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Comenius—The Grandfather of Modern Education

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

AS A teacher, John Comenius was well aware of the shortcomings of the 17th-century school system in which he worked. True, no educational system had ever been perfect, but the school system of 17th-century Europe was just plain dreadful.

Rather than stand on the sidelines hurling complaints or accusations, Comenius decided to do something about it. What did he do, and why did he do it? Furthermore, what can we learn from the man who is called the grandfather of modern education?

Upbringing and Education

John Amos Comenius (Jan Ámos Komenský, in his native Czech) was born on March 28, 1592, in Moravia, a region in what is today known as the Czech Republic. He was the youngest of five children, being the only son of a fairly well-to-do couple of the peasant class.

His parents were members of the Unity of Brethren (later known as the Bohemian Brethren or the Moravian Church), a religious group that originated in the mid-15th century under the influence of the Waldenses and other Reformers such as Peter Chelčický. After completing his education in Germany, Comenius returned to his homeland. Later, at 24 years of age, he was ordained as a priest of the Unity of Brethren.

Why He Went Into Exile

In 1618, Comenius took charge of a small parish at Fulnek, which is located some 150 miles [240 km] east of Prague. At the time, the Catholic Counter-Reformation against Protestantism was well under way in Europe. Tensions between Catholics and Protestants continued to mount until, finally, the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) erupted.

After a decade of fighting, the Roman Catholic religion was declared the only lawful religion in Moravia. Comenius and members of the upper classes were given a choice—accept Catholicism or leave the country. Since Comenius was not about to be converted, he moved his family abroad to the small town of Leszno, a prominent center of activity for the Unity of Brethren in Poland. This marked the beginning of an exile that would last 42 years. Never again would he settle in his native land.

“Slaughterhouses of the Mind”

Comenius found work teaching Latin at the Leszno Gymnasium—a preparatory school for college students. Within a short period of time, though, he became dissatisfied with the inept methods of teaching—and with good reason.

The school system of Comenius’ day was in a deplorable state. Only males, for instance, were deemed worthy of receiving an education, although males who were born into poverty were excluded. Classroom instruction consisted mainly of stuffing Latin words, sentences, and syntax into the students’ heads. Why? Because most medieval schools were controlled by the Catholic Church, which conducted its liturgy in Latin. Therefore, teaching Latin was essential to ensure a steady supply of recruits for the priesthood.

Additionally, no thought was given to establishing specific goals for learning, nor was instruction designed to lead students gradually from simple ideas to complex ones. Discipline was strict, sometimes brutal, and the moral climate was horrible.

Little wonder, then, that Scottish educator Simon Laurie once described 17th-century schools as “hopelessly haphazard” and “uninteresting.” Comenius was even more pointed. He called schools “slaughterhouses of the mind.”

A New Teaching Method Emerges

Comenius was not the first to speak out about the need for educational reform. In England, Francis Bacon had decried the emphasis on Latin and suggested a return to the study of nature. Wolfgang Ratke and John Valentine Andreae in Germany as well as others also attempted improvements. All of these, however, failed to gain official backing for their ideas.

Comenius proposed a system that made learning fun, not drudgery. He called his educational scheme pampaedia, meaning “universal education.” His goal was to establish a progressive system of teaching that everyone could enjoy. Children should be taught in incremental steps, he said, with elementary concepts naturally leading up to more complex ones. Comenius also promoted the use of the mother tongue during the first few years of school rather than Latin.

Education, however, should not be confined to adolescence but should embrace one’s entire life course. Comenius wrote that study should be “entirely practical, entirely pleasurable, and such as to make school a real game, i.e., a pleasant prelude to our whole life.” He also believed that school should focus on educating not just the mind but the whole person—that it should include moral and spiritual instruction.

The Works of John Comenius

The first of Comenius’ works to be published in the field of teaching was The School of Infancy, in 1630.a It was designed as a helper for mothers and nannies to use when instructing children at home. This was followed in 1631 by The Gate of Languages Unlocked, which virtually revolutionized the teaching of Latin. It was arranged with parallel columns of text, one in Czech and one in Latin. Thus, the two languages could easily be compared, making it much easier to learn. His revised edition of this teaching aid was so well received that eventually it was translated into 16 languages.

The most famous and perhaps simplest work by Comenius was The Visible World, an illustrated reading guide for children. It too was a milestone in the history of education. Ellwood Cubberley, a 20th-century professor of education, says that it “stood without a competitor in Europe for a hundred and fifteen years; and was used as an introductory textbook for nearly two hundred years.” Many of today’s illustrated textbooks, in fact, still follow the general format of Comenius’ work, using illustrations as teaching aids.

Comenius was soon hailed as a genius. Throughout all Europe scholars looked to him as a leader and sought his advice. According to the book Magnalia Christi Americana, Comenius’ fame grew to the point that in 1654 he was invited to serve as the president of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Comenius refused, however, for he was not seeking fame, glory, or high office.

What Motivated Him?

After considering Comenius’ life course, one cannot help but wonder what motivated him. Comenius viewed education as a unifying force for mankind. He maintained that universal education could help preserve world peace.

Comenius also linked knowledge to godliness. He believed that by acquiring knowledge, mankind is ultimately directed to God. And that may have been his primary motive.

Comenius’ insights on education are still valid today. His systematic teaching methods, including the use of visual aids, are employed worldwide—for example, in the literature published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. Individually, each of us can benefit by using his methods when engaging in personal Bible study or when conducting a family Bible study. How?

“Students should not be overburdened with matters that are unsuitable to their age, comprehension, and present condition,” wrote Comenius. So when teaching your children about the Bible or any other subject, try to adapt the lessons to them. Rather than use a formal question-and-answer method, why not tell them stories about Bible characters? Get them involved, perhaps by letting them draw pictures of Bible events or encouraging them to act out Bible dramas. Use your imagination! The results will be worth the effort.—Proverbs 22:6.

Also take full advantage of illustrated literature that is designed especially for teaching young people progressively, such as My Book of Bible Stories and Questions Young People Ask—Answers That Work.b And when teaching Bible students of any age, take the initiative to make their experience “entirely practical, entirely pleasurable.”

A Lasting Legacy

When fire swept through the town of Leszno in 1656, Comenius lost almost everything he owned. Thankfully, though, he left behind riches of another sort. The book A Brief History of Education says: “Comenius . . . shifted the whole emphasis in instruction from words to things, and made the teaching of scientific knowledge and useful world information the keynote of his work.”

Indeed, Comenius can be given credit for turning teaching into more of a science. His teaching methods virtually revolutionized the classroom. American educator Nicholas Butler said: “The place of Comenius in the history of education is one of commanding importance. He introduces and dominates the whole modern movement in the field of elementary and secondary education.” Jehovah’s Witnesses, avid students of the Bible, also have reason to thank the grandfather of modern education.

[Footnotes]

[Box/Pictures on page 23]

SOME TEACHING PRINCIPLES OF JOHN COMENIUS

On the amount of teaching matter: “The teacher should teach not as much as he himself can teach but as much as the learner can grasp.”

On teaching methods: “To teach well is to enable someone to learn rapidly, agreeably, and thoroughly.”

“A capable teacher [is] one who knows how to bear the ignorance of his students patiently and also how to dispel that ignorance effectively.”

“To teach means scarcely anything more than to show how things differ from one another in their different purposes, forms, and origins. . . . Therefore, he who differentiates well teaches well.”

On logical connection: “Whatever does not make sense can be neither understood nor appraised and hence cannot be committed to memory.”

“When particulars are lacking, it is almost impossible to understand or judge a matter and equally impossible to commit it to memory.”

On comprehension: “To understand anything is largely a matter of perceiving why and how that thing in any one of its parts is related to something else and how and to what extent it differs from other things that are similar to it.”

“It has been well said that we should read a thing once to find out what it contains; a second time, to understand it; a third time, to imprint it on our memory; the fourth time we should repeat it silently to test ourselves whether we have firmly mastered it.”

[Picture]

A page from “The Visible World,” 1883 edition

[Picture on page 24]

A German primer of 1775, incorporating Comenius’ principles of teaching