The groups, such as the family or the professional groups (for instance,
the pre-school and primary teachers) are also the result of a certain level of
education. The professional groups, the communities, the citizens who live
together in a certain place, learn together, according to a comprehensive modern
pedagogical concept and pattern, called the learning organisation. The societies
are generally at a certain level, more advanced or less developed, based on the
quality and efficiency of their educational system.
¤ We will refer here to this important education-development relation, from
the perspective of two works. First of them is George Văideanu’s “The Education
at the Borders of Millenniums” (1988).
In his work, George Văideanu argues that the education is considered the
foundation of all development processes in the world; all that develops in this
world is connected to education, in other words, nothing grows in the world
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PROFESSOR PHD VASILE CHIȘ
without education. The education gains a special force, becoming a trigger for all
the socio-economical processes (and not only) in the world. It means that
pedagogy, dealing with the study of education, is “the queen of sciences”, the
universe, and the centre of the entire scientific universe.
The pedagogy is one of the most powerful weapons (in the positive
sense) for the construction of the contemporary societies, with a force difficult to
describe, immeasurable, in relation to the development, because of the tight,
reciprocal relations existing between education and development. The education
represents a force and a cause for the development, which is, at its turn, a
challenge for education and for its progress on higher levels. The more developed
a society is, the more prepared it is to provide higher educational levels and a
larger access to education for its individuals. The more developed and suitable an
education is, the more systematic and continuous is the progress of society.
Therefore, we can conclude that between education and development
raises a causal circular relation. This relation is proved by the case of the poorly
developed countries, with disadvantaged, poor families and communities. In the
case of these populations, the poorness is always related to the access to
education, restricted due to the economic reasons.
The access to education is in higher or lower parameters according to the
level of the socio-economic development of the country. But the restricted access
to the education perpetuates poverty, reproduces, maintains and aggravates it,
exactly because of the causal circular relation existing between poverty and a low
level of education. George Văideanu concentrates this relation in a single phrase,
I paraphrase in a personal note: Where’s poverty, there’s also … stupidity. In
other words, a poor culture is directly proportional to the lack of education or, as
we often say, to the bad education. So the education-development relation can be
analysed and interpreted at various levels, starting with the individual and ending
with the society and the global development of the planet. In this context related
to education a global development, there is a frequent and firm discourse on the
theme of the education for sustainable and durable development, for a
continuous, systematic and profound development of the entire planet.
¤ The second book referring to the role of education is Mircea Maliţa, J.
Botkin and M. Elmandjara’s “The limitless horizon of learning. The
extermination of the human differences” (1981) which could be as well called
“The limitless horizon of education” since the work gives a generic, educational
and global meaning to learning, talking about the limitless horizon of learning.
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The three authors are former UNESCO counsellors (The United Nations
Education, Science and Culture Organization), and extraordinary and very active
forum in the field of education and culture.
Mircea Maliţa, as well as George Văideanu, were Romanian experts in
the international forum of UNESCO, and the two books were in fact, UNESCO
reports on education. Mircea Maliţa also states that the education has special
powers and influences. For the education to valorise an multiply these powers,
we, the society, must take care of the way we see and organise this education, and
the way we articulate and contextualise the educational components in a systemic
manner, taking into account the cultural, social, economic and political
characteristics of the societies.
? Identify in the Romanian textbooks, for the second and the third grade,
curriculum sequences which express realities from the past, present and from the
future (as shown in table no. 1).
! The present world experiences major changes, the societies are forced to look
towards the future and to promote a prospective, anticipative, education, an
education for the future. The preservation education, related to traditions, the
conservation education and the education for the future become complementary
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past-history Future
Present
Time
conservation education shock education education for the future
Figure no. 1: The conservation education versus the shock education and the
education for future (elaborated after M. Maliţa, J. Botkin and M.
Elmandjara, 1981)
The conservation education incorporates into the curriculum and into
the learning experiences ideas, attitudes and traditional practices, inherited from
old times.
These conservation and historical values have their role in the education
of the new generations, but if they become exclusive or dominant, is less probable
to assure the children’s adaptation to the present and future realities. A simple
surface observation of the Romanian school books and school programmes
allows us to identify the increased frequency of the learning experiences at the
past time.
The education for future is an anticipative education, oriented towards
preparing the human structures for the acceptance, valorisation and management
of the changes induced by the life dynamics. The new events, the technological,
social, cultural, biological, climate changes etc. are profitable or less aggressive
and harmful if they are anticipated and welcomed with the suitable knowledge,
attitudes and practices, according to the new situations.
The shock education is an intense human experience, aggressive,
chaotic and disorganized; an experience encountered when an essential and
unpredicted major change occurs and when the human attitudes and practices
related to that specific situation are untrained, precarious and vulnerable.
The conclusion regarding the two perspectives on education – the
conservation education and the education for future are multiple; their unbalanced
management can easily make room for the shock education, with a great waste of
human and material resources.
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
The education represents the systematic process for the child’s and
young personality development. The contemporary pedagogy identifies the
causes and the influences which mediate the development and the formation.
They are influences generated in the context of certain interpersonal relationships,
placing the education in a psycho – social environment.
The classification of these influences leads us to a multifactorial
taxonomy of the education types, as follows:
Criteria 1: characteristics of the educational influences
Runa Patel (1984), in the work Educational activities in developing
countries: a discussion of types of education in relation to culture and a
suggested model for analyses, offers the following classification of the types of
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
Jan Amos Comenius’s ideas were revolutionary for his times. Not
only they marked the appearance of pedagogy as a science, but they also set
the fundaments for the first educational system dedicated to all individuals in
the society, the first educational system with a global, mass opening, engaged
in an education for all.
We will characterize Comenius’s work by referring to two
coordinates of analysis:
The forth cycle of education: the university and the travels – a study cycle
offering the students, in Comenius’s opinion, the necessary openness and
support to travel abroad and know what was happening in other universities –
a practice that is also present today.
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
The word “pedagogy” comes from Greek, from the terms “paid, paidos”,
meaning “child” and also from “agoge, agogos”, meaning “to lead”. The
association of these terms suggests that, etymologically speaking, the pedagogy
meant at its beginnings leading the child.
? Who were the first pedagogues of the Antiquity, called “paid - agoge”?
The answer of a student: The slaves, the persons used by the aristocrats
in different activities and domains.
& So, we can say that during the Antiquity the wealthy families organised
educational activities in the family, with the help of a teacher or master with
pedagogical attributions, in the present sense of the term, and with the help of a
slave who had accompanying attributions, who accompanied the child to his
teacher.
We discussed in the previous course about Aristotle’s peripatetic
school, about Socrates’ contribution, about Plato’s Academy. So, in
education, as in other activities, slaves were used, since the social activities
were held by the slaves.
The proverbial saying is that the gods got upset with the teachers and
transformed them into slaves. It is a metaphorical part of the observation,
because indeed, teaching equals a noble slavery.
? What do you think about this personal definition, elaborated based on the
studies regarding the pedagogues’ origins and their lives? A noble slavery!
Interesting – being a slave as well as a noble! We notice that today, a teacher
is not real without devotion, without that note of total self-giving, for the
mission he assumed and for which he prepared. Today also the teachers carry
on this slavery enriched by contemporary values and competences.
It’s interesting to observe how, at his origins, the pedagogue is
assimilated to an irksome layer of the society, and how, over time, this
characteristic of availability and unconditioned self-giving perpetuates as a
fundamental core of the teacher's mission.
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& Of course, since the appearance of pedagogy till now more than two and
a half centuries passed. We talked in the previous courses about Aristotle –
somewhere in 350 BC, and there are 2500 years since the pedagogy and the
pedagogue appeared. But the pedagogy as a science appeared later.
? When did pedagogy appear as a science? In the first half of the XVIIth
century, beginning with the appearance of J.A. Comenius’s work. Since the
XVIIth century till now, pedagogy registered extraordinary evolutions, which
we will present in sequences in order to build a global image on the evolution
of pedagogy.
L The education and the educational phenomenon represent the study and
research object of a science – the pedagogy. Thus, we can define pedagogy as
the science which studies the educational phenomenon in all of its aspects, its
fulfilments and the implications of education on the cognitive, emotional and
psycho-physical development of the human being. The pedagogy studies the
educational phenomenon is all its complexity, in order to reach the following
major finalities:
- the optimisation of the educational theory and practice
- the optimisation of the educational influences on the educated
personality formation.
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? The general pedagogy developed very fast, so that in the XVIII century
appeared independent preoccupations for education and didactic. Why?
Because in a general sense, the education requires also the formation of
qualities, personality features and the instruction, respectively the learning
process; so, the general pedagogy includes and articulates the educational
theories and the applied didactics. In the XVIII century the general pedagogy
split into two main bodies – the educational theories and the applied didactics.
Afterwards the educational theories developed continuously and, as we have
seen in the previous courses, a lot of theories considered “old educations”
appeared: the intellectual education, the moral education, the esthetical
education, the religious education, the physical education and the professional
education. We also notice that the theory of instruction includes a general
didactics, which we call the theory and methodology of instruction (or the
general didactic), which we study in the second year and some other applied
didactics – see figure no. 2, which you will study in the third year.
GENERAL PEDAGOGY
Figure no. 2: The pedagogy’s domains. From the general pedagogy to the
educational theories and the applied didactics
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
PRESCHOOL PEDAGOGY
SCHOOL PEDAGOGY
COLLEGE PEDAGOGY
ADULT PEDAGOGY
? The question arises: What types of pedagogy have developed under this
criteria?
a) The pedagogy of children with mental deficiency. Not very long
ago, until the 90’s, a French term was used for the pedagogy of
children with mental deficiency: Oligofrenologia (from the French
oligofrenie – pathological state characterized by slow development
of psychic capabilities, combined sometimes with physical
development disturbances and lesions of the central nervous system,
caused by cerebral accidents during intrauterine life, birth or
childhood (http://dexonline.ro/definitie/oligofrenie).
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The special field dealing with the educational process of the children
with SEN was named defectology (a term originated in Russian
language, defektologhiia: the field of study dealing with psychic and
pedagogical study of subjects with sensorial, intellectual and other
deficiencies (Source: DEX, 1998).
b) Pedagogy of sight deficiencies, visual impairments. This pedagogical
science was aiming the education of children with visual problems
and was called tiflolologie (term originated in the French,
typhlologie – a branch of defectology that studies multidisciplinary
the blindness and amblyopia, and the compensation of these
impairments with tactile-techniques, education, training and
qualification of blind persons (Source: DEX, 1998).
The phrase special needs education is of English origin (special
education or special needs education). This practice implies a
multidimensional adaptation of teaching techniques to the needs and
individual possibilities of pupils.
e) Pedagogy of deficiencies/ impairment of speech – a field known as
logopedy (speech therapy, from the French term logopédie – a
branch of medical and pedagogical science that studies, treats and
corrects the pronunciation and vocal emission defects, Source:
DEX, 1998). The term logopedy is used less and less, being
replaced by speech therapy.
d) Pedagogy of deficiencies/ impairment of hearing – named
surdologie (deafology).
! We can observe that special pedagogy terms of French, German and Russian
origins is massively replaced nowadays with English origin terminology.
These four branches of defectology, of special pedagogy, namely:
oligofrenologia (the pedagogy of mental deficiencies), tiflologia (the pedagogy of
sight deficiencies), logopedia (the pedagogy of speech impairments) and
surdologia (the pedagogy of hearing impairments), have been and still are well
represented in pedagogical studies from our university in Cluj.
$ For example, we had the most important school for defectology in this part
of the world, a school that was competing with more famous schools in Austria,
Germany, and England. Teachers and psychologists from France, Germany,
Russia, Switzerland or United States of America have come to Cluj to see the
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school of special needs education and they were impressed by the results we
obtained here.
In the field of hearing impairments, one of the most advanced equipment
for hearing impairment diagnostics and decisions for hearing augmentation was
based in Cluj, and placed in the neighbourhood of the central building of Babes-
Bolyai University, on the Mihail Kogălniceanu street.
Across the street of the Central Building of the university, on the third
floor, there was a laboratory for hearing impairments, completely sound proof
isolated and with a large equipment that was generating sounds of different
intensities and band waves, and was scanning the entire cochlear apparatus, the
cochlear nerve, so that it was clear what registers are affected, what registers do
not perceive the sounds. This diagnosis and augmentation decision laboratory was
very popular, including here many foreign patients.
In Cluj, in the Special Psycho-Pedagogy Department the first
performance of recovering a blind-deaf-mute pupil was register, an event that was
unique in pedagogy of those years. A young man, with the hearing, sight and
speech completely impaired was recovered and exercised in the field of hearing
and sighting compensation. The pupil, and later student of university, worked a
lot with defectology professors specialized in hearing and sight impairment in the
60’s and 70’s within the Special Psycho-Pedagogy Department of the University.
Notably, the student has successfully completed the university curricula for
Special Psycho-Pedagogy (defectology) in Cluj and later on worked as a
professor in a special needs education institution in Cluj. This extraordinary
performance, for that period, was largely presented in the media; even today some
articles still make their way in the spotlight.
The topic that was not very present in the research programs in Cluj, until
later on, after the 90’s was that of the emotional and behavioural difficulties, so a
pedagogical field in the area of behavioural difficulties does not exist. children
with behaviour disturbances and juvenile delinquency were very often placed in
correctional institutions. Before 1989 a network of tough correctional institution
was in place, institutions in which the children were not educated properly, but
rather forced in some sort of detention program for minors. Important to notice
that all over the world, in all educational systems, a network of educational
facilities for children with behavioural and emotional deficiencies was
implemented.
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? Please write within a half of a page what does it mean to have a trans-
disciplinary approach and trans-disciplinary education.
As it is presented in the figure no. 5, there are developments, branches
that are in the near proximity of pedagogy: Educational Psychology, Educational
Philosophy, Educational Sociology and Educational Economy.
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
EDUCATIONAL SOCIOLOGY
EDUCATIONAL ECONOMY
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! Some chronological marks will be presented; marks that will help us create
a dynamic image of the evolution of pedagogy in time and about the
beginning of integration fields in the sciences of education.
? One can ask him/ herself: Why is the Educational management the first
pillar?
Educational management is a fairly recent research topic for
educational sciences, more precisely since the 20 th century. For the first time
when it was decided that the Educational Management will be included in the
mandatory curricula for educational sciences, in 1964, when a summit of
education ministries in Europe took place in Caserta, Italy.
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Bibliography
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THEME 2
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT FACTORS
& In any specialized work on this theme, the personality development factors
are listed as it follows: heredity, environment and education. We will concentrate
our attention on these factors and we will offer an overview of the subject
including data from interesting and complementary fields.
Over time, concepts, theories regarding the personality development
factors were exclusive, opposite, radical, antagonistic, put into an ideatic conflict.
I suggest we simulate an opinion employment on personality
development factors in order to identify, if the expressed views are opposite or
similar. We will proceed as follows: we will ask a question, and you will answer,
and then we will identify the categories of responses. The question is this: Which
do you think is the determining, decisive factor in the personality development -
heredity or environment? The child's and young man’s personality, our
personality traits are mostly determined by heredity or mainly determined by the
environment?
Raise your hands those who are for heredity, now those who are for the
environment, and now those, who think that none of these factors is decisive. We
will comment later, together, your option.
It is to mention that the first systematic, well structured conception
regarding the personality development factors, at that time, was the so-called
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hereditary conception or ineist, term taken from the English language, from the
word “innate”, which means inherited, from birth, genetically registered. This
hereditary conception dominated the stage of pedagogy for many decades;
according to this conception it was argued that the personality of the child, young
man, adult and individual is entirely the result of genetic determination, the result
of hereditary inheritance influences, which the child inherits from his parents.
¤ At that time, there were some famous papers (the 1800s) that you can see
and consult at the University Central Library, but also online. One of these is
entitled The hereditary genius (Fr. Galton, 1889), a provocative title at that time,
a book stating that the talent is innate, hereditary determined. It is good to
mention, in this context, some totally opposite views, such as, for example, the
famous quote of Thomas Edison: Talent is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
¤ Another option is represented by Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909), in the
theory of the born killer (concept of criminal atavism), in which he sustains the
idea that the negative, criminal traits are genetically determined.
I recommend you to analyze the two hereditary theories and to read the
passages that express the clearly outlined opinions regarding the genetic origin of
personality traits.
& Another interesting idea that we should remember is that in this context of
heredity and the human development an ideological and political component was
born and not only a pedagogical and psychological one. This component refers to
the fact that some people are superior and others are inferior because of the
genetic inheritance that is transmitted from one generation to another, on the
family phylum.
According to the hereditary approaches, there are superior (the European,
the White) and inferior (the Black race, the African) races. According to this
ideological conception it was born, perpetuated and argued the segregation state
of the societies divided into aristocrats and slaves, the nobles and serfs, then later
the Aryan pure race and the other races mixed, altered. The idea that there are
superior and inferior people, nobles and slaves, that some people have noble, blue
blood continues from Antiquity up to the twentieth century. The hereditary
conception had a secular, long, existence, precisely because it has been used as an
argument for the preservation of the segregated societies, keeping the structures
and social classes within a society.
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Another aspect that should be remembered is the fact that the right to
education was regarded as a genetic problem. An example for this situation can
be cropped from the reality of the sixteenth century, time during which the
European societies were deeply divided. In the books written in and about that
time, we read, for example, about the social stratification in the Netherlands,
which was divided into two large categories: the citizens, populus, the superiors
and multitudos, meaning the many, the plebs. Multitudos had no right to
education; this right was possessed only by the citizens, populus. Only towards
the end of the seventeenth century, freedoms and access to education are given to
those who were till then considered multitudos, but not because they were equal.
They had these rights only because they could be used better in social-economic
activities that gradually became more and more complex.
We present in the summary the main aspects of the hereditary approach:
- the first aspect relates to its ideological load, until late, the middle of
the twentieth century;
- the second aspect relates to the consequences of the heredity in the
organization, the segregation of the societies and to antihuman
practices;
- the third aspect captures the modern forms of heredity concepts that
we can also meet in the contemporary psychology and pedagogy,
forms that are drained from an ideological point of view.
It is obvious that in today pedagogy these heredity conceptions are no
longer associated with discriminatory and segregationist ideologies and practices.
These have been removed. The possibility that these still exist in isolated contexts
should not be neglected, but such theories and practices can not be found as
propagated, disseminated science; we belive that the humanistic approach in the
contemporary science will last and will further develop.
There are contemporary, modern, heredity conceptions, like the one of
Noam Chomsky, being opposed to the constructivist vision of Jean Piaget. Noam
Chomsky - psycholinguist and researcher in the language psychology, developed
in the late twentieth century a fantastic theory, sustaining that the language has a
genetic origin. In the late '70s and early '80s, before the death of Jean Piaget, the
two met in a public event and have confronted their conceptions. Jean Piaget
supported the constructivist conception, regarding the external influences on the
personality, and Noam Chomsky defended the conception regarding the genetic
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During the 1950s the world was in a veritable scientific revolution, with
spectacular results, when famous scientists, James D. Watson and Francis Crick
have decoded the double helical structure of the DNA (1953). This discovery has
also brought them the Nobel Prize, but unfortunately Francis Crick was not alive
at the award ceremony.
¤ Read the passages from specialized literature dedicated to the presentation
of the double helical structure of the DNA. Observe the photos depicting these
miraculous discoveries. Search and remember the data regarding the challenges
of contemporary genetics, such as genetic vulnerability in childhood, biological
and psychological resilience or robustness of the child, but also regarding all the
global and comprehensive issues related to the child development and education.
Thus, in the 60s and from the 60s later on, genetic engineering becomes a
current practice, of course, with a lot of debates regarding the moral and the ethics
that remain valid even today. The spectacular of these practices gets even to that
point, where teams of researchers from famous genetic laboratories in Scotland,
near Edinburgh, the United States etc. begin from the 90s to transmit through
media channels information about the mammals cloning. We reproduce below
such an information regarding the prominent event in the science of cloning,
transmitted to us also by media channels in the late 90s and in the 2000s.
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four healthy lambs, conceived naturally, "bridegroom" being a ram called David.
The autopsy results will reveal, perhaps more details about the causes of
accelerated deterioration of its health condition. Ever since last year, when the the
arthritis phenomena were noticed, Professor Jan Wilmut declared that this proves
that the cloning techniques are still "ineffective" and further research is still
needed. On the other side, after the announcement the euthanasia, he affirmed
that simply being able to obtain an animal using a nonsexual cell taken from an
adult specimen had "profound effects on biological research and in medicine." In
turn, Professor Richard Gardner, who led a team that conducts research on
primary cells and cloning for therapeutic purposes, for creating tissue that can
serve for implants, declared that if it can be shown that the premature end of
Dolly occurred because it was a clone, than new samples will be added in order to
prove "the obvious dangers of cloning for reproductive purposes and the total
irresponsibility of those who try to extend these experiments on human beings." It
is known that at the end of the last year and the beginning of this one, the Clonaid
company claimed, through the voice of its director, Dr. Boisselier that it would
have created the first cloned babies, but these statements could not be proved.
They caused the indignation of the majority of experts, who argued that any
attempt to clone a human being is dangerous and irresponsible, considering the
limited success of animals cloning. And Professor Wilmut was always against
human cloning. As for the brave sheep Dolly, after the autopsy ended, it will be
stuffed and donated to the Museum of Natural Sciences in Scotland, to be
exposed in public, in a not too distant future, as a true "hero" in the service of
science.
Source:
http://adevarul.ro/news/societate/moartea-prematura-oii-dolly-confirma-
riscurile-clonarii-1_50acbe647c42d5a663895cb9/index.html
L Despite the spectacularity brought by molecular genetic research, useful
data, important for analysis and control of genetic determinations of personality,
has not been brought. These studies are scientifically spectacular, but not from the
psychological or pedagogical point of view, they have not served to clarify the
role of heredity in the transmission of characters/ traits from ancestors to
descendants. The examples presented above show that by cloning researchers
have biological surprises, unexpected events occur. What would happen in case
of a human cloning? How much and what would remain under scientific control
from the personality traits of the reproduced creatures? It is known that currently
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¤Read the biography of the researcher Sir Fr. Galton. Some items will
surprise and impress you. He was born in Birmingham, UK. Francis Galton
was Darwin's cousin, author of the theory of species evolution. According to
psycho-diagnostic assessments, Fr. Galton had an intelligence quotient, IQ
over 200. Here's what is said about this researcher: "Possessed of a
remarkably high degree of intelligence (an estimated IQ of 200) and a wealth
of novel ideas, Galton is perhaps without equal in the history of modern
psychology". Sources: History of Modern Psychology, Oxford, Companion to
the Mind, http://www.psych.utah.edu/ gordon/Classes/Psy4905Docs/
PsychHistory/Cards/Galton.html
(mom and dad), these have an ancestral, historical origin and are taken from
all existing donors in the family phylum: grandparents, great grandparents,
great-grandparents and so on, until the origin, the beginnings of the nation.
Galton also offered a mathematical formula, a model of the ancestral
inheritance law, as follows:
1 = 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + 1/32 +.........+ 1/? (1/∞?)
The equivalence above, described by Galton, should be interpreted
like this:
The term on the left, 1 is the unit of the individual genetic traits, the
whole of his inherited dowry.
Then, the sum of the terms 1/2... 1/32 etc., represents progressive
fractions of the genetic contribution of all members belonging to the ancestral
clade, to the completion of individual hereditary dowry.
A direct reading of the genetic equivalence proposed by Galton,
reveals that the totality of the individual hereditary dowry cumulates as
follows: one half (1/2) from parents, one quarter (1/4) from grandparents, one
eighth (1/8) from great grandparents and so on, until the fraction able to
conclude this infinite limit, in a more general interpretation, until the human
appearance.
It is known that the appearance of man is a controversial issue and it
is summed by various theories, so that the fraction that would end, would
complete the cumulative sequence of ancestral heredity and can be put in the
form of some hypotheses:
If the man emerged from Adam and Eve (creationist theory), then
the cumulative series of hereditary characters of each individual
ends in that ancestral point.
If the man is the result of evolution, according to Darwin's theory,
then the cumulative series of hereditary characters of each
individual ends in that ancestral point.
Finally, if the man is the creation of aliens on earth, then the
cumulative series of hereditary characters of each individual ends
in that ancestral point.
Going beyond the speculative aspect of the ancestral law of heredity,
even put in mathematical expression, it is necessary to remember the
qualitative and comprehensive aspect of the approach offered by the
researcher. Indeed, the role of heredity is very well defined in the life of
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mankind. By genetic way, it is not directly decided that the individual John or
Peter is exceptional or that another individual is average. The ancestral
inheritance law adjusts the transmission of human traits on the generational
chain, from parents and grandparents, to the last (first) genetic donors (proto-
parents). Hereditary, ancestral mechanisms strictly, generously, and earnestly
accomplish their duty to gradually reproduce human characters throughout
history, throughout the phylogenetic extent. If we take the law of the ancestral
heredity into its generality, the man is called in general terms and not
specifically, particular. The man is being influenced by heredity not so much
because he is a human, but because he is a member of the human species. The
genetic mechanisms do not assume that an individual is exceptional and
another is in a poor condition. The heredity ensures that each new born human
registers with his treats into the defined intervals of the human species.
In conclusion, the hereditary mechanisms are placed in the service of
the species and not of a specific individual, just as many things in the social
life are put in the service of society and not in the service of an individual or
of individuals.
Further in his study, Fr. Galton showed that the branch regression
towards mediocrity registers in certain approximate values of range, being
proportional to the standard deviation of the dimensions obtained at the new
seeds. But there is not an exact rate of the regression, due to multifactorial
influences in characters transmission from parents to offspring.
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$ Let’s take for analysis an example, to show how the branch regression
towards mediocrity takes place, regarding the characters of the offspring
compared to the characters of the parents. The example is based on the actual
situation of characters that will be possessed by the descendants of a couple
(parents) with a maximum physical height (MH) and of a couple (parents) with a
minimal physical height (mh). In fact, all human traits can be placed in this
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? How will the descendants of the parents of minimum size be (mh)? Will they
be smaller than their parents, will they have the same height or will they be taller?
? How will the descendants of the parents of maximum size (MH)? Will they be
smaller than their parents, will they have the same height or will they be taller
etc.?
Galton's response is shown in a masterly complicated graphic difficult to
comprehend without a statistical culture (figure IX in the cited article).
In figure no. 1, it is observed that parents with height under the average
of the population have taller children, with dimensions close to the average value.
Parents with the value over the average of the population have children with
reduced height, with dimensions close to the average value.
Trained as mathematician, Galton speaks about the branch regression
law in statistical terms, being today recognized as the founder of modern
statistical regression analysis. In our presentation, in figure no. 1, the regression
line is just the axis linking the bipolar values (mh) and (MH). As it can be seen,
on this regression line, the reproduction and the character/ traits transmission
from parents to offspring take place.
The conclusions drawn here are direct and accessible:
Very tall parents will not produce taller children. It is obvious that
the height is not a growing trait, undefined at birth.
Very short parents will not produce shorter children. It is obvious
that the height is not a decreasing trait, undefined at birth.
Characters, traits are transmitted from parents to offspring between
value limits and statistically regularized frequencies.
On the basis of anthropometric data collected by Galton, the scientist has
a famous exclamation: God loves normal curve! An intuitive image of the branch
regression through regression towards mediocrity, in Gaussian distribution
(normal curve) is shown in figure no. 2.
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Identical
twins
Bivitelini
twins
Siblings
Cousins
Persons
without
kin
$ For example, if we think about two persons, two children, they can be
genetic similar, almost equal, but they can also be totally different. So, the
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equality, the similarity or the difference between persons regarding their genetic
features represent the genetic variability and similarity.
The persons, the two children, for example, can live during their life in
the same environment, a common, identical living environment. Thus we define
the environmental similarity. Or, the children can live in totally different
environments. Thus we define the environmental variability. Of course, the
problem regarding the similarity or variability of the psychological profile arises.
This concept is a generalization of some results/ scores obtained, through the
application of psychological tests to the investigated children, in various
conditions of genetic and environmental determination (similarity versus
variability).
? Under which circumstances can we talk about genetic equivalence? (In the
case of identical twins, a response formulated by the student).
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? Homework: For next week, you have homework about the twin studies results.
Please search the results of the twin studies, select one-two conclusions and
comment them on a half a page, answering the questions: Does the psychological
profile, traits similarity exist at the twins that live in separate environments? What
about the twins living together? What happens in the case of strangers, who live
together? Is the similarity higher at strangers, who live together than at twins,
who live separately?
Formulate conclusions and arguments on the basis of conducted
research.
Consult literature from specialized libraries and online books or articles.
For example, there is an outstanding synthesis in this field, entitled Not all Twins
Are Alike. Psychological Profiles of Twinship, (Barbara Schave Klein , 2003).
This book can be found online, at this address:
http://www.amazon.com/Not-All-Twins-Alike-Psychological/dp/
0275975843#reader_0275975843
L It is an obvious fact that the studies in the field of genetic psychology and
pedagogy had a great impact regarding the conception and the theory of the
personality development factors. The data obtained from this research is very
important, because on this basis the permanent transition from the exclusive
hereditarianism and from the exclusive environmental theories to a new theory
regarding the personality development factors was possible – the double
determination theory.
& Let us further analyze the way the double determination theory is
expressed, its significance regarding the personality development factors. For this,
we will analyze the graphical descriptive model of the theory that overlaps
hereditary and environmental factors (figure no. 4).
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It is also known that, if the language is not mastered until 7-9 years,
some major difficulties will appear subsequently.
Some capabilities have a longer latency, waiting period. For example,
in the field of sciences, people have also remarked themselves after 60 years.
This is the heredity offer in the personality development, native
predisposition, potential, development premises, and not ready made qualities.
In the figure no. 4, we illustrated the heredity offer using the sign „+”.
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Bibliography
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THEME 3
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION
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? Which are the criteria, the requirements according to which the sciences are
validated as sciences? What are the requirements that must be accomplished by a
science?
to have a domain, an object of study, of research and some
purposefulness;
to possess its own methodology, its own research methods,
appropriate to the object of research;
to formulate regularities, laws in the strict sense of the term (ie,
regularities of nature, universal regularities, universally valid,
strong laws, like the ones in physics, the law of gravity, for
example and so on);
to have field of theoretical and/ or practical application,
applicability.
? Are there laws formulated in pedagogy? What type of laws, what attributes do
these have?
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? What are the specific and the role of fundamental principles of education?
Based on scientific research and on direct educational experience, on
educational practice, in pedagogy there are developed some generalizations that
capture the regularity of manifestation of some educational components. So
generalizations do not capture phenomena placed in total relativity, but rather a
certain order, a certain structure of their conduct, which provides, through
knowledge, their exploitation for practice optimizations. Therefore,
generalizations in science get the attribute/ name of principles, namely the
fundamental principles of education; not only that we don’t ignore them, but, on
the contrary, we respect them, these becoming milestones in our educational
activities.
Fundamental principles of education ensure theoretical and praxeological
foundation in education. So, their role is to orient, to guide, and to adjust the
design and actual implementation of education, of educational activities at macro
and micro pedagogical level.
$ We will take into attention two examples, two major pedagogical theories,
which generate fundamental principles in education, stating, however, that not all
principles are generated by the two pedagogies (for example, alternative
pedagogies also have an important contribution to the formulation and refinement
of principles):
Research of Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
P.I. Galperin's theory (1902-1988)
& The merit of Jean Piaget is that of shaping a new direction in pedagogy, a
well-known direction – the constructivist pedagogy, a pedagogy of experiential
development, of a very productive experiential learning. This idea is very well
implemented in the Romanian preschool curriculum and not only in the
curriculum at this level of education. We refer to this curriculum as in
kindergarten the elements of curriculum designed as curricular areas were
abandoned (which is fine) and experiential areas, areas of experiential learning,
experiential development areas were proposed. The pedagogy that Jean Piaget
proposes is an experiential pedagogy that was called the constructivist pedagogy,
because in the conception of Jean Piaget, the development of personality traits
occurs after a process of construction and reconstruction of personality.
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¤ In his book, „Moral judgment at children” (1980), the Swiss psychologist Jean
Piaget analyzes in terms of its interactionist, cognitive conception the
development of the various forms of infantile moral judgment.
? Identify in this book an aspect that captures your attention and produce a
description/ explanation/ comment on it.
The book is very generous from a psychological and pedagogical point
of view. The stages of the moral development of the child are presented. A central
concept is the concept of "justice", also analyzed from an evolutive point of view,
under the influence of requirements but also of the constraints exerted by the
social environment on the child through his parents.
In Piaget's conception, the moral conduct of the child is heteronomous at
the beginning, meaning that is being taken over "nonselective" from the family
environment, in the presence of parents and it concerns only the act, and not the
motivation of it. Piaget talks about the moral heteronomy stage, where the moral
behaviours are determined by the presence and authority of the adult.
? If we ask the little child: What is good? What it means to do good?, the
answer will be: To do what mother and father say! This answer shows clearly
that, in a certain period of age, the child's behaviour is dependent on the physical
presence of the adult; the child does what the adult says, but only when the adult
is present. Once the parent has disappeared from the child’s view, the moral rule
is also „quenched”, the parent requirement was”quenched”. This is the moral
heteronomy phase, the stage of the moral dependence on the adults’ presence.
The stage of the moral conscience, of moral autonomy is a later
acquisition, now the child applies the rule, whether the moral instance is present
or not. The rule can be applied and it is applied because its internalization took
place, the rule is not external to the child, it is not what the parent says. The
transition from heteronomy to moral autonomy is possible and takes place by
systematic exercise of applying moral rules. Therefore, in the preschool and
primary education, it is recommended that rules are clearly established together
with children, are repeated as often as necessary and are exposed/ displayed in the
class. It is necessary to build a set of rules that are accepted, known by children,
systematically repeated and applied, as the exercise of application and repetition
of rules assures the transition from the dependent morality phase to the
autonomous morality, determined by knowledge of rules, by perception of the
rules use, by the opinion that these are useful.
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
¤ The concepts that we will further develop are related to another book of Jean
Piaget – „The birth of intelligence at the child” (1973).
According to Jean Piaget, the intellectual development of the child, as
well as the moral one, take place during more stages, phases, steps or stages of
intellectual development, represented by us in the figure nr. 1.
I II III IV
0 2/3 6/7 11/12 14/15
& As it can be observed in the figure no. 1, from 0 to 2-3 years, the child
passes through the first stage/ step of intellectual development, from 2-3 to 6-7
years there is another stage, and from 6-7 to 11-12 another one. Around the age of
14-15 years, from an intellectual point of view, the child is trained as intelligence
structure, except the cases where, because of a mental deficiency, of some mental
disability, it doesn’t develop mentally over the landmark of 11-12 years old.
Jean Piaget has defined each stage of intellectual development, through
concepts that faithfully reflect the typical intellectual behaviours of children in
that segment/ age range.
The first stage is called the sensorimotor stage or the sensorimotoric
stage, because intellectual expression of the child during this age range is
sensorimotor, formed of senses and movement/ motricity, of sensoriality and
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$ For example, the child moves his hand in his field of sight, in his vision
space, and, in the same time, he has the visual perception of the movement. A
accidentally, the child touches his mouth and lips with his fingers, moment that
triggers another instinctual act – the sucking reflex. In this way, the child is
gratified, his motion and his sight are gratified by the sucking reflex. From this
moment on, the child will repeat more and more often this chain of acts, so that at
some point, the child will intentionally take his finger to his mouth, in order to
unleash the sucking reflex. This is when two previously separated phenomena,
movement and sight, are integrated into a new structure, the seonsorimotor
structure.
& The second stage, that coincides with the kindergarten time, is called
preoperational stage (intuitive stage of the intelligence development). At this
stage we can also talk about rich and complex manifestations that are typical for
the early period of the child's life, for the preschool period.
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? How does a child respond to the question: Who is more beautiful? Who is
stronger?
A student answer: The child responds: I am!
This is the modal response of the small child, when asked to compare
himself with others. It's typical behaviour, at this age, in the early childhood,
determined by a feature called egocentrism.
? Please study in depth the new terms you are facing, using dictionaries, to
decrypt their meaning.
Egocentrism means, literally, centred on the ego, on the self, meaning an
emphasis of the self, a self-locating in the centre of the universe. Why is the child
self, the ego emphasized? Because the ego is revealed in the absence of another;
the toddler discovers the self before discovering another, the other. Self-
centeredness can be manifested and developed beyond its natural phase in youth
and adulthood, if it is reinforced, rewarded in childhood. Self-centeredness is an
obstacle in the socialization of children in kindergarten, but the interactive
methods for developing communication and cooperation skills gradually lead to
socio-emotional maturation of the child.
$ For example, the early preschool child goes to kindergarten and wants to
capture all the toys and if someone else takes his toy, he becomes rebellious, he is
crying, according to the experiences he lived in the family and the manifestations
that his parents have allowed him. Such egocentric behaviours of children put the
kindergarten teacher in very difficult situations, to which this must cope with a lot
of pedagogical tact.
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tales: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Bear fooled by the Fox etc. What
tells the child when we talk about fairies, dwarfs?
Children have a very vivid imagination. They make personal descriptions
richer than the stimulus-reality.
? How is this narrative creativity, this rich fantasy of the infant called?
? Record and study the term fabulation. It refers to the typical fantasy of the
early childhood period, to the fantastic, unreal presentation of reality, so it is,
apparently, the fantasy is a lie. The fabulation is not a lie, because a lie is a false
presentation of things, is the de-realization of reality, altering the reality made
with a clear intent to gain advantage or to defraud another. Lying is a fabulation
with purpose, while the fabulation does not have an assumed particular purpose, it
is simply fantasy, imagination. It should be noted that from the fabulation to lie
just the assumed purpose is missing.
? A legitimate question arises here: The fabulation of the child should be praised
and stimulated or inhibited?
Sometimes, children, through their natural manifestations, in exercising
imagination and creativity, are taught to persevere, because their parents reinforce
this behaviour by feedback, verbal praise and material rewards.
It is important that gradually, along with the child’s transition towards
primary school, the children learn and understand that there is a difference
between the fantastic world and the real world.
& We will take into consideration another aspect of the child's intellectual
development at the preschool age.
? We put before the child a lot of concrete objects, for example bees, cats and we
ask: How many ... are here? What does the child answer, is he saying 3, 5, 7...?
No, the child in the preoperational stage doesn’t have a mathematical
answer, situated in equivalence classes, in digists. The given answers can be: here
are many/ a lot ..., less/ few...
In the preoperational stage of intellectual development, the child uses
undefined quantitative concepts; this is the specific property of this stage, the use
of undefined quantitative concepts. At this age, respectively at kindergarten, the
child does not use digits and he doesn’t have to use them, but he must learn to do
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
many exercises with sets of objects, not with digits and numbers. Sometimes, the
kindergarten teacher forces too early the learning and assimilation of digits and
numbers by the preschoolers. Because the preschooler will not perform in
numeracy, even if he uses numbers as some labels – 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on. In this
preschool period, the experiential domain is Science (and not Mathematics), and
in this area there are also mathematical activities, more specifically, pre-
mathematical activities.
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Many classifications can be realized with children, for example, from the
set of figures, children have to choose all the red figures (circle, square, triangle,
and rectangle) or to choose all thin figures or all big circles etc. This is a
profitable classification exercise and research has confirmed that the operation of
classification of figures, practiced with the kit, is being transferred to other types
of classification, performed in other contexts and circumstances.
A concrete operation and also mental (mental action), with developments
in classifications proximity, is represented by the series of the elements of a set. In
a natural way, it seems, children have a propensity in doing series. If we give
children objects, they put them in a row, they make the „train”.
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
First sequence: In front of the child are placed the elements of two sets,
in a range and in term by term correspondence, as shown below.
J J J J J
R R R R R
The question is: are there more faces than stars/ ... are less ... than ..., or
there are as many? The exercise can be done with various objects, for example,
pencils and erasers etc.
It is noted that in the set placement, in term by term correspondence, in
this example, we have a double equivalence:
the equivalence of sets elements, 5 faces, 5 stars;
the equivalence of space, the extent of the first set is equal with the
extent of the second one.
The second sequence: In front of the child there are put the elements of
the same set, ranged and in term by term correspondence, but without spatial
equivalence, the extent, the occupied space by the two sets is not equivalent.
J J J J J
R R R R R
Now, in this example, the quantitative equivalence of the sets was kept, 5
faces, 5 stars, but the spatial equivalence is altered, the extent of the elements of
the two sets. The star set obviously occupies a larger space than the set of faces.
And the question arises again: are there more faces than stars/ ... are
there less ... than ..., or there are as many?
The structure of the preoperational intelligence, specific for the preschool
time, is anchored in undefined quantitative concepts: more, less, equally. The
child of 3/4 - 6/7 years does not measure the quantities arithmetic, he does it
intuitive. Regarding the above mentioned task, the child gives several answers:
there are more stars than faces. Now the sets are not measured by quantitative
content, by their element number. The concepts like more, less or as many as are
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a global, syncretic result, given by the space on which the elements of the set are
extended.
Only in the concrete operational stage (approximately after 6-7 years
old), the child will declare the set equivalence based only on the quantitative
content, regardless of the length of the string or the size of the area in which the
elements are placed. In this moment, it can be said that the child is in the concrete
operational stage that he has reached the stage of quantity conservation. This
psychogenic landmark is an important argument of programming learning tasks
in a sequential way, during the schooling cycles at the early age (kindergarten,
primary school).
LSummarizing the above presented information, the first stage of intellectual
development is characterized by sensory-motor behaviors, in the second one
preoperational capacities are put into action, in the third one the child expresses
himself concrete-operational, and the propositional intelligence stage/ the formal
intelligence stage ends, in Jean Piaget's view, this process of intellectual
development in the childhood.
In the figure no. 1 it is noted that each stage of development, in
chronological determined landmarks, includes children that have common
manifestations. Children have psychical age traits, as: sensorimotor skills,
preoperational skills, concrete-operational features, propositional, formal
characteristics.
? If we will ask the child: What does the expression The water flows, the stones
remain mean? What would a child in the concrete-operational intelligence stage
say? He will say, simply, that the water flows and the stones remain, they do not
flow, respectively he will emphasize the concrete part of the expression. Only in
the stage of formal, propositional intelligence, the child will say that the sentence
reflects the stability, the depth, seriousness, what is valuable and is not transitory,
is durable, strong.
Another important remark is the following: knowing and valuing mental
age traits gives the possibility of organizing educational group activities, with
identical or similar tasks regarding the difficulty/ complexity degree.
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
$ Individual activities involve the design of individual work tasks and their
capitalization, especially in the following situations:
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Just like Jean Piaget, Galperin argues that education is being continuous
and phased. The notions and the mental operations are achieved according to a
very generous fundamental principle, named the principle of internalizing
concepts and mental operations. From the pedagogical point of view,
internalization refers to the fact that what is achieved in the mental plan, is
learned, comes from the outside, from concrete experiences. We can not talk
about internalizing, notions, mental operations, of what is has not been outside, in
concrete experiences.
In figure no. 3 we represent the internalizing axis and its sequences.
Figure no. 3: The graphical model for the illustration of the principle of
internalizing concepts and mental operations (after P.I. Galperin)
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FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGY. THEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
$ For example, child is given a set of objects and he orders its elements, makes
the series or "train"/ the column. A toy is given to the child and he is dismantles
it, decomposes it into component elements. The child does not only contemplate
the reality, he is not satisfied only to look to the objects that are close to him. He
engages spontaneously in actions of active exploration of the objects: puts the
hand, tests the material he is coming into contact with, composes and decomposes
objects from his surrounding reality, breaks and fixes them. This is the debut
phase of learning, which involves receiving learning material and making
changes to the external reality, a very important step in the development of action
skills in children. This is because the concrete actions of the child – the handling
of objects, cutting, arranging, making series, setting terms in correspondence,
develop many components of his intelligence, required in the intellectual acts.
$ For example, the child action for identification of objects and their
properties are made easier and more deeply by exploring and transforming them.
How else could the child notice that an object is rectangular, the other has a
square, that one is thinner, thicker than the other and so on, than acting with them,
working effectively?
So, the action helps to identify objects and their features, to group objects
into categories/ types, to identify and reproduce some relationships between the
components of the object. In his actions, the child will not put the tractor wheels
on the hood, as the relationship between the components of the object is a
predetermined one, and the child learns it like this, through construction and
deconstruction, through assemblage and disassemblage.
The child forms spatial representations, that are very important in
finalizing and refining of the body scheme, in the acquisition of notions: left-right,
up-down, front-back. The child gets to build classes/ categories of objects,
discovers new things, and develops his vocabulary.
According to Galperin, all the ideas and knowledge of the child,
everything that the child will have in mind at a certain time, goes through the
effective external action, through the concrete-objectual operation. Research data
confirms this, showing that children who explore and experiment actively,
deeper, more thoroughly and more frequently the external concrete reality, are
more intelligent than the passive and withdrawn ones; the more energetic
children, the ones with more initiative, more curious, more experiential form and
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develop better the abilities than the ones who experience with apprehension,
hesitation and shyness.
mental analysis, the image analysis in mind. The devices recorded the currents
from the cortex and from the larynx in this conditions too, which means that
cortical stimulation lead immediately to activation of the vocal cords, even if
there was no requirement of aloud verbalization. This is the unquestionable proof
not only for the relation of content between language and thinking, but also of the
morpho-physiological link, especially physiological, that is established between
thinking and language.
LSo, in general, is worth appreciating that under normal conditions of verbal
language development, there is a reciprocal relationship between verbal statement
and thinking: the language is an expression of the accuracy of thinking and
thinking is an expression of the accuracy of language. Naturally, this is a general
conclusion, because, in fact, differences may appear, such as: I can not say what I
mean!, respectively we can think in a certain way, and the language and the
message is not in fully in line with what we thought. Given the close link between
thought and language, one of the most important goals of preschool education is
to stimulate the development of language, this having an extraordinary power and
influence in the overall development of the child.
& The last level of internalizing is what Galperin called the mental action.
The mental action is the external action totally transferred to the level of concepts
and mental operations. It is about a transfer from the concrete plan to the abstract
one, context in which, the action is transferred in inner language, hence the name
of the principle – the principle of internalizing, because the transfer is done in the
inner, internalized language.
The notions and the mental operations represent the internalization of
concrete, external actions. Some examples of external actions are: placing objects
in pairs, achievement of the letters of the alphabet (for example, the games with
plastic or paperboard letters, that children put into a row and with which they
learn the letters of the alphabet). So, Galperin believes that the concepts that we
have in mind are the result of such concrete external actions. For them to come to
mind and thinking, a transfer phase needs to be browsed, transfer that is made at
the talked aloud level of language.
& So, concrete actions turn into verbal statements, so that children acquire the
ability to verbalize their actions. To say, for example: we made the row of dots,
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we took the yellow dot, then the pink one, then the purple one and at the end the
green one. Or, we made the train.
This phase of enunciation, the verbalization, is very important and values
the strong relationship between thinking and language; it is natural not to be able
to transfer in mental plan a notion or an operation/ mental action, without passing
it through the language filter.
$ Let us look at a very simple example from mathematics: When the child
says 2+3=5, as mental action, he sais it because he internalized the concrete
external action, in which he gathered two dots and three dots, put them together
and observed that there are five in total.
L The theory of mental actions developed by Galperin transmits a clear
methodological message: in school, mental notions and operations can not be
developed, without doing concrete, external actions. This conclusion represents,
in fact, a fundamental principle in the activity with children in the kindergarten
and in the primary school. In order to support them in their intellectual
development, it is necessary for them to operate with objects, to collect them, to
separate them, because arithmetic operations can not be learned from arithmetic
operations nor the concepts from the definition of the concepts.
? What is the student doing on this route? He actually works, being permanently
active. From here derives the principle of active and aware learning of the
student in the educational process, since the acquisitions that the student obtains
do not come just from the educator, these are being achieved with own effort, as
learning is an individual process. The knowledge of the teacher will not "be
poured" directly in the minds of the students, they will have to read, to take
notes, to reflect, to figure out significances, to recode, to analyze critically, to
interpret, to capture the essence, extract the main ideas, to deduce, discover,
anticipate etc. Currently teaching and learning processes should not be
perceived in a traditional way, respectively teaching does not consist in the
transmission of knowledge and learning in the passive reception and
repetition/ mechanical reproduction of knowledge. On the contrary, teaching
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head full of acquisitions. In other words, it was considered that perception is the
basic source of knowledge, the cell of thinking.
Generally speaking, the cell of an organism is its morpho-functional unit.
If the perception is the thinking cell, it means that perception is the morpho-
functional unit of thinking, it was invested with this role and accredited in the
traditional pedagogy. This explains why education based on auditory perception
and on explanations, arguments, oral presentations and lectures developed so
much. The teacher dictated, the students were writing and then repeated in chorus
several times, maybe few dozen times, until they knew. Learning was
mechanical; it was not a conscious learning, based on the employment of
thinking.
& This explains the fact that the principle of intuition, which was a
fundamental principle in old pedagogy, is being reconsidered and it develops
another principle, the principle of active and conscious participation of the
student in the educational process. And, much more, in the last period, in the
contemporary pedagogy, the principle of active participation is being revised and
reformulated in a modern principle – the principle of interactive participation.
Why? Because it is in consonance with the generous, optimal educational context
of today, which is an interactive environment, based on interactive curricular
conditions. These involve a double hypostasis of the student involvement in the
educational process:
a) on the one hand, he engages in educational sequences through
individual engagement, through his own effective activity;
b) on the other hand, he is engaging not in a solitary manner, no by
himself, not isolated, but in interaction with other colleagues,
establishing social, intellectual and affective interactions with them.
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teacher should offer students various cognitive organizers that support and orient
the personal mental processing.
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Components of metacognition
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tonus, confidence in the own cognitive capacities and optimal engagement in the
process. Learning capacity, namely the capacity to learn how to learn is often
valued in the pedagogy for competencies.
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Bibliography
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THEME 4
THE FINALITIES OF EDUCATION
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e d u c a t i
Larger segments (ex:
o n a l primary instruction
goals or profiles)
t h e
e d u c a t i o
t h e Finalities of the concrete
e d u c a activities
t i o n a l
o b j e c
t i v e s
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? Thus, we come across another question: What do we prepare the children for?
The educational ideal describes the ideal portrait of personality (which is
why we use the term “ideal”) necessary within the society at a certain moment in
time.
? But: Is this portrait, described by the ideal, a reliable scale for the design and
for the practical process of education? Are we indeed free, integral and
harmonious personalities? No matter of the society he lives in, we consider that
no individual can fully experience freedom, thoroughness or harmony, because
freedom is an assumed responsibility. Therefore, as active members of the
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! Thus, it becomes obvious that the educational ideal mentioned by the National
Education Law has only a theoretical relevance. It does not hold a concrete,
instrumental, functional value and cannot be found in any of the working
documents used by the preschool, primary or other teachers.
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& The classification of the educational objectives in the cognitive domain was
developed by B. Bloom (1956) and it refers to the assimilation of knowledge, the
formation of capabilities and intellectual skills.
The educational objectives classes in the cognitive domain are ordered
from simple to complex, as follows:
1. The knowledge – refers to the gaining of knowledge as acquisitions of
the learning process, including the notions and the relations between notions; the
notions are articulated into statements.
We can talk about the simple, factual knowledge, related to the
mnemonic storage of information, facts (like names of objects, things,
phenomenon) and about the procedural knowledge, referring to the relations
existing between the factual knowledge and to the resolving processes necessary
for proceeding in certain actions or for solving problems (complex mathematical
formulas transformed into operational knowledge by personal effort, analysis and
synthesis).
The knowledge brings to the light what has been previously learned, by
re-actualization operations, realized with the help of some key-words like: Who?
What? Why? When? Where? How? To whom? Choose..., Find..., Define...,
Enumerate..., Identify..., Reproduce..., Indicate..., Determine... etc., by which we
verify if and to what extend have the objectives been achieved.
In general, the question has instrumental values and the mission to start a
mental programme, developed by exercise, as the individual realizes the
functionalities of acquisitions.
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definitions must be functional, underlining the use of things and objects. Thus,
the child is capable to:
- name the object and perform classifications – for instance, he can
name a fruit, without precisely naming an apple, a pear etc.;
- realise comparisons – for instance, the child names the green colour
of an object, in comparison to other white objects;
- go beyond particular and expand his thinking from particular to
general;
- know his body;
- understand the special and temporal coordinates of his actions and
even modify them, by answering questions like: Where? When?
! The knowledge is the information producing and setting in the
thinking process, and not the information producing and setting in the memory.
The learning based on memory is a mechanical type of learning, whereas the
learning based on thinking is an interiorized type of learning.
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might be: What examples can be found for…?, How would you organise the
examples….?, What would you propose for…? etc.
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Table no. 4: “Action verbs” examples for the classes of objectives according to
Bloom’s taxonomy
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LTo complete the above analysis, we mention the fact that the
operationalization of the educational objectives presents some advantages but
also some limitations, synthesised in table no. 6:
Advantages Limitations
- the objectives provide the - not all objectives can be
necessary rigour to the formulated in concrete, specific
educational action; terms (for examples those
- the objectives have an orientation aiming the formation of the
role for the teachers and a character features, the attitudes,
motivational role for the pupils; the feelings);
- the objectives represent guides - not all behaviours can be
for the designing, realization and anticipated rigorously,
evaluation of the learning results. especially when targeting the
development of the children’s
creativity, the problem solving
by heuristic methods.
Each time, the announced triumph of the new pedagogies was not
fully validated. Although they continuously marked the development of the
domain, the new pedagogies entered, each one at its turn, in the shadow, the
debating and applications space being caught by new horizons, ever larger.
Of course, the technology and the pedagogy are in a causal and
circular relation. They develop by reciprocity and complementarity, even if
there are gaps between the generalized implementation of the new
technologies in schools. The learning creates new technologies, and the
technological creation becomes a driver of learning, developing new
educational environments and forcing the revision and the restructuring of the
learning strategies.
Why did most of the pedagogical reforms fail, so far? The
explanations touch, obviously, various causes, but one of them holds a major
weight. Comenius’ pedagogy and the education on classes and lessons
dominated the European educational systems more than 300 years (since the
second half of the XVII century until the end of the XX century). The
alternative pedagogies were always suspected of adventuring and distancing
themselves from the Comenius’ system, and their majority proved, over time,
to be incompatible to what was consecrated as valuable educational tradition
in the conception of the classes and lessons organisation.
In the present, the education gains a new horizon on the coordinates
of the interactive pedagogy and on the competences pedagogy. The new
pedagogies are not simple theories artificially incorporated into the
Comenius’ pedagogy. They have built more flexible educational systems,
with a higher adjustment capacity, under the pressure of three important
factors in the contemporary pedagogy: the children’s and the adults’ personal
capacities of development; the educational requirements specific to the
diversity of the school population; the community’s priorities.
In consequence, three dimensions were restructured in education, in
order to provide the school with the flexibility and the adjustment to the new
realities. First, we mention the rethinking of the pupil’s role from the
perspective of the interactive pedagogy. The pupil, generally speaking (the
child, the young and the adult), becomes the subject of education, with no
restraint and no discrimination. Then, the gap between the appearance of the
new technologies and their use in the education reduces and even disappears.
For instance, the electronic computer, the internet, the virtual classes (the
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vessels, specific to physics, a big and full recipient – the teacher, fills all the small
and empty recipients – the pupils, transmitting information.
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reform: the nature and content of the learning experiences, the teacher - pupil
relationship, the teacher - teacher relationship, the pupil - pupil relationship, but
especially the necessary connections between school, education and the real life
experiences. This three-dimensional integration – the pedagogical action –
interpersonal relationships – the real life – defines the new, interactive pedagogy.
The synthesis of the new pedagogy is one of maximum concentration,
and the disciplinary picture, heterogeneous and disseminated into tens of
branches, is condensed in comprehensive, fundamental domains: the educational
management, the curriculum theory, the theory of instruction and evaluation.
Now, at the beginning of the third millennium, there are well designed
dimensions and tendencies of the education and of learning. The unique school
and the common and obligatory curriculum passed us, with decisive steps in the
history of pedagogy. The new educational models assume dynamism, flexibility
and adjustment to the individual and community needs. Then, school as an entity,
as a solitary actor in a socio-professional environment limited or isolated from the
community, ceases its existence.
The future belongs to the innovative school, to the networks of
educational institutions, connected to common programmes of experimenting
teaching, learning, management and quality promotion. More than ever, the
modern school tries to identify and develop alternative learning structures, with
multiple ways, adaptable and efficient in formal, informal and nonformal
contexts, active during the entire social and professional life. The educational
phenomenon can no longer be reduced to the educational institutions dedicated to
the different levels of study; it integrates and articulates all sources, experiences
and educational influences, combined with the nonformal and informal
frameworks, including the self-education.
A new pedagogy for the school space in its wholeness, including the
university, but also for the continuous education is imperatively necessary. Its
construction will incorporate novelty dimensions and tendencies, continuously
placed in complementarity. Among these tendencies we mention:
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All in all, the participants who have been taught using the ADL system have obtained better results in
comparison with 98% of the participants who have been taught in a traditional manner.
Students 2
ADL
Traditional
teaching
Learning rate
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concrete experiences, gains the force to re-project and globally prospect the
educational activity.
The research and the educational practice prove the role as main
pedagogical operator held by the curriculum. Thus, it is clear that the innovation
in education, the reform of an educational system is decided on the curriculum
field (A. Marga, 2003). In the effort to adapt to the market and competition
requirements, the success belonged to those educational systems which adopted
flexible principles of projecting the learning experiences, alongside the creation
of some new alternative structures for formation and perfection, articulating the
theoretical and the practical preparation.
The efficient projection and implementation of the curriculum becomes
an issue of pedagogical instrumentation: both methodological and technological,
but also one of pedagogical creativity, to set the educational system within new,
functional parameters. The didactic activity incorporates a various and flexible
methodological support; the science evolution and the social practice offers the
school new models and suggestions for projecting and conducting the learning
experiences. Placed at the interface between the technology and the methodology,
the teacher, with his personality, competence and creativity, will be motivated to
assume educational projects of effective conception and action.
The educational policies gained their place in the foreword of the global,
regional and local development strategies, due to their conceptual and pragmatic
validation (source: Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for
Tertiary Education, The World Bank, Washington D.C, 2002). Principles widely
mediatized today, such as the knowledge-based economy; the knowledge age; the
global education; the lifelong learning; the inclusive education; equal
opportunities; the partnership in education; the experimental school and
experimental community etc., represent challenges for essential searches
regarding the comprehensive reform of the education. With all these openings, at
the beginning of the third millennium, the mankind is still marked by the horizon
limitation of its prospect over the future in the every-day existence, as well as in
education.
As a consolation, if necessary, studies dedicated to the domain observe
that all changes in the far or close past evolved in a similar manner. For instance,
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2001) failed mostly. The concept of the flexible curriculum and the framework
programmes, optimally structured within the reform in clearly defined areas of
learning, marked numerous dysfunctions in schools. For instance, the curriculum
set at the school’s decision and the optional disciplines were often condensed in
the school’s offer, in extensions of the obligatory curriculum (Vlăsceanu, L.,
coord., 2002). But we must remark, after the experience in this domain that the
reforms produce in sequences and cycles. The solution for the education’s
renewal implies flexible approaches and experiments, involving politicians,
school specialists and citizens.
The conception according to which what is taught, how it is taught and
how it is learned would be identical in all of the schools does not belong to the
future. The efficiency of the education worldwide was reached where were
promoted multiple, flexible approaches, and the pedagogies diversity continues to
gain more and more ground. The synthesis of the education’s characteristics in
the past and in the future marks tendencies impossible to be ignored by any
reform.
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The monopole of each school in its recruiting space, sufficient for the
planned classes, started to weaken and will cease definitively. New teachers,
highly qualified, motivated in their career and willing to perform are also
increasing. The rural educational system for instance, functions mostly with
substitute teachers and the mobility rate of the teachers is very high, even
during the school year.
The implications of this competition are complicated and the schools
which aren’t systematically preparing to face it will fail, following the destiny
of the unproductive industries.
The function of the school into the future will be conditioned by its
large opening towards the diversity of the educational services.
The successful school is the one providing flexible educational
programmes, adapted to the diversity of demand and of the learning
capacities. The preference for elite pupils, for recruiting and matriculate some
groups of pupils while rejecting others on performance or ethical, social,
cultural criteria etc. will create difficulties in many schools. In this context,
we must underline the tendency of the inclusive school, integrating the
children and the young belonging to underprivileged groups, such as the
groups with special educational needs, such as the disabled children. The
inclusion of these children in the school’s programmes not a disadvantage but
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schools is more sensitive than the state schools towards the children with
learning difficulties or coming from underprivileged groups. This openness
brings them an extra image within the community/ society, but also
pedagogical opportunities and added value in the human and financial
resources.
It is a certainty that into the future the school will focus more on
winning educational contracts; these will no longer simply be offered neither
to the state school nor to the private ones. The teachings councils and the
schools’ management will have to dedicate more time to the contract
negotiation and to the educational alternatives, to assure the quality of the
instructive-educative process, to the educational marketing etc.
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The concept of the classical pedagogy: the The concept of the modern pedagogy
pupils must adapt to the teacher The teachers must adapt to the pupil
- the traditional school, the unique type - the school of change
- the conservative school - the school for all
- the school for the modal pupil - the inclusive school
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Bibliography
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THEME 5
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS AND DEVELOPMENTS
IN THE CONTEMPORARY PEDAGOGY
& The analysis regarding the educational system worldwide led to the
conclusion that they reflect mostly, the continuous evolution of the societies and
communities for which the school services offers services of formation and
education. Since the societies are in a continuous dynamic, the educational
systems at their turn, must demonstrate the capacity to flexibly adapt to this social
dynamic and to its requests.
Although the contemporary educational systems vary from one continent
to another, and from one country to another, according to their main structural,
functional and managerial features they can be grouped in two main categories
(V. Chiş, 2001):
Educational systems hierarchically organised according to the
principle of the centralized management.
Educational systems organised on the network model, with
pedagogical administrative and financial autonomy.
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education ever since the XVII century. These systems are built on a vertical
hierarchical organisation, and their succession can be easily represented using a
pyramid in which the educational cycles come one after another, from the
kindergarten to the primary education, the secondary inferior education, the
secondary education and the superior education, on a succession established by
Comenius – preschool, primary, gymnasium and high school – as shown by
figure no. 1.
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children with special educational needs, has remained in a total amnesia in the
memory of the hierarchical educational system.
Another aspect that fundamentally imprints the hierarchically
organised educational systems is the one of the common study programmes
and of the compulsory curriculum. This feature determines a paradox that is
rarely encountered in other fields of human activity. What would be another
professional field, industry branch or services industry where the employees
are assigned to professional contributions that are equivalent as required effort
and results? The mandatory character of the curriculum compels the pupils to
pass through identical learning experiences. The school programmes and
plans are not diversified or flexible because at the level of each educational
cycle there is an only type of school and standard requirements. Moreover,
these uniform study programmes are overloaded, a fact that leads to a
significant disparity between the official learning requirements (volume,
complexity, study time) and the actual learning capacities of pupils. Thus, the
pupils who are not able to adapt to the quantity of knowledge, to the
accelerated learning rhythm, are in risk of being left behind, of not being
granted the chance to reach the final standards for gymnasium or high school.
In the same time, it is important to mark the fact that form the
managerial perspective, in the hierarchically organised educational systems,
all the decisional positions and responsibilities are packed in the top of the
hierarchy and are diminished or even absent at the base of the system. In other
words, the planning, organisation, decision and control are highly centralised,
and the classic centralisation in the educational system determines numerous
blockages and dysfunctions.
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& Figure no. 3 offers the possibility to compare/ contrast the hierarchical
structure of the education system in Romania (left side) with the network-
organized system (right side). In the hierarchical structure of the education system
in Romania, the cycles are arranged vertically, one after the other, while in the
network-organized systems appear different horizontal levels, respectively in
each cycle. For example, the education system in the Nederland, in Finland and in
Germany does not have a hierarchical organization since there are four types of
secondary schools. In our country, the 5th, the 6th, the7th and the 8th grade have
a uniform characteristic within the whole education system in Romania. In other
words, in the entire Romania, the 5th grade in town, as concerns the structure, the
operation and the curriculum, is the same as the 5th in rural areas. On the other
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hand, within an education system that is network-organized there are four types
of secondary schools, for example:
- Secondary education offers an enriched curriculum and is organized in
order to prepare students for direct admission to upper secondary
education. Therefore, following this type of secondary education
students have the opportunity beginning with 17 years old to be
admitted to a university if the scores / grades obtained are above a
certain threshold standard. This secondary education is, up to a certain
extent, similar to the centres of excellence, which were intended to be
developed in our country. Obviously, this case does not concern only
the gifted children, but children who are able to learn very effectively
in a short time.
- General upper secondary education – this type of education is
organized as a secondary level, below the university level.
- Vocational or technical upper secondary level – is designed to guide
learners to take up various professions, providing them with the
possibility to enrol in polytechnic universities and vocational higher
education institutions.
- Inferior upper secondary education, the minimum level, targets
underperforming students.
It is important to note that these types of secondary schools are not
"closed", that is if a student has enrolled in upper secondary education, it does not
mean that he/she cannot switch to another type of secondary school, including
towards an inferior one. It is the family’s decision to enrol a student within a
certain type of secondary education, but this choice is influenced by the results
obtained in the final evaluation test, at the end of primary education. These results
have a diagnostic and prognostic value that is acknowledged by the parents. In
addition, it has to be mentioned the fact that just because a student has been
admitted initially in an inferior secondary school, it does not mean that he/she
cannot have access afterwards to other secondary schools, including upper
secondary level. If the student is aware that he/she has other options and if he/she
proves to be capable, then he/she can switch to another type of secondary school.
This change is allowed on a normal basis, depending on the student's progress,
i.e. his/her academic progress. In other words, within the network-organized
education systems it is offered a variety of flexible educational routes. Therefore
one does not provide a single route, as it is the case of our secondary education,
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! The data presented above suggest that the differences between the two types of
structures - hierarchical and network - determine different processes within them,
respectively as regards:
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& The two structures – hierarchical and network – differentiate from each
other in terms of their underlying pedagogical concepts. As Comenius has laid a
pedagogical concept at the basis of the system, nowadays, the world's education
systems distinguish from each other in terms of pedagogical concepts that
underlie and establish their basis.
Based on the analyses above we can conclude that within the hierarchical
education systems, the predominant educational requirement is that students
adapt to school. They have no other option, they have nothing to choose from but
to do what it takes to adapt to the school, namely to the school they are being
offered. In contrast, within the network- organized education systems, the
educational requirement is in fact the opposite, namely the schools must adapt to
the students.
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& Thus, within the paradigm that promotes student adjustment to school, the
educational institution operates in accordance with curriculum documents, with
unique and compulsory teaching-learning programs, offering the same education
for all the students. If we would offer a comprised definition this would be a
uniform school. Naturally, it is made reference to the clothing item "uniform" that
students use, but the fact that the school is uniform, i.e. the schools have the same
design construction. The traditional uniform school-type education system that is
hierarchically organized can be characterized as follows:
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psychological experiences within that space are restrictive and have a poor content
in terms of communicative exchanges and educational influences.
The importance of this space can be emphasized at all levels of education,
from kindergarten, where one is always in contact with the others and always
remains in contact with the teacher. When students are enrolled in pre-primary
education, they begin to be placed in desks, in rows; this generated discomfort and
malfunction both for themselves and for the teacher. When learners are not placed
in desks, "obedient", the teacher states that “students are not ready for school
instruction.” Based on this, we deduce the importance of two defining
characteristics of the network-organized education systems, namely diversity and
flexibility. They are indispensable attributes to inclusive training and inclusive
education; one cannot talk about inclusion without diversity and without flexibility
and, conversely, one can talk about segregation in the system.
Thanks to diversity, education becomes effective if it provides and
operates more diverse curricular resources that are adapted to the particularities of
the school, requirements and flexible educational programs.
In conclusion, we consider that the following two dimensions of the
educational system can provide the greatest level of flexibility to the educational
programs and thus, can increase the effectiveness of training students:
1. The structure of the educational system: if the structure is
hierarchical, then it is inflexible, so a network structure is needed; this
one has to be flexible and to allow the manifestation of diversity.
Thus, to be flexible means to promote and develop diversity.
2. The educational curriculum should be flexible, should enable and
propose appropriate educational programs that are tailored to the
particular characteristics of each student.
school programs
course books
guidelines
workbooks
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11 V
10 Primary education IV
9 III
8 II Fundamental knowledge
7 I
6 Pre-primary
level
5 Pre-primary education
4
3
CURRICULUM
LOCAL CURRICULUM DECIDED BY
THE SCHOOL
INDIVIDUAL
CURRICULUM
OPTIONAL
The central role of the curriculum in the educational systems in the world
is to render more flexible the study programs, to allow the transfer in education
from the old paradigm — the student should adapt to school, to the modern
paradigm — the school needs to adapt to the student. Consequently, the
curriculum becomes the main operator in the modernization of the educational
systems since the curriculum proposes various study itineraries, group and
personalized ones, instead of the traditional study programs, common and
compulsory, incorporated in the contents of education.
Situational analyses performed in schools allow the observation that the
curriculum stratification in Romania is mainly a formal activity and the
applications per se frequently remain anchored in the old undertaking of the
common and compulsory programs.
In addition to the concepts defined and analysed above, we present below
a series of concepts that are stated in the Romanian Education Law no.1/ 2011,
and are associated with the curriculum reform:
1. The national curriculum represents the coherent ensemble of the
education frameworks and of the study programs in upper secondary and
compulsory education (Chapter IV, art. 64, paragraph (2)).
2. The education frameworks consist of the disciplines, fields of study,
respectively the compulsory and optional training modules as well as a
minimum and maximum number of allotted hours (Chapter IV, art. 65,
paragraph (1)).
3. The common courses program consists of compulsory
disciplines/domains of study/ training modules and the curriculum
decided by the school is formed of the optional disciplines/domains of
study /training modules (Chapter IV, art. 65, paragraph (2)).
4. The school programs establish for each discipline/domain of
study/training module from the education plan the aims envisaged and
highlight the fundamental theoretical, experimental and applicative
contents. There are offered general methodological approaches for their
achievement and assessment (Chapter IV, art. 65, paragraph (3)).
5. The school frameworks and programs for the compulsory
disciplines/domains of study/training modules in the upper secondary and
compulsory education are elaborated by the institutions and organisms
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Bibliography
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