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"Disciplination" and Education at Minor Schools in Bohemia 1774-1800

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2012

Abstract

The project puts together several themes - a history of pedagogy and education, Foucault's and Elias's theories of 'disciplination' or 'civilization' and political as well as social, cultural and religious changes in Bohemia in the last third of eighteenth century. The practical aspects of education on minor schools (Trivialschulen) in Bohemia, a role of ideas - how pupils and schoolmasters should be - and the aim or purpose of upbringing and schooling are main issues for my research project.

Primary sources which I have used were not only official statements, but mainly products of schools themselves and texts which were written and read at schools. So called 'relationes' - reports from schools - were one of them as well as textbooks or handbooks (on the first place J.

I. Felbiger's Methodenbuch), Spelling-books, Books for reading, Catechisms (even the Catechisms of Health) and other teaching aids.

Memoirs or 'school diaries' written by schoolmasters were last kind of sources. Based on the analyse of these sources and in the context of forenamed theories I would dare to express some ideas about school and discipline, relations between school and family and about a construction of patterns which influenced an opinion of popular classes at the end of eighteenth century.

All of this constituted together something like "educational discourse". Pupils were taught not only to read, to write and to count, but also in which way to think.

Some image of the world was passed on them and my questions were - Why? By whom and what? And what aims with?