THE THREE PEDAGOGICAL REFLECTIONS BY BOGDAN SUCHODOLSKI

Abstract

This article explores, from the perspective of an interpretative paradigm, a possibility of integration of two traditional pedagogical reflections (pedagogy of essence and pedagogy of existence). Concluding that the two pedagogies have been in a continuous conflict throughout history, Bogdan Suchodolski suggests that the opposites and one-sidedness of both of them should be overcome by using the social and scientific phenomena of our time as a “source” for the new pedagogical conception he designates as “the third pedagogy”. Inasmuch as the pedagogy of essence and pedagogy of existence rely on direct pedagogical relations and a concrete agency of the tutor over the student, differing from each other by the final orientation and pedagogical goal (preparation for life or personality formation), “the third pedagogy” scrutinizes the social and material conditions of pedagogical activities, that is, establishes the principles of their optimal organization and institutionalization and, accordingly, examines the challenges of educational policies and educational planning.