Croatology, Vol. 1 No. 1, 2010.
Original scientific paper
Continuity and Discontinuity of Ancient Greek Educational Values in Croatian Pedagogical Practice
Marko Pranjić
orcid.org/0000-0001-7072-0300
; Hrvatski studiji Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
The modern definition of education maintains that it is the tendency which enables human development to reach full maturity. In light of this, the author attempts to read certain parts of Homer’s epics detecting certain ancient Greek values important for education in ancient as well as modern times, in both Europe and Croatia; like active patience, fidelity, wisdom, friendship, doing good and avoiding evil, and perseverance in good at the risk of one’s life. These values have remained until today at the very top of the scale of values in the
European as well as in the Croatian pedagogical tradition, which proves a logical justification for considering the continuity of pedagogical values. Afterwards, the author uses some other examples, like the Old Greek perseverance in revenge for the violation of family and individual honour, i.e. perseverance in personal fame, indicating similar tendencies in some other cultures (taboos concerning nutrition, being in awe of holidays etc.), to point to a historical transformation of continuity principles, i.e. the establishment of discontinuity as an equally legitimate relationship to the consideration of values. In doing so, he uses contemporary literature which deals with this issue in detail and which has determined two basic principles for discontinuity: the psychological and the sociological. Both of these, due to the significantly greater level of education the modern man achieves, provide enough reasons for the thoughtful consideration
of certain values changing throughout history, i.e. the legitimacy of discontinuity when considering values.
Keywords
Homer; education; educational values; continuity; discontinuity
Hrčak ID:
60214
URI
Publication date:
27.10.2010.
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