What Casanova Has to Do With the School System
Why and how our school system is destructive
“Children are the world's most precious resource and its best hope for the future.”
(John F Kennedy)
Alongside parents, teachers and schools also have a responsibility to promote this most valuable resource in the best possible manner. But the reality is frightening. In the following, I shed light on the situation – and show how it can be improved.
Do you know the difference between Casanova and Don Juan – apart from the fact that Casanova was a real person and Don Juan a fictional one? Well, both were womanizers. Casanova was all about the women; he wanted them to have a good time with him. Don Juan was all about himself; he wanted to have a good time with women. In this sense, I divide teachers into two categories: Casanova-type teachers and Don Juan-type teachers. A Don Juan-type teacher is all about himself … or the subject. A Casanova-type teacher is all about the students.
A Don Juan-type teacher teaches subjects.
A Casanova-type teacher teaches students.
Most teachers are of the Don Juan type. And that is precisely the problem.
The word pedagogy comes from the Greek words pais, meaning 'child', and agein, meaning 'to lead'. A pedagogue is a child's guide. This is a task full of responsibility. You can guide a child to develop his or her full potential – and thus lead a fulfilling life; but you can also lead a child into a robotic existence in which it merely functions.
The following quote from the Swiss biologist and psychologist Jean Piaget describes the basic principle of constructive child guidance:
“What a child is taught, it can no longer discover itself. But only what it discovers itself improves its ability to understand and solve problems.”
(Jean Piaget)
This fits in with the basic idea of Montessori education: “Help me do it myself.” The methods for this are open lessons and free work. The children are observed and supported individually on their journeys of discovery. This kind of education requires a lot of empathy. Casanova-type teachers can do this. Don Juan-type teachers prefer frontal teaching, where they lecture and the children must listen … which is much simpler, but contradicts Piaget’s idea.
The Montessori method is usually only applied at the lower school levels. During my time as a scientist, I conducted research on mathematics education and showed how to use it up to the high school graduation level and beyond. We tested this with more than 2000 students and achieved excellent results.
The following incident impressively showed how much the way we teach affects the performance of students. As part of a teacher training course in Slovenia, I let the participants watch me teach their students. I introduced the children to a new topic and then asked them a challenging question. I also told them with which experiments they could find the answer. The students began experimenting, and after just one minute, a girl exclaimed, “I got it!” I asked what she had found, and she gave a perfect answer. After the lesson, her teacher told me that this girl was his weakest student in math. In my math lesson, which was about creativity rather than calculation skills, she was the best. Whether a child is good or weak in a subject rarely depends on the child, but on the lesson.
The distinction between these two types of teachers also applies to the school system. Our school system is Don Juan-type; it is not children, who are taught, but subjects. The following thought experiment shows that this is against our nature: Imagine a school for the animals in a forest. Every animal has to take all subjects: flying, swimming, digging, climbing, collecting nuts, etc. Every animal excels in some subjects and fails miserably in others; none of them manages to graduate from school. Albert Einstein summed it up in the following quote:
“Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life thinking it is stupid.”
(Albert Einstein)
In my articles “You Were Born a Genius Too” and “Why and How We Lose Our Innate Intelligence – and Can Regain It,” I describe how children get de-geniused.
But the problem goes even deeper. We believe we have to draw the children into our world. But we should not do that. The social programming that has developed over thousands of generations mentally trapped us as a society. We function within the framework of these programs. This prevents us from recognizing our true potential as Homo sapiens. As a result, most people do not follow their calling, but do what they have been programmed to want to do. For example, there are the following motives for why someone chooses to become a teacher:
long vacations
pay
social status
insecurity among adults
the full subject study is too difficult
calling
The Casanovas among teachers are in the last group.
Social programs bury our true nature; children are closest to their true nature ... so we should learn from them rather than they from us. In my article “Why the Question ‘What Am I?’ is Important and Magical” I elaborate on this.
The school system will improve if more teachers choose this profession because it is their calling. This will be the case when more people free themselves from their social programs. I explain how to do this in my article “How to Become What You Truly Are in 7 Steps” and in my book “Being Free – Get Out of the Box."
Further reading:
Article “You Were Born a Genius Too”
Article “Why and How We Lose Our Innate Intelligence – and Can Regain It”
Article “Why the Question ‘What Am I?’ is Important and Magical”
article “How to Become What You Truly Are in 7 Steps”
Book “Being Free – Get Out of the Box"
Thank you for the great article, Bernhard! I'm glad you mentioned the Montessori method. Her book "The Absorbing Mind" is excellent, and her contribution to the field of pedagogy is enormous. Too little is mentioned. Congratulations again on the great metaphors - Don Juan and Casanova! I like it!