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„The Letters Must Be Read”
Epistolary Pedagogy of Janusz Korczak and Joanna Kulmowa
Abstract
The aim of the article is to show the educational value of the letters of Janusz Korczak and Joanna Kulmowa as an example of epistolary pedagogy, which shows a connection with Aristotle's ethics of moderation and justice, the ethics of kindness and friendship, and the ethics of contemplative life. Epistolary pedagogy served two purposes: it was to change reality and it was a form of spiritual exercise. Epistolary pedagogy, which they both successfully practiced, was associated with the "linguistic message" of the letter. The suggestiveness of the dialogic message, its self-creative power, has always been associated with "pedagogical servitude. It also resulted from a strong conviction of one's own literary and pedagogical distinctiveness, manifested by a clear need for autobiographicalism, manifested in natural reflexivity and high subjectivity of expression. Korczak's and Kulmowa's letters are an example of their unconventional sensitivity, original expressiveness and emotionality. They document not only personal experiences, they are proof of constant work on oneself, they show the importance of the depth of spiritual life, they are associated with the effort to build one's own identity. The epistolary pedagogy of Korczak and Kulmowa is an important pedagogical key to their lives and work. Both were extraordinary epistolary witnesses of their time. Every letter written and every postcard sent, full of intellectual reflections and "living metaphors", had a therapeutic effect on the art of life of the recipient. This article is merely a prolegomena to a vast topic that requires further analytical and interpretative action.
Keywords:
Janusz Korczak, Joanna Kulmowa, epistolary pedagogy, pedagogy of cultureMost read articles by the same author(s)
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