Professor W A Landman

Fundamental Pedagogics Essences:
their Appearances, Actualization
and giving them Content

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INTRODUCTION

In studying the literature¹ on contemporary Fundamental Pedagogics the following is evident:

A. THE FUNDAMENTAL PEDAGOGICIAN KNOWS

  1. Being an educator is carried by fundamentalia, i.e., by pedagogical structures (with their essences and their interrelationships);
  2. The educator is what he is through the pedagogical fundamentalia (with their essences and their interrelationships);
  3. The educator has the possibility to be an educator thanks to pedagogical fundamentalia;
  4. As an educator actualizes these fundamentalia he actualizes himself;
  5. In his educative existence, the educator is interwoven with these fundamentalia and progressively becoming an educator means becoming progressively interwoven with these fundamenatlia;
  6. A child in his existence as a child-in-education is interwoven with these fundamentalia and his being on the way to responsible adulthood means a progressively independent participation in the reality of these fundamentalia;
  7. These fundamentalia are saturated with sense and thus have meaning:
    E.g.:
    • the meaning that they have to be actualized
    • the meaning that they make possible the actualization of other fundamentalia
    • the meaning that exercising them has to contribute to a child's becoming a proper adult;
  8. These fundamentalia are moments of the educative event (moment comes from the Latin "movere" meaning "movement").

B. QUESTIONS ASKED BY THE FUNDAMENTAL PEDAGOGICIAN

  1. Which fundamentalia does Fundamental Pedagogics seek?

    Fundamentalia of the reality of education-as-such, i.e., it searches for real pedagogical essences, their meaning and relationships. In other words it seeks an ontological understanding of the pedagogical.

  2. Which fundamentalia have been found so far?

    See the structure and essence table.

  3. Where are they found?

    They are found in the reality of educating as such; i.e., the reality of educating is the source of fundamental educative knowledge. Is there also another source of basic knowledge of education? Yes, one's life philosophy is a source (which for a Protestant Christian is the Bible and all writings founded in it). An integration (synthesis) of these two sources of knowledge is possible and also necessary for an enlivened educative practice.

  4. How are they found?

    Through a fundamental pedagogical perspective² on the reality of educating as this is rooted (embedded, grounded) in the universal life world.

  5. What are the methods of this perspective?

    1. The phenomenological method as an authentic essence revealing method.
    2. The hermeneutic method as an authentic relationship revealing method.
    3. The dialectic method as an authentic method of revealing the ways essences are actualized in their interrelationships.

  6. What aids are used in this perspective?

    Fundamentalia are used as illuminating means of thinking, thus as categories.

  7. What is the first precondition for designing pedagogical categories?

    It is the pedagogician's being-in-the-world that insures that there is not a split between him and the reality of educating he will investigate. Therefore, being-in-the-world is called the first category of reality, also the ontological category (i.e., the category that makes the grounding of reality possible).

  8. What is the second precondition for designing pedagogical categories?

    The pedagogician has to determine which ways of being-in-the-world cannot be thought away [i.e., which are essential] in actualizing educative relationships (pedagogical relationships). These ways can serve as anthropological categories. How does he do this? By applying "guiding a child" as a category.

  9. What is the third precondition for designing pedagogical categories?

    The pedagogician once again has to apply the category "guiding a child" to fathom this way of being-in-the-world. What then comes to light? Pedagogical categories.

  10. What does one call these ways of thinking (7-8-9)?

    Ontological-anthropological-pedagogical.

  11. On what cornerstones do these ways of thinking rest?

    1. Ontological understanding is only possible phenomenologically.
    2. Phenomenology is only authentic when it leads to ontological understanding.
    3. Phenomenological thinking is categorical thinking.
    4. Pedagogics, as essence-pedagogics, makes use of steps of thinking that fulfill particular requirements.

  12. What requirements must the steps that constitute this way of thinking fulfill?

    1. Scientific necessity, i.e., it has to give rise to:
      1. Essence revelation;
      2. Essence-status confirmation, since only steps of thinking that contribute to this confirmation can make a claim to necessity.
    2. Philosophy of life permissibility, i.e., the pedagogician can (must) not engage in steps of thinking (and acting) that are in violation of his own philosophy of life because then he would be untrue to himself.

  13. The following distinctions also are meaningful:

    1. Educational perspective: the educator's perspective on the educative event in educational situations;
    2. Pedagogic perspective: the educator with pedagogic training, i.e., a pedagogue's perspective in pedagogic situations;
    3. Educand's perspective: the child's perspective on his own participation in the event of being/becoming educated;
    4. Pedagogical perspective: the pedagogician's scientific perspective on the reality of education in pedagogical situations.

  14. From what perspectives is the pedagogical perspective constituted?

    1. The fundamental-pedagogical-perspective on the reality of educating, as such;
    2. The psychopedagogical-perspective on the psychic life of a child-in-education;
    3. The sociopedagogical-perspective on the social life of a child-in-education;
    4. The didactic pedagogical-perspective on the didactic (teaching-learning) life of a child-in-education;
    5. The vocational orientation-perspective on the vocationally oriented life of a child-in-education;
    6. The physical education (pedagogical)-perspective on the physical life of a child-in-education;
    7. The orthopedagogical-perspective on a life with deficiencies of a child-in-education.

    In the chapters that follow there is a more intensive discussion of the idea of essence-pedagogics and there also is an attempt to remove a few misunderstandings and erroneous interpretations.

REFERENCES

    1. Landman, W. A. and Roos, S. G. (1973). Fundamentele pedagogiek en die opvoedingswerklikheid. Durban: Butterworths.
    2. Landman, W. A., Roos, S.G. and Van Rooyen, R. P. 1974). Die praktykwording van die fundamentele pedagogiek. Johannesburg: Perskor.
    3. Landman, W. A. and Kilian, C. J. G. (1975). Leesboek vir die opvoedkunde-student en onderwyser. Johannesburg: Juta.
    4. Landman, W. A., Roos, S. G. and Liebenberg, C. R. (1974). Opvoedkunde en opvoedingsleer for beginners. Stellenbosch: University Publishers and Booksellers.
    5. Landman, W. A. (1974). Leesboek vir die Christen-opvoeder. Pretoria: N. G. Kerkboekhandel.
    6. Landman, W. A. (1971). Aanwending van pedagogiese kategorieë in die fundamnetele pedagogiek. Pedagogic Studies, University of Pretoria.
    7. Landman, W. A. (Ed.) (1974). Opstelle in die fundamental pedagogiek Deel 1. Pedagogic Studies, University of Pretoria.
    8. Landman, W. A., Kilian, C. J. G., Roos, S. G., Viljoen, T. A. (1974). Denkwyses in die opvoedkunde. Second enlarged edition. Pretoria: N. G. Kerkboekhandel.
    9. Viljoen, T. A., Pienaar, J. J. (1972). Fundamental pedagogics. Durban: Butterworths.
    10. Kilian, C. J. G., Viljoen, T. A. (1974). Fundamental pedagogics and fundamental structures. Durban: Butterworths.
    11. Oberholzer, C. K. (1968). Prolegomena van 'n prinsipiële pedagogiek. Cape Town: H.A.U.M.
    12. Gunter, C. F. G. (1969). Fenomenologie en fundamentele opvoedkunde. Stellenbosch: University Publishers and Booksellers.
  1. Viljoen, T. A. (1973). Pedagogiekbehoorlikheid in South African Journal of Pedagogy Vol. 7, No. 2, 1-18 (with comments by Professors C. J. G. Kilian and W. A. Landman).