People turned to the Sage:
— We don't need jungle pedagogy. Tell us about another pedagogy.
The Wise Man said
, "Then listen to the parable.
The King of Kings announced a competition for Divine Pedagogy. The wisest men from different countries and eras came to him. The King of Kings told them:
— Honorable men, tell me about three things of your pedagogy: about the fundamental idea, about the main goal and about the main methods of education.
Said Marcus Fabius Quintilian:
— Oh, King of Kings! Here is my main idea of education: "Father, as soon as your son is born, put the greatest hopes on him." The goal is the development of the soul, because we have it of heavenly origin. By the methods I proclaim: caring, naturalness, play.
The King of Kings was surprised by the wisdom of Quintilian:
— Truly, this is Divine Pedagogy!
Jan Amos Komensky appeared before him.
— Oh, King of Kings! I extract the fundamental idea of my pedagogy from my heart: "Child, understand that you are a microcosm capable of embracing the macrocosm." The purpose of raising a child is to educate the mind in him. The methods are naturalness and wisdom.
The King of Kings admired:
— Truly, it is also Divine Pedagogy!
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi bowed his head before the King of Kings:
— Listen, O King, to the main idea of my pedagogy: "The eye wants to look, the ear wants to hear, the legs want to walk, and the hands want to grab. But also the heart wants to believe and love. The mind wants to think." The goal is to develop the child's mind, heart and hands in their unity. The methods I offer are: conformity to nature, trust, compassion.
The King of Kings applauded:
— Truly, you also give us Divine Pedagogy!
Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky bowed to the Tsar of Tsars and said:
— My pedagogy is based on the idea: "Education should enlighten a person's consciousness so that a clear road of good lies before his eyes." My goal is to educate a spiritually and morally elevated person. My methods are nationality, social education, life and aspiration.
The King of Kings solemnly pronounced:
— I recognize your Pedagogy as Divine!
Janusz Korczak bowed his head before the King of Kings and said sadly:
— Here is my belief for you: "There are no children — there are people, but with a different scale of concepts, different sources of experience, different aspirations, a different play of feelings." My goal is to educate a joyful person. My methods come from my heart: the romance of upbringing, spontaneity, devotion and self-sacrifice.
The King of Kings bowed before Janusz Korczak:
— You defended your Divine Pedagogy with your life!
Vasily Alexandrovich Sukhomlinsky appeared before the Tsar of Tsars. He put his hand to his heart and said:
— The foundation of my pedagogy is my faith: "Having access to a fairy—tale palace, whose name is childhood, I have always considered it necessary to become a child to some extent. Only under this condition, children will not look at you as a person who accidentally entered the gates of their fairy-tale world." The goal I am striving for is the education of a citizen who is spiritually and morally pure. I recognize the methods of education: love, education with the heart, creativity and joy.
The King of Kings shook hands with Sukhomlinsky. After listening to everyone, he proclaimed:
— Oh, honorable men, every Pedagogy presented by you is Divine. Let's give them to the peoples of our kingdom, let the people themselves choose according to what Divine Pedagogy they want to educate their children!
The sage fell silent. The silence of the people dragged on. The Sage looked at them and thought sadly: "O man, you will not overcome the problem of upbringing until you overcome yourself, because it is in you, not in the child. As long as you believe that you have already been brought up yourself, your child will suffer many times from your educational mistakes."
